SONY ICF 7600GR Portable SW RX

[KL7OF]

I'm looking for comments from users of the Sony 7600gr...I am considering buying one for travel, and camping use....Features I like, ext antenna jack, sync detector, small size, supposed to be easier on batteries than some others..The ETON G4000A looks promising as well...  Any comments or recommendations?  Thanks   Steve

[WV Hoopie]

Steve,

Guessing here that you have spoken with Mike, K7ODQ? Think he has one (Sony).

73's
Craig

[N8LGU]

Hi Steve,
    I've an older ICF-SW-7600G that I bought in 2000. It has been my workhorse portable do-all/bedtime radio for years. Very good selectivity and amazingly sensitive.  The audio quality is surprizingly good for such a small speaker. I've tested the synchronous detector against radios without and it really does help with selective fade on AM as I listen to late night AM talk radio quite a bit. The rather large wallwart died after about 2 years. I have not taken really good care of it but have had no problems with it. The downside to this radio is what I consider relatively short battery life. It should have been built with 4 "D" cells instead of 4 "AA"'s. I suppose thats the price for a small size. Overall, I'd say it is a keeper.

[AMroo]

Yer I have had one for years. All the reviews on it are mostly good.
In fact I find all the reviews on everything are always good ,so I will list the bad points.

If the sync detector goes out of lock it produces a very annoying loud screeching sound. this makes it useless with most stations with fade.
It has Asian software  which makes it really clunky and awkward to operate.
Its got SSB but is useless for slop bucketing as the thumb wheel on the side that adjusts the detector has to be adjusted in microns, and I am not exaggerating.
Most of the case is not aluminium, it is just plastic coated with an aluminium look finish, so after a year or so you end up with scratches and wear on it.
Considering that downunder it costs $AUS 560 ($AUS1= $US0.75) the above is very unacceptable.
 

[AMroo]

Oh yer sorry I forgot yet one more problem.
Most people around most of the forums say they can't resolve SSB.
Apart from the already covered problem with the micromatic BFO adjustment you will find that you need to use the RF attenuator to adjust the signal strength to an exact required level. As the required level is still quite high you can forget copying weak slop bucket signals.

[KL7OF]

Good info on the SSB and thumbwheel operation...I would have a problem with that...I wonder what the improvements are on the GR model as oppsed to the G

[WV Hoopie]

Good info on the SSB and thumbwheel operation...I would have a problem with that...I wonder what the improvements are on the GR model as oppsed to the G

Hey Steve,

If the thumbwheel gives too many problems, you might have a candidate for next year's anvil torture test. Might make Phil happy seeing a quasi ricebox on the anvil.

Craig,

[N9NEO]

They are on Amazon.com for $124. this week.

There is a group of people on rec.radio.shortwave that seem to like them a lot.  I think these guys know this type of radio pretty good so I trust them.  do search over there and see comments.  I have been thinking of one for quite some time so I have decided to ask Santa to bring me one.

As far as recomendation - I would try to find the Yahoo group and poke around.  There is also Phil's review on radiointel if you have not read.

regards,
NEO

[AMroo]

Mine is a GR.
I find most people who bought them like them, but warning check out their credentials.

As I mentioned it doesn’t matter what is car, radio, DVD player ect it seems to me all you get on the forums is the good news cause many of these forums are for enthusiasts who have already bought one. So sure if you want to hear the good news go there.
 I am a defense RF tech and fix the latest and oldest comms gear down to component level all day for the last 30 years, I have one and I say- for amateur use its junk. The only exception would be if you want to listen to MW/SW AM broadcast stations it does a top job.