[IRCA] All Hail the SRF-59!

[satya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Hi all:

Well, my Sony SRF-59 arrived today ($13.49 from Amazon, with decent
headphones), and I have to admit I'm amazed!  Barefoot (I myself have
socks on) and nulled to the south, it is picking up a basketball game with
remarkably clear audio on KXLX-700 (600 watts) 300 miles away to the west,
next to KIRO-710's modest 50,000 nighttime watts (it's a whopping 13 miles
away to the south, but fortunately they steer their major lobe in my
direction to make DXing them easier...).

Using a Terk loop, it's even better.  Merely setting them next to each
other work good, although holding the SRF-59 in the dead center of the
loop and then rotating around a bit gives some very sharp nulls with
passive phasing (I finally picked up a solid ID on KCOL-600 for the first
time).  Alas, the position and orientation can be rather precise and
difficult to hold for any length of time - maybe a cardboard shelf inside
the loop?  There are also numerous maximum-gain sweet spots near and
within the loop where I can simply set the unit down and relax.

With a Quantum Stick, setting the SRF-59 on the Quantum Stick directly
over the sweet spot (it's over the "E" of "THE Q STICK" label) also works
quite well, and you can just spin the SRF-59 around on that spot for
maximum gain or to get some phasing in.  The Quantum Stick travels better
than the Terk, and so may be the way to go for road warriors.  On the
other end of the spectrum, placing the SRF-59 in front of my 28x42 inch
tuned box loop is downright scary, but it's tough to pack in a carry-on...

I am impressed by the AGC - I can hear the poor thing trying to keep up
with the interference from KIRO-710 as I slowly de-null, and it is doing a
remarkable job, although eventually KIRO overcomes the filtering and
completely takes over: I guess a Collins mechanical would run the retail
price up over $20?  Since it is an analog set, it's ability to tune
slightly off-frequency is a plus.  It seems to have consistent performance
across the dial and I'm impressed by the solid feel. I will be interested
to see how it handles images, which are fairly noticeable here during the
day.  The tuning scale, though only a little over an inch long, is dead-on
and actually helps to see where I'm at. Rumor has it there is an FM
section as well - can anyone confirm this??

My tuning wheel turns fairly well, but has anyone who has taken it apart
noticed any way to lubricate it or otherwise doctor it so it turns more
freely?  A freer-turning tuning wheel would be more icing on the cake,
although many hours of DXing might loosen it up as well...

Kevin S.
Bainbridge Island, WA




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