[IRCA] Sony SRF-59 - are we serious?

["Saul Chernos" <sauldx@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I suspected mischief might be afoot, but went to my local Future Shop to 
look at the radio. I knew to expect an ultralight, but when I saw this 
two-ouncer floating in mid-air, above its rack, I truly thought that IBOC 
interference had left a few of this hobby's finest ... uh, how can I put it 
politely ... ultralight.

Well, when this list's Niel Wolfish willingly traded his good reputation for 
a set, I followed suit, plunking down the $30 -- $29.99 plus 6% GST as Niel 
pointed out earlier. I had much the same experience Niel described - Future 
Shop staff were too busy selling IBOC receivers to offer any help. In fact, 
they laughed at me for buying analog and told me that demand for IBOC radios 
has surpassed even the wildest imaginations.

Luckily, the SRF-59 wasn't hard to find. the two-ouncer was floating in 
mid-air, a few feet above its shelf, in the 'Losers' section of the store.

You can imagine how I felt when I got home - home is downtown Toronto, where 
I get a loud buzz even on some of my own locals, and where DX just isn't 
done. Sat down next to the computer, where I keep my batteries, and found an 
analog one to power the SRF-59.

I turned the radio on, but nothing. No sound at all. Then I had one of those 
watershed moments, and put on the headphones.

Well, I have to admit, the SRF-59 looks ridiculous. Hell, it IS ridiculous. 
Even admitting that I've tried one will surely get me permanently banned 
from any future Newfoundland DXpeditions. But, I have to admit, it sure does 
perform. I'm not only getting my locals in clear, I'm getting stations 
underneath some of them, like 590, 860 and 1050. I'm also getting good 
adjacent action, and the signals are all clear, albeit with some very 
careful tuning required. So 1690 is solid Toronto, but I have Mexican music 
on 1700 (Iowa presumed). 860 has what I presume is WAMO in PA, which may be 
new here, though getting an ID will be tougher than at Burnt River because I 
am much closer to the xmtr.

It's only a matter of time till I do get something new here. I've had 
several stations mixing on various regionals, some weak Latins underneath 
those clears that have not been destroyed by IBOC.

I gave the FM a spin - radio has local and dx modes for FM, and I've pulled 
in stuff from as far away as Buffalo. Almost as good as my car radio. No 
question I'll get e-skip on this thing, and it will be interesting to see 
how sensitive it is at my BR site during an actual skip opening, when 
stations can get very strong. I'm at the point in my FM DX 'career' that I'm 
trying to avoid the stronger e-skip signals in favour of the weaker ones. 
I've also got a Tropicana Orange FM radio, and have wanted to try skip on 
that, too.

But back to AM. The SRF will be fun to use. Now I can barbeque and still 
have the headphones on, and have a decent chance at stuff. Niel knows how 
many sunset skip catches he's had, that I've missed, while firing up the 
'cue and making sure the Pleskovice (special Yugoslav burders) aren't 
burning.

It will be tough to get any trans-atlantics inland on this thing, but I will 
be working it to see how far I can get.

I wonder how many of these radios Sony sells, compared to the total number 
of IBOC radios that will sell.

Saul

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