[IRCA] Sony SRF-M97 Ultralight Radio.. Not for Serious AM DX!

[D1028Gary@xxxxxxx]

Hello All,
 
     In the never-ending quest to separate the  contenders from the 
pretenders, a digital Sony SRF-M97 was recently purchased  from a Hong Kong vendor on 
eBay, at the rather inflated price of  $68.49 including shipping (but not 
nearly as inflated as Amazon's price of  $158.33 plus $8.38 shipping, from Wall 
Street Photo).   Unfortunately, high prices don't always indicate high  
performance.
 
     The SRF-M97's big problem on AM is its  microscopic antenna.. less than 
1 inch in length.  It just doesn't have the  RF circuitry to compensate for 
its tiny (3.25 x 1.3 x .6 inches)  cabinet.  Sensitivity is well off from the 
$15 SRF-59, and to make matters  worse, the SRF-M97 only tunes up to 1610 kHz.  
This radio has fairly  decent selectivity and nulling ability, but that won't 
get you very far  without better sensitivity.
 
     FM stereo performance seems to have been the  primary objective of Sony 
in this "Ultralighter" model, which actually does look  exactly the same size, 
shape and color of a cigarette lighter.  It has  decent FM sensitivity and 
audio quality for its size, making it the digital  equivalent of the SRF-S84, a 
similar-sized analog portable with the same  CXA1129 IC chip as the SRF-59 
(but nowhere near the SRF-59's performance).
 
     In summary, unless you absolutely must have  one of the smallest FM 
stereo receivers around, it is recommended that you  pass on this "Made in China" 
model, and go for the superbly designed, Made in  Japan SRF-T615 instead.
 
                                                                              
                 73,  Gary DeBock   



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