The Shipping Forecast and world news on the original Sony portable: the ...

Hi there, he's a trip down memory lane for me - to the first time I ever saw a Sony ICF-2001 in a shop window in Oxford. I was amazed at the design - it looked like it came from the future - I'd never seen anything like it. The first ever portable radio to offer direct frequency input. Fast forward 30-odd years and here it is on the coffee table in my living room. About 50 quid from eBay a few months ago now, but it feels good to own one of these. It's not perfect; the frequency display is slightly off, the volume slider was very noisy (now fixed), audio fidelity is pretty good, but it's super-sensitive to local QRM. Using this radio indoors is quite tricky, requiring perfect alignment against all local noise sources to mitigate their effect. I'm interested to see how it performs as a hard-core DX machine, out in the woods. I believe it will perform well but not as well as the legendary 2001D of course. Having said that, I want it to be really good!! They say never meet your idols and that is sometimes also true of buying radios you've always wanted to own. It avoids any let down after decades of wondering lol.

Thanks for watching.

Radio Verdad 4055 kHz LSB, Chiquimula, Guatemala, best indoor reception ...

Hi there, looking back at past reception videos, I came to the conclusion that this is my best indoor reception of Radio Verdad to-date. Always a difficult target, so it's very satisfying to finally copy their signal with some decent modulation.


Recorded in Oxford UK on 31/03/18 at 01:42 hrs UTC using an Elad FDM DUO and Wellbrook ALA1530 magnetic loop antenna outdoors. Thanks for watching.

LW DX: Rare copy at home of TR1 Watan Radio 279 kHz, Turkmenistan with ...

Hi there, here's a copy of rare and understandably rather weak modulation from TR1 Watan Radio from Turkenistan in my shack in Oxford. I've only heard them 3 or 4 times from home in the past 2 years or more, so it was nice to catch them again.

Recorded in Oxford UK on 31/03/18 at 00:01 hrs UTC using an Elad FDM DUO and Wellbrook ALA530 magnetic loop antenna outdoors. Thanks for watching.

MW DX: WGIT Faro de Santidad 1660 kHz Canóvanas, Puerto Rico copied in ...

Hi there, always nice to catch WGIT from Puerto Rico with a clear ID...otherwise I'm usually struggling to figure out whether I'm listening to a pirate lol.

Recorded on 14/03/18 around 01:57 hrs UTC using a Wellbrook ALA1530 magnetic loop antenna outdoors. Thanks for watching.

Médi 1 Nador, Morocco 171 kHz on LW induction loop: Sony ICF-SW55 and Te...

Hi there, Médi 1 is a very tricky catch at my QTH on a portable - on any of my portables for that matter, so it was great to copy such a decent signal with the addition of the loop.

This was recorded in Oxford UK around 23:35 hrs UTC. Thanks for watching.

YVKS RCR 750 Radio Caracas 750 kHz, Venezuela copied in Oxford on XHDATA...

Hi there, well I'm not sure I thought this possible, certainly not likely. A discernable signal from South America on a £60 portable radio with a £20 induction loop. Hard core DX on a budget - just what I like and what's necessary to demonstrate to others that you don't have to spend a fortune on expensive gear. I got far more pleasure out of this catch than I did hearing the same station on over £1000 worth of Elad and Wellbrook lol.

Recorded in Oxford UK on 14/03/18 at 01:30 hrs UTC. Thanks for watching.

Polskie Radio 225 kHz on LW induction loop: Sony ICF-SW55 and Tecsun PL-...

Hi there, another comparison of these two rather different portables. The signal from Polskie Radio is always quite strong at my QTH and can be copied on the PL-310ET without the loop. However, with the loop, the reception is transformed. The Sony copies the signal really quite well without the loop and also benefits from the enhancement.