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Sony ICF-S10MK2, ICF-38

lrdheat
 

Hi folks,

Decided to try the ICF-S10MK2, and ICF-38 (easily portable, but not ultralight). The S10MK2 is sensitive; daytime can hear (not a strong signal) KTRH Houston 310 miles ENE of Laredo. At night, I listened easily to KNX Los Angeles 1500 miles away, and KCBS San Francisco (1800 miles) on 740, in the null of KTRH Houston 740. In most situations, I could null the locals at night to hear stations 10 KHz away, and in one case, could hear an Austin station (220 miles) in the null on a local's frequency! In the daytime, it was more like 20 or 30 KHz away to null locals above about 1300 KHz on the dial. Didn't hear any mixing products on the dial. Nice crisp sound. Mono...either listen through one ear on a headphone, or get headphones that allow for mono. This set is rated to recieve only up to 1605 KHz, but my example reaches just beyond 1680! About $13 at K-Mart.

The ICF-38 is clearly more sensitive than the S10MK2 (bigger ferrite), is easier to fine tune, is more selective, has a volume control that is esaier to hit a medium volume level on, and is excellent (I'm impressed!) with regard to nulling. It has a high/low tone switch. No mixing products. I had a much easier time nulling our 1490 local to hear a signal on 1480 and 1500 than the S10MK2, and the null covered a greater portion of a 360 degree circle than the S10MK2. This set is also a mono set meaning the same as the S10MK2 when it comes to headphones. Just got this set today, so haven't tried daytime testing...I'm expecting diminished daytime selectivity above 1300 KHz with our locals on 1300,1340,1370,1410,1490,1550. I'll post on that on Tuesday. So far, pleasantly surprised for a $22 radio!

Heatwave
Powell
 

Richard is right on the target with his assessment of the 2 radios. For just
around $20 the ICF-38 is an excellent radio. It's not a world beater..... but
it works exceptionally well and a tuneable loop helps the radio also.


Powell



NNNN
POP email is powell at backroads DOT net
lrdheat
 

The SONY ICF-38 indeed does have a harder time re selectivity with the locals during daytime patterns/power. Even so, I could usually hear stations 20 KHz away from locals. The exceptions were stations sandwiched between locals 30-40 KHz apart, and the 1550 KHz local made it impossible to hear anything lurking underneath until about 1600 KHz. No mixing products on the dial. Daytime sensitivity is good, better than the Tecsun PL-310 and 390. Not as sensitive as the PR-D5, but for $22, surprisingly sensitive, and a nice sound (especially on the high tone setting). At night, distant signals such as KNX, Los Angeles (1500 miles away) often sounded cleaner on the 38 than the PR-D5! That said, I'm increasingly impressed with the decent selectivity (not stellar, but decent) of the PR-D5, it's lack of hets and mixing products, and it's nullability in an urban daytime setting. The SONY ICF-EX5 is slightly LESS sensitive, easily MORE selective, but also suffers from images of stations or hets that can degrade it's performance. The SONY ICF-S5W is on par with the PR-D5 in sensitivity, has the selectivity of the EX5, and is free of hets and images in my location. The EX5 and S5W tune only up to 1630/1640 KHz, and are mono into a headphone. The exception to freedom from images on the S5W is a repeat of local 890 appearing on 870 (same thing on the more image prone EX5).
 
--- On Mon, 12/20/10, Richard Berler <lrdheat@...> wrote:


From: Richard Berler
Subject: [ultralightdx] Sony ICF-S10MK2, ICF-38
To: Ultralightdx@..., abdx@...
Date: Monday, December 20, 2010, 9:55 PM

 
Hi folks,

Decided to try the ICF-S10MK2, and ICF-38 (easily portable, but not ultralight). The S10MK2 is sensitive; daytime can hear (not a strong signal) KTRH Houston 310 miles ENE of Laredo. At night, I listened easily to KNX Los Angeles 1500 miles away, and KCBS San Francisco (1800 miles) on 740, in the null of KTRH Houston 740. In most situations, I could null the locals at night to hear stations 10 KHz away, and in one case, could hear an Austin station (220 miles) in the null on a local's frequency! In the daytime, it was more like 20 or 30 KHz away to null locals above about 1300 KHz on the dial. Didn't hear any mixing products on the dial. Nice crisp sound. Mono...either listen through one ear on a headphone, or get headphones that allow for mono. This set is rated to recieve only up to 1605 KHz, but my example reaches just beyond 1680! About $13 at K-Mart.

The ICF-38 is clearly more sensitive than the S10MK2 (bigger ferrite), is easier to fine tune, is more selective, has a volume control that is esaier to hit a medium volume level on, and is excellent (I'm impressed!) with regard to nulling. It has a high/low tone switch. No mixing products. I had a much easier time nulling our 1490 local to hear a signal on 1480 and 1500 than the S10MK2, and the null covered a greater portion of a 360 degree circle than the S10MK2. This set is also a mono set meaning the same as the S10MK2 when it comes to headphones. Just got this set today, so haven't tried daytime testing...I'm expecting diminished daytime selectivity above 1300 KHz with our locals on 1300,1340,1370,1410,1490,1550. I'll post on that on Tuesday. So far, pleasantly surprised for a $22 radio!

Heatwave
Marc Coevoet
 

Op 21-12-10 21:38, Richard Berler schreef:
The SONY ICF-38 indeed does have a harder time re selectivity with the
locals during daytime patterns/power. Even so, I could usually hear
stations 20 KHz away from locals. The exceptions were stations
sandwiched between locals 30-40 KHz apart, and the 1550 KHz local made
it impossible to hear anything lurking underneath until about 1600 KHz.
No mixing products on the dial. Daytime sensitivity is good, better than
the Tecsun PL-310 and 390.
Richard,


Can you open the Sony and tell us what (CXA) chip is inside?

And while open, how long is the ferrite bar?

And .. pictures ...

Marc

--
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Kevin Schanilec
 

If found one of 'em. Per:
http://www.fixup.net/talk/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=116
the Ultralight S10MK2 has the CXA1019 chip, not the CXA1129 found in the SRF-39/49/59 et al.

Per:
http://www.electronicecircuits.com/electronic-circuits/cxa1019-fm-radio-circuit-diagram/
the CXA1019 appears to have a built-in audio amp but needs an external IF filter. On the other hand, the CXA1129 has filtering built in but needs an external audio amp, if memory serves?

Kevin S

--- In ultralightdx@..., Marc Coevoet <sintsixtus@...> wrote:

Op 21-12-10 21:38, Richard Berler schreef:
The SONY ICF-38 indeed does have a harder time re selectivity with the
locals during daytime patterns/power. Even so, I could usually hear
stations 20 KHz away from locals. The exceptions were stations
sandwiched between locals 30-40 KHz apart, and the 1550 KHz local made
it impossible to hear anything lurking underneath until about 1600 KHz.
No mixing products on the dial. Daytime sensitivity is good, better than
the Tecsun PL-310 and 390.
Richard,


Can you open the Sony and tell us what (CXA) chip is inside?

And while open, how long is the ferrite bar?

And .. pictures ...

Marc

--
What's on Shortwave guide: choose an hour, go!
http://shortwave.tk
700+ Radio Stations on SW http://swstations.tk
300+ languages on SW http://radiolanguages.tk
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