Mike Walker
Doesn't pull punches
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2001
- Posts
- 541
- Likes
- 14
I live in a difficult area for fm reception. First of all, I'm in a rural community, so I'm in the "deep fringe" of most fm signals. Except for one! There's a full-power (100,000 watt) fm here in my county, whose tower is only about 8 miles from my house. The signal they put into my area is so strong that it was off the scale of the JVC tuner I used to have with digital signal strength readout. And it is so strong that, on MANY not so high-end portable radios, I get WKBC-FM (the station...in North Wilkesboro, NC) from one end of the fm dial to the other, completely swamping more distant stations which I enjoy. A REAL problem!
I have, however, through much trial and error, found a few portable radios which are up to the challenge. My Grundig Yacht Boy 400 simply ignores WKBC-FM, except at it's primary (97.3) dial position. Ditto my Drake SW-8 communications receiver, Pioneer home theater receiver (with roof antenna AND antenna amplifier...all that signal, still no interference!), Grundig E-Traveller VII, Sangean ATS-909, and several others. But the only am/fm pocket-portable (a.k.a. "Walman") that I've found that is really up to the challenge is the Sony SRF-M32, and the most recent version (with mostly cosmetic, rather than electronic changes) the SRF-M35.
I've owned my SRF-M32 for several years. I found it "refurbished" at the Sony Outlet store in Gaffney South Carolina about 1995. It's been great, but is kind of scratched and rough looking (again, I bought it "refurbished" years ago), so I've been searching for a replacement. First I tried the highly regarded Sangean DT-110. Yes it does have great sound quality. It also has very poor rejection of the "monster signal" on my doorstep. So I decided to stick with what I know works, and set out in search of the SRF-M35.
When I got to my local "On Cue" store in Wilkesboro, NC, it was my lucky day. The SRF-M35 was on sale at FIFTY PERCENT OFF! 18 bucks (including tax)! So I bought two of them. Now I won't be without my little traveling companion! Great fm reception (with appropriate, automatic "blend to mono" under multipath and weak signal conditions, so signals never get too noisy), and surprisingly good am reception too! I'd estimate am frequency response goes to 7khz or a little higher, a good octave better than most am radios. A good thing too, since a couple of my favorite music stations in the area are on am (including WKSK...580am in West Jefferson, which now covers MANY counties with their 5,000 watt signal), WKBC AM...800am in North Wilkesboro, WIRC AM..630 in Hickory (all country stations), plus a 10kw "blowtorch" of a talk station on 1200 in Blowing Rock, NC. All come in like they're next door, despite the fact that all (other than WKBC AM) are at least 40 miles from my rural home!
The SRF-M35 is a great little radio!
I have, however, through much trial and error, found a few portable radios which are up to the challenge. My Grundig Yacht Boy 400 simply ignores WKBC-FM, except at it's primary (97.3) dial position. Ditto my Drake SW-8 communications receiver, Pioneer home theater receiver (with roof antenna AND antenna amplifier...all that signal, still no interference!), Grundig E-Traveller VII, Sangean ATS-909, and several others. But the only am/fm pocket-portable (a.k.a. "Walman") that I've found that is really up to the challenge is the Sony SRF-M32, and the most recent version (with mostly cosmetic, rather than electronic changes) the SRF-M35.
I've owned my SRF-M32 for several years. I found it "refurbished" at the Sony Outlet store in Gaffney South Carolina about 1995. It's been great, but is kind of scratched and rough looking (again, I bought it "refurbished" years ago), so I've been searching for a replacement. First I tried the highly regarded Sangean DT-110. Yes it does have great sound quality. It also has very poor rejection of the "monster signal" on my doorstep. So I decided to stick with what I know works, and set out in search of the SRF-M35.
When I got to my local "On Cue" store in Wilkesboro, NC, it was my lucky day. The SRF-M35 was on sale at FIFTY PERCENT OFF! 18 bucks (including tax)! So I bought two of them. Now I won't be without my little traveling companion! Great fm reception (with appropriate, automatic "blend to mono" under multipath and weak signal conditions, so signals never get too noisy), and surprisingly good am reception too! I'd estimate am frequency response goes to 7khz or a little higher, a good octave better than most am radios. A good thing too, since a couple of my favorite music stations in the area are on am (including WKSK...580am in West Jefferson, which now covers MANY counties with their 5,000 watt signal), WKBC AM...800am in North Wilkesboro, WIRC AM..630 in Hickory (all country stations), plus a 10kw "blowtorch" of a talk station on 1200 in Blowing Rock, NC. All come in like they're next door, despite the fact that all (other than WKBC AM) are at least 40 miles from my rural home!
The SRF-M35 is a great little radio!