"Vintage" Sony ICFPRO80
 

Hi,

I recently saw a Sony ICF PRO80 radio at a used electronics store. It was
boxed, mint with leather case and manuals all for 50 bucks. (Canadian)

I did a web search but didn't find much info. Has anyone owned one of these
and if so, is this worth buying? The price is cheap, it has a 'never been
used' look to it and seems to cover a wide band of freqs. Plus, it's pretty
cool looking when holstered in the leather (Probably 'Pleather' or Vinyl
case) It *is* a Sony...any thoughts?

Thanks,
Mike T

"Michael" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I recently saw a Sony ICF PRO80 radio at a used electronics store. It was
boxed, mint with leather case and manuals all for 50 bucks. (Canadian)

I did a web search but didn't find much info. Has anyone owned one of
these
and if so, is this worth buying? The price is cheap, it has a 'never been
used' look to it and seems to cover a wide band of freqs. Plus, it's
pretty
cool looking when holstered in the leather (Probably 'Pleather' or Vinyl
case) It *is* a Sony...any thoughts?

Thanks,
Mike T



I have one and they are real good rigs. The electrolytic capacitors needed
to be changed though which is common. Kiwa can do it if your not up to it.

--
73 and good DXing.
Brian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A lot of radios and 100' of rusty wire!
Zumbrota, Southern MN
Brian's Radio Universe
http://webpages.charter.net/brianhill/

Michael schrieb:

Hi,

I recently saw a Sony ICF PRO80 radio at a used electronics store. It was
boxed, mint with leather case and manuals all for 50 bucks. (Canadian)

Grab it!

I did a web search but didn't find much info. Has anyone owned one of these
and if so, is this worth buying?

The ICF-PRO80 was an ICF-PRO70 with a converter to cover the frequencies
over 108 MHz (up to 216 or so?). The '70 covered 150 kHz to 108 MHz
continuously (in the int'l model), and as a shortwave receiver it's
supposed to be noticeably quieter than the '2002/7600D in spite of not
being that much younger or different in circuitry. Rather battery
hungry, though.

The price is cheap, it has a 'never been
used' look to it and seems to cover a wide band of freqs. Plus, it's pretty
cool looking when holstered in the leather (Probably 'Pleather' or Vinyl
case) It *is* a Sony...any thoughts?

You can hardly go wrong with it. The only notorious weak point I'm aware
of is the audio caps, those electrolytics weren't very reliable.

Stephan
--
Meine Andere Seite: http://stephan.win31.de/
PC#6: i440BX, 1xP3-500E, 512 MiB, 18+80 GB, R9k AGP 64 MiB, 110W
This is a SCSI-inside, Legacy-plus, TCPA-free computer :)

"Brian Hill" wrote in message
...

"Michael" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I recently saw a Sony ICF PRO80 radio at a used electronics store. It
was
boxed, mint with leather case and manuals all for 50 bucks. (Canadian)

I did a web search but didn't find much info. Has anyone owned one of
these
and if so, is this worth buying? The price is cheap, it has a 'never
been
used' look to it and seems to cover a wide band of freqs. Plus, it's
pretty
cool looking when holstered in the leather (Probably 'Pleather' or Vinyl
case) It *is* a Sony...any thoughts?

Thanks,
Mike T



I have one and they are real good rigs. The electrolytic capacitors needed
to be changed though which is common. Kiwa can do it if your not up to
it.

Thanks for the info! Yup, I scored that little honey for 50 bucks...plus NO
GST tax! I'm getting all the powerhouse stations and even tried the VHF
hardware box and was getting taxis! (For those who don't know this radio,
the 'convertor / hardware box' enables the listener to hear VHF
signals...although it's a rather cumbersome kluge.

Can anyone elaborate on the capacitor replacements...this radio is old, but
it doesn't have 'paper' caps and as such, I wouldn't think they would need
replacement. On the other hand...what do I know?

I love this thing and so far it's working great. For 50 beans, I couldn't go
wrong! What did this machine cost when it was new. It looks very
expensive...that is - buttons and dials and lights and TNC antenna are not
usually found on cheapo radios. Hell, the case and adaptor are worth fifty
bucks if you ask me. Sorry for so many questions, but I'd like to learn some
history of this model.

Thanks guys...I love a great deal. (Who doesn't?)
Mike T








--
73 and good DXing.
Brian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A lot of radios and 100' of rusty wire!
Zumbrota, Southern MN
Brian's Radio Universe
http://webpages.charter.net/brianhill/