Realistic 12-655
 

Hello,

Well I finally found a Realistic 12-655 TRF AM radio.

This is the one I've been hearing about all these years as a great DX
for MW.

It is very good, but I'll bet it could be a little better with one of
the mods that people have found over the years.

Anyone out there have any mods for this radio?

I've searched here and the rest of the web and found a couple of mods
so far.

I can't seem to find an "archive" of mods thought.

Anything will be greatly appriciated!

Thanks!

Wulf

Realistic 12-655
 

Wulf wrote:
Hello,

Well I finally found a Realistic 12-655 TRF AM radio.

This is the one I've been hearing about all these years as a great DX
for MW.

It is very good, but I'll bet it could be a little better with one of
the mods that people have found over the years.

Anyone out there have any mods for this radio?

I've searched here and the rest of the web and found a couple of mods
so far.

I can't seem to find an "archive" of mods thought.

Anything will be greatly appriciated!

Thanks!

Wulf

Congrats! The TRF was one of those grail radios that I had heard about
but have never seen in person. Dates to 1977 maybe? It seems to rank
up there with the GE Superradio(s) as a receiver that delivers very
good performance from a radio with minimal controls with a reasonable
price.

A google search returned several interesting links that discuss the
radio: http://www.radiointel.com/review-mwolympics.htm
http://dxtools.com/BestDXrx.htm
http://www.geocities.com/amlogbook/n...rs/reprint.htm (mods here)

You might try a variety of google searches for the radio and read
through the information in greater detail.

So how does it perform now, with no mods. And what does this mythical
radio look like anyway.

Realistic 12-655
 

John,

You asked how it performs without any mods...

While it is very good, at night when everything opens up and skip is in
effect, I feel that it is almost too sensitive and not selective
enough. Granted all sensetive radios will pick up so much you have to
dig to listen to just one station, but this one I have does not impress
me as much as I thought it would. The daytime reception is very good
as I said before. I may attempt to adjust it, I have the schematic and
the tools/knowledge.

Realistic 12-655
 

Wulf wrote:
John,

You asked how it performs without any mods...

While it is very good, at night when everything opens up and skip is in
effect, I feel that it is almost too sensitive and not selective
enough. Granted all sensetive radios will pick up so much you have to
dig to listen to just one station, but this one I have does not impress
me as much as I thought it would. The daytime reception is very good
as I said before. I may attempt to adjust it, I have the schematic and
the tools/knowledge.

I wonder an external antenna with stronger nulls would help manage the
flood of signals you are experiencing. You might give that a try
before cracking the case on a 30 year old radio.

Realistic 12-655
 

John,

You asked what this radio looks like; here is a link:

http://www.owdjim.gen.nz/chris/radio/Realistic-12-655/

About the external antenna, the radio has a place for one and I tried
it with about 55'
of wire stretched out in the back yard...nothing changed that I could
hear. I know 55' is real short for MW
but it's all I could find. I'll play with it a little more and see
what works, without opening it up.

Realistic 12-655
 

Wulf wrote:
John,

You asked what this radio looks like; here is a link:

http://www.owdjim.gen.nz/chris/radio/Realistic-12-655/

About the external antenna, the radio has a place for one and I tried
it with about 55'
of wire stretched out in the back yard...nothing changed that I could
hear. I know 55' is real short for MW
but it's all I could find. I'll play with it a little more and see
what works, without opening it up.

I was thinking more of a tunable loop antenna that you can rotate to
reduce the mishmash of signals. It could be either directly or
inductively connected.