Hi All,
A radio has been found.
I am persistent, and surveying the market at greater length, the little Sony Walkman SRF-M37W kept popping up with glowing user reviews and the occasional terribly negative one. When these things happen, I begin to suspicion spotty quality-control, and figure if I can get a good one, it might be worth it.
It took trying
seven of the little devils, and they did indeed vary from virtually unable to receive local strong stations to absolutely stellar, and I have kept the one example of the latter.
This is truly a little gem, and I am delighted. There is no hiss from the LCD driver circuitry, and sound fidelity is terrific for what really is a cheap little radio. It gets drift-free VHF weather-band broadcasts from the US' National Weather Service, crystal-clear FM that easily reaches stereo stations 50-60 miles/80-97km away, and step-adjustable AM (allowing international use) that pulled in a good 60+ channels clearly last night. I live at the southern end of Oregon's Willamette Valley, and was able to receive AM stations from Canada, Idaho, and California. KGO in San Francisco (529mi/851km by road) came in drift-free at the same volume as any strong local station, and I even picked up San Diego, 977mi/1600km away. I am really pleased. It works great here at home -- as well on AM as my father's mid-1960s Motorola Civil Defense transistor radio -- and I have high hopes it will work when I am in the mountains or high desert.
There is one secret to it all. Besides varying hugely by example, the radio's circuitry is designed in such a way that sensitivity seems to be dependent on volume. I have good ears and want to keep them that way, so I run my radios at minimal volume. On the SRF-M37W, there is a huge step at the very bottom of the volume range where all audio fidelity drops off -- and so does sensitivity. It is not
as noticeable with the huge, '80s-style headphones supplied with the unit, but with earbuds, it is horrible. The solution is to run the unit with an inline volume control (
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102975 ) so the radio volume can be turned up above minimum while maintaining a reasonably low listening level at the earbuds. I'm now set, thanks to a particularly good example, but even this was not enough to save the day for the other six I tried, including one that really was nonfunctional.
So, to conclude this little saga, I'm now really pleased with my minimalist, lightweight radio; it seems a reasonable solution and the single AAA cell does indeed last a very long time. Anyone who pursues a similar path should be aware examples vary widely in sensitivity, selectivity, and suitability for use and also in price (only one good example out of seven is not great). The first example cost USD$42; the successful "keeper" was MSRP USD$29.99. They are currently on sale at
http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665363986 for USD$19.99. I understand Sony is discontinuing the traditional Walkman-branded portable-audio line, and will concentrate on MP3 players and Android-powered portable entertainment.
My thanks to everyone who weighed in and offered suggestions for the best take-along multiband radio for bike touring; very much appreciated.
Best,
Dan.
