Generally speaking, ferrite rods become less efficient once you get above the AM broadcast band. I guess we all do….īack to that ferrite rod mystery: After some experimenting, I discovered that the internal ferrite rod is used for SW which was quite a surprise…this is very unusual, although I do have one European radio (an ITT-103) with an internal “frame” antenna said to be used for the lower SW bands on local signals, although that radio also uses its whip antenna for enhanced SW reception. Since this is a known issue with some other meters, I can guess the plastic meter case must somehow have changed dimensionally a bit with age. There was a small screw which retained the needle mechanism (not the zero-set screwdriver adjustment) and found that by loosening it a half turn the meter was freed up and now worked normally. I removed the tape and separated the case, then moved the meter’s needle manually and it began to bounce a bit but it was still sticking. I removed the meter which was easy…two screws with no further disassembly necessary, and found it was held together by scotch tape (again, not uncommon). I had seen this with a Sony meter before and knew what do to. I checked its continuity with a VOM and when I did that it jumped to half scale and stuck there…it was clearly binding. In fact, I initially thought it was dead because it wouldn’t move at all, either as a signal strength meter or as a battery level indicator. Perhaps today’s batteries vary a bit in this regard as well…I don’t know. Even using the screwdriver, it was a challenge. I ended using a screwdriver to wedge them in…I literally could not get them in any other way. Modern batteries must be a bit larger than the batteries of old because I found it nearly impossible to get the 4 D cells to go into the radio. The first was a common problem I’ve seen with many older radios. Initial Setup: As I said this radio looked brand new and was clearly used very little if at all, but I had two initial issues to deal with. This posed a mystery…what was this second ferrite rod for? Usually when a radio has two ferrite rods one is for longwave but the SW-100 has no longwave band. A look at the interior reveals solid construction with two ceramic variable tuning caps and a second ferrite rod antenna of good size…larger than the AM rotating rod on the top. It features a rotating AM ferrite rod on top, large dial scales, a SW Fine Tuning knob, Signal/Battery Meter, a variable Tone Control, a SW Antenna Input, a Mic Input for use as a PA of sorts, Earphone jack and a generally sturdy feel. I must say that the SW-100 is an impressive looking portable. You can view the Radio Shack Catalog Archive here: The apparently similar model 12-795 debuted in the 1999 catalog (on ) and was available through at least 2002. Similar models were also available in under different names such as Rhapsody, Venturer and Waltham to name a few and there was even a version which added a cassette deck. The SW-100 (stock No 12-649) was first seen in the Radio Shack 1993 Catalog () and was available through 1998. Radio Shack offered hundreds of radios of all descriptions ranging from its inexpensive and unique Flavoradios to higher quality rebadged radios made by Sony, Sangean and others with many made exclusively for the “Shack”. Normally I would not have chosen to buy a radio with these near vacant bands but a generous reader offered me the radio which was like new in its box with its owner’s manual so it seemed like an interesting candidate to evaluate. In addition to AM/FM, SW and VHF (which includes Air & Weather) it also includes VHF TV sound which is no longer useable (since analog TV transmissions no longer exist) and Citizen’s Band which, while still in use, is not nearly as popular as it was 30 – 50 years ago. While 1993 doesn’t seem like ancient history to me, this radio demonstrates just how much has changed since then, primarily because of its band coverage. The SW-100 (not to be confused with the much different DX-100) is a real step back in time…more so than many other radios of its era.
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