Jay wrote:

Caribbean listener,

Check out our Sony SW77 Group at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SONYICFSW77/

Reading through the posts since we started the group about 2 years ago you
will see what more than 230 users (and growing daily) report about their
SW77's. We also have lots of cool links to info on the radio and sw
listening in general, including downloadable Owner's and Service manuals.

As far as the learning curve with the Tuning Pages, I think this seems like
less and less of a problem as we become more computer savvy year by year. In
fact, it shows that Sony was a bit ahead of the curve when they designed
this. After a few days of use (with the Manual in front of you for quick
reference), you can master the system to the point where it becomes
intuitive and a joy to use. (There is also a condensed 1-sheet of the Page
Tuning system in the files section of the group). It is more "computery"
than some radios and this is why people react differently to it.

One important aspect of the Tuning Pages setup that is seldom discussed is
that fact that, for any given Page (let's say, BBC) you can set up to 10
frequencies for that broadcaster, then set the radio to either choose
frequency by time of day or by signal strength or none of the above (in
which case it stays on the last tuned frequency until you change it). This
makes it easy to program the radio to find the best signal for you, then you
can still step around the verify it made the best choice. A really nice
system.

As far as sensitivity, it is excellent on sw...usually so close to my 2010
that I can't say one is better than the other, although occasionally the
2010 slightly out pulls it. Very very similar. It's sync circuit is also
excellent...again, for daily use in the same league as the 2010's sync which
is as good as it gets.

AM sensitivity is very good, but weaker stations are rendered with more
obvious background noise than my very best am portables (like the CCRadio,
2010 or some Zenith Trans-Oceanics). The am has always slightly puzzled me,
because it really doesn't miss any of the very weak signals I can hear on
the other radios...if I can get a signal on the 2010 I will be able to get
it on the SW77, but is seems more "buried in the mud" on the SW77. My
intuition is that it has to do with what they used to refer to as a
"quieting curve" on fm tuners. That is, as signal strength decreases some
radio become noisier faster than others, but the curves of this change are
not necessarily linear. One radio may become noisier first, but then not
continue to deteriorate as signal drops further as fast as another radio. In
the case of the SW77, if the signal is truly faint, and I mean just barely
listenable, the SW77 compares favorably. But on medium to weak signals it
sounds noisier than some others. Again, this is only on am band. An external
antenna (like the Select-A-Tenna or the Justice) easily erases this problem.

Well, I hope I didn't ramble on too long. Hope you join the group!

Jay

With the demise of the '2010', the SW-77 remains one of the best
portables, although rather pricey in comparison to the '2010'. I hope we
don't hear about the SW-77 being discontinued in the near future.


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