It's also a great radio for listening to AM; the antenna on top can be flipped up and rotated, which means you don't have to turn the radio itself to get the best reception on AM broadcast bands. Which in turn means the radio is easier to operate and easier to listen to. It's even got real bass and treble controls, RF gain, wide/narrow IF bandwidth selection and fast/slow tuning rates. It covers 525-1625 kHz (US AM broadcast), and 3.9-28 MHz in six shortwave bands; also US FM broadcast. It has record out, headphone out, and an external antenna connection. Audio is monophonic, and the radio runs on six 'D' batteries for literally hundreds of hours.

For sideband and CW, it has a BFO, but I don't consider this a very functional way to try to listen to these modes. It has one quirk, common in Panasonic SW designs; the tuning meter indicates backwards — that is, stronger signals cause the meter to deflect to the left. The meter is properly marked for this, but it has always been a little disconcerting.

This warhorse has been with me on more trips than I can recall; I've had one since 1979 when they first hit the market; later, perhaps convinced by bright LEDs and fancy digital features, I replaced it and sold it off, only to find that the new rigs just didn't have the performance this one did... and so I bought another, and I still have it. Think of that. Thirty years, and it's still a great radio, with features and performance right up there with the best.

#radio

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