[drh4683]

I have good memories of this radio when I was a kid. I remember when I was in about 3rd grade my best friend got an RF-2200 as a gift from his grandfather. Used of course but it wasnt that old at the time. He had this radio on his desk in his room and we used to play around with it all the time. He never really cared about it, but I was always interested in using it everytime I went over to his house. It was both this radio and a 1966 Courier 23 tube type CB base station he had that his mom got for him at the resale shop. That was alot of fun, I remember it quite well. We brought that thing everywhere.
I never had cool stuff like that as a kid. My parents never cared for my interest in radio and electronics so I didn't get this type of thing until I was old enough to find it on my own. Gifts that were engineering and electronics related always came from other people in the family, mom and dad were against the idea of someone giving a "used" item as a gift like an old tube radio which to this day I don't understand.

Enough past memories though..... So I finally found one of these RF-2200's and its just like how I remember it. I am very impressed with the reception quality and the radio has a reputation as being one of the best AM DXing radios ever. The tuning is excellent and I like the hairline pointer that is almost directly over the tuning scale with no gap for sharp precise indication. The analog scale is spot on accurate. The flip up and rotating AM ferrite antenna is a real nice feature. A very high end quality made unit. I am listening to WCBS 880, New York with excellent clarity as I type this. Its one of those stations thats difficult to pick up and not any radio can do the job, so I enjoy receiving it if I can. Another DXing favorite is CHWO, AM 740 from Toronto which plays 1950's/60's adult standards like Perry Como and Ray Conniff. This radio is a great performer with great sound having seperate bass and treble controls.

Just like I remember my friends did, the tuning meter sticks sometimes which is rather annoying. I would like to find a replacement if it exists but I doubt it. Must be a design flaw as the meter on this same radio 16+ years ago was doing the same thing. Its radios like this are why I like analog so much! No digital junk inside! A nice large PC board full of transistors and capacitors!