▶ The Panasonic RF-2200 at eBay: bit.ly/PanasonicRF2200 (paid link) As an eBay Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase. There are no additional costs to you.

Just picked one up for $5 at the thrift store. The people running the store thought it didn’t work, I checked it in store and it works great! SCORE!!!!

When you think about it, radio is still an amazing technology. you get free entertainment wherever you go, no monthly fees for data, no need to worry about data cap. Radio has outlived vinyl, cassette and CD. You can shop for used 40 years old radio and it will still work. And FM stereo can sound near as good as 128kbps mp3.

I’ve had mine for about 10 years and just barely google searched it and I was mind blown at the prices. A guy where I used to work, was cleaning out his storage unit and this radio was in there and I thought it looked cool, I asked him how much for it and he said free, you can have it. I just used it for the first time since I gifted it to my brother and it still works great!!

My father bought it in 1979, I had used it during my college days in the early 1990s. God, this brings in a flood of memories.

I have one of these RF 2200 radios for about 40 years. Still works well. I will keep it!!

Very nice radio!!! That thing sure has ears!!! I had a Panasonic rf-666 walkman size radio when I was a kid and used to always scan for new stations... I heard all kinda of stuff. I still enjoy looking for stations many years later!!!!

I own this radio. Bought it brand new back in the early 1980's for around $150. Still have the original box and instructions. It works perfect to this day. All capacitors are still good. I need to open it up again and clean the pots and switches. Some dust has gotten in over the years. The only thing negative I can say about it is the FM tends to overload when you are in the city where there's a high concentration of FM transmitters nearby. This is especially true if there are two FM stations that are either 10.6 or 10.8 Mhz apart, then the whole FM dial can puck up those two stations mixing together. Example: 103.5 and 92.7 = 10.8. The IF is @ 10.7, so it gets overloaded badly. Also, a strong FM station will bleed over to some of the higher shortwave bands. On the AM band, no issues as you can simply turn down the RF gain if it gets overloaded. I wish the RF gain would also function for FM. Overall, a great radio, especially if you are far away from strong transmitters. I rate it ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I bought one of this in a car boot sale at 35 bucks. Totally dirty, but in excellent shape. And with strap an manual. It's take me 15 days of work to left it in mint condition. Outstanding reception, sensibility, audio and build.

Hey Todd, I finally pulled the trigger on one of these bad boys on eBay yesterday! It was already re-capped, cleaned, and LED upgraded so it is supposed to be in perfect condition. Well, perfect don't come cheap! ; )

I live near Boston. Bought mine new in 1981 (40 years ago!!!), still works almost flawlessly. On AM I get stations from NYC to Cinci. easily. Stations from Chicago to Atlanta are weak but understandable. Occasionally can get WWL in New Orleans ( heard live broadcast during Katrina!!!!) On FM I find that putting the telescope antenna in a horizontal position and rotating it I can get several more local FM stations. It works better for Shortwave in the vertical position. Have fun!

That is normal to recalibrate for each brand. Enjoy!

I used to have this one. This is a great radio and the first of it’s kind. Sounds awesome. Legendary on MW! It’s notable to look at the monumental difference in technology between this and a newer radio! It is indeed normal for you to recalibrate for each of the short wave bands, as I used to own one.

I have one, and I still use it. It's one of my favorite.

What a beautiful radio . I'm kind of jealous. Nice find. Reminds me a lot of the newest Eton Field Radio. The front face looks very similar.

I agree that the Panasonic RF 2200 is the best analog available, easy to tune a great pleasure to use; I used mine in the early '80s and gave it to my son.

Bought one today an estate sale for $40. Previous owner did leave batteries in it, but the corrosion was surface level and took me all of 2 minutes to get out. The thing needs some deoxet on the switches but it still works great, and is an excellent shape.

Just found this video by you. Didn't know you have one - was watching your Tecsun reviews and comparisons. I bought the DR-22 European version when stationed in Europe with NATO circa 1977 or 1978. Usually sits on a high shelf in my home office tuned for local FM and ready for use during tornado warnings and power failures. Also use it for the WWV time signal. After watching this I pulled it down and compared it to my Eton Elite 750. In spite of it needing switch cleaning and aged electrolytic cap replacement, I was impressed. Sensitivity is still comparable for weak SW stations. Rotary pot controls aren't scratchy . . . amazing. The rotary switches need their contacts cleaned but some repeated rotation typically gets them working OK. Its drawbacks are the SSB/CW BFO being finicky, and the MW/SW bandwidth only having two settings: wide and narrow. A much narrower setting would be good to improve S/N in noisy conditions and blocking adjacent signals. SSB and CW in particular could benefit from narrower bandwidth settings. Just ordered a Tecsun S-8800 and will compare the two. Also have a Tecsun PL-880, a nice book size portable albeit not the performer as the Eton Elite 750, or apparently compared to the 45 year old DR-22 (other than its drawbacks). I used the DR-22, which has a 120/240 AC dual voltage switch on the back in Europe during the Cold War listening to the plethora of SW propaganda stations from the West/NATO and Iron Curtain. Vladimir Pozner singing the praises of idyllic Soviet life was entertaining as was the rabid Maoist rantings of Radio Tirana (Albania). Superb radio for MW AM broadcast, FM and SWL.

I just got one a few weeks ago. Such a great classic!

This is a GORGEOUS radio. 😍

Been waiting patiently for you to do this one for a long time, cant wait to hear your thoughts! (I'll have to wait til after work so I can sit back and enjoy this episode)

its always a good day when todderbert reviews japanese vintage

Hi, Like you, I have been searching for a good example of the RF2200. Like you, I have persevered and have just bought one in superb condition. I'm certain someone has overhauled it. There's no control noise. It just works perfectly! By way of a humble tribute to you, a friend of yours makes an appearance here. This comic was from, roughly, the same era as the RF2200. 73s and GDX from Scotland.

Definitely a great radio! I have the Japanese version (Cougar 2200), beside the FM range being different (which I don't mind at all) It outperforms all my other radios on Shortwave and Medium wave. The D cells can last forever on this radio. A tip for FM: on FM the 125KHz marker switch (and also the BFO switch) serves as loudness function. Well done! for me, it is my favorite of them all!

Uno de los mejores Radios. Doble superhetereodino

Got mine new in the 60's and still use it , made a few CW contacts with my Night-Kit T50 and back then spent many hours copying code from W1AW . The D cells batteries seem to last forever after your review guess it's time (abt 55yrs)to clean up the controls.

I picked up mine here in Japan last summer (local brand: “Cougar 2200,” same model number, but with the Japanese 76-90 MHz FM band). Came with its companion antenna coupler which is…mildly useful? Did a full disassembly, cleaning/polishing, capacitor replacement, swapped in LED lighting and re-aligned it. Still some tweaking to do, but the audio is so rich, and its AM reception is glorious. Interesting that yours has the same brown front-panel coloring as my Japanese model. Other US units that I’ve seen have a black front panel. Maybe they sold 2 versions over there?

My all time favorite analog, portable MW DXer. Properly aligned and working, the RF 2200 is fantastic on AM and FM. On the shortwave bands it is really not any better than numerous other well-made analog portables, and if you are really more about SW and/or amateur SSB comms then you probably do NOT want to pay the premiums the RF 2200 gets these days for average performance there. There are more affordable and far better performers around in that regard... but if you want excellent MW DXing on a standalone portable... you get one of these.

Panasonic shortwave RF-2200 Best!!

Nice job getting one of your favorite radios, plus it looks so cool😊

The ONE radio I’m still looking for‼️ A totally awesome radio❗️ 📻🙂

Bought one!

I just bought my Panasonic RF-2200. I did a research and this model is considered to be some sort of a benchmark monster of a receiver. The item came in superb cosmetic condition with all the knobs and switches working as intended. Gyro antenna was smooth and clicky, not even a scratch on the body. However, once I put in the D size batteries, turned it on and started surfing, my excitement waned. Don't get me wrong, I was able to get tons of stations on the FM - superb FM capabilities. I tuned in to a whole bunch of AM stations, as well. However, I wasn't able to get anything from SW bands - the whole reason I bought my RF-2200. I am just getting into the hobby, so I am a complete noob. So, I figured that's how it supposed to perform. I reasoned, I had higher expectations than I should. But...I had a point of reference... And that point of reference was a weaker, less capable vintage receiver that performed noticeably better than the RF-2200. Yes, my Japanese Vintage Candle TK-1848 was able to get a better, more intelligible AM signal with more stations overall! Moreover, I was able to tune in to a few SW stations (Asian, German, French). And I was hardly able to get it on the RF-2200, which suppose to obliterate my good lovely Candle in its performance! Any station I got on the Candle sounded muddy, noisy and weak on the RF-2200 with some background hum as well. All SW bands were pretty much empty. I mean , the RF-2200 couldn't be so inferior to the Candle? As I have no experience in this, would you think that my capacitors are out of spec or perhaps some have failed completely? And my reception power would improve after recapping? In any case, I probably wouldn't even know that something wasn't right if I wouldn't have a reference point. If anyone could enlighten me, please do so))

You can put any carrying strap, provided that it is of the same width. The important thing is not to lose the left and right clips, as they are the ones you will not really find. A wonderful receiver that I own the European version of, national Panasonic DR22

One of the nicest I have seen for awhile

I've been waiting for this as I knew a radio nut like yourself would love it. If you want to have some fun take her to the park or someplace away from power lines and other RFI. You'd be amazed at what you'll pull in. In a quiet location my RF2200 can pull in an AM/MW station from over 450 miles away in the daytime (just groundwave alone). Yes, it's weak and quiet, but it's readable just the same.

An awesome powerhouse of a radio.

Congrats Todderbert, you got yourself a jammer here.

A hidden feature: On FM tune to a channel then if you switch the 125 kHz switch to on it acts as a bass boost. You are going to enjoy this radio!

Had one years ago and loved it!

Hej Wow what a lovely radio you have there large buttons and knobs love it so nice. Todderbert the SuperSonic SC-1080BT arrived yesterday so am testing it now. But so far I'm happy with this radio and it has good speaker. I became a little more interested in more Supersonic radio devices take care and have a nice radio Torsdag.

So glad to finally get your take on this legend! Great review and can pick up on your enthusiasm about it:) Looking forward to more!

I actually got one of these for $20 from a recycling center in MINT condition lol. Im having the same issue you described with the AM being MUCH quieter than FM, cleaning the pots doesn't seem to help much

The Beast

Somewhere around my home I have one! Got to find it.

Do you have a dedicated video on how to and when to clean up potentiometers?

So you finally got one............

DeOxit working perfectly on my volume knob.

Amazing sound

I still have the one I purchased when they came out, still works as good s new....

Super Wow. Now that is a radio. Love it.

Hi, awesome presentation and yes I would love to own one of these as well as a Sony.

Always wanted one of them radios ⚡very cool radio👍👍

I have read that this is THE radio to get for AM radio listening. My mom lives in a rural area "Between Dallas and Houston" in Texas and I was going to get her the best condition unit I can find. If money was not a concern, would you recommend this or something else?

Please consider comparing this with a super radio on MW. Thank you for posting.

Your MW test had the band selector knob on FM.

I'm green with with envy that you caught a pristine looking Panasonic RF-2200 looking like it was manufactured ten years ago! This must have been a model from 1977 when Panasonic put in a lot of effort in designing well engineered shortwave radios. If only Tecsun were like Panasonic in its heydays! I have an old beat up, semi functioning Toshiba RP-2000F (bought new in 1982) with a X-tal marker band spread tuning knob and it's probably a poor man's Panasonic RF-2200. It does tune to 30 MHz but sorely lacks a fine tuning knob and only had three shortwave bands (SW1-SW3), and it was a pain to tune precisely, especially in SSB mode. I remember the RP-2000F was pretty good at AM when we still had AM stations in Malaysia. Just a question, Todd - when you demonstrated the backlighting in the dark, the left part of the S-meter seems to be dark and the dial appears not uniformly illuminated. Is it supposed to be like that or did one or two of the incandescent bulbs burn out before you bought this amazing portable receiver? 😀👍🏼

seems to be very good radio..!!!

Superb!!!

How about a shootout between the Panasonic RF2200 and the Eton Elite Field and another between the GE Super Radio II and the C Crane EP Pro?

Hi nice channel guy ! What is the best site and website and most trustworthy to buy a radio like this ? NZ. Regards

One of a great radio

I had this radio, I used to listen to Super Rock kyoi

excellence

During the crona last year i could pick up ham radio stations on a sanner and now you can't and when crona was active Avery one stayed home so not much on a sanner last year but picked up ham chatt 👍

I just got a Panasonic RF 2200 the radio is great shape. FM works great AM and shortwave weak audio . On AM radio the signal works so it appears that the front works. But weak audio . Do you think the band switch is the problem? Or the caps between stages?

Awesome radio and review but not CFTR 680 that is news around the clock. My dad said back in the day tho it was a rocking top 40 station. 👍👍✌️

Being halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee gives you a lot of channels unfortunately I'm on the far south end of the Chicago area so I don't get many channels from Milwaukee

It's not really 8 bands, the Shortwave band is divided up. There's only 1 Shortwave band.

Just one given to me today

Love it

Thinking about getting one for myself. I wonder how the Ham band reception compares to a Ham (amateur) handi-talkee if both the Panasonic and the Ham radio used the same antenna for the comparison??? Comparing the Panasonic to a BaeFeng UV-5R or the well regarded Yaesu FT-60R would be interesting, especially considering the high cost of the no-longer-made Panasonic.

Sweet radio

On the time scroll b/t from 18-24 minutes it is listed as "medium wave test." (However the indicator dot and band selector switch show FM Broadcast band.) Just commenting. On another note, which radio do you do you think is best for AM DXing?

even in fm you can use the slow mode switcher.

I want to buy this radio

A -ha Sounds good on it :) But in Norway the FM is dead,shut down,just digitally now :(

I have this radio and love it. Unfortunately, it quit working. Any idea where I can get parts, possibly a mainboard, and someone to fix it?

Well sir are you trying to tell me this radio is more sensitive then the crane ep pro. Hard to believe. However if it is that will really be something. Someday I will get one for sure. Thanks. Ron. Z.

Regarding portable am/fm/sw radios, this is the standard which all others will strive, but currently none, can compare. Tecsuns come nowhere close.

おおおおお！！

Could you tell me where to buy it and how much that would be in Philippine money?

Where from I bought this item ... ... Inform me plz

if I could get an example as good as yours I would jump for sure

How much is the new one? Where can I get one?

LET`S GO BRANDON! DOOO DERP!

What would the battery life on a radio like this be?

Where can I find a new one at??

👍

How is the RF2200 with Shortwave stations?

I guess, you're a fan of Iron Man.

🕊🕊🕊🕊

Is the AM better on the RF 2200 or GE superadio 2 I wonder?

What radios get a 5 rating for fm?

Hi Todd, what is the contemporary equivalent of this radio?

So Radio top ai 🇧🇷🇺🇸👍📻

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