Note
73, Feb 1978, p. 102.
he Sony ICF-5900W is the U.S. export version of the domestic Japanese ICF-5900 model. Priced in the hundred-dollar range It functions as an AM/FM and three-band shortwave receiver. While not intended as a primary station receiver, it is designed for casual shortwave or amateur band monitoring.
Features
– Power: Powered by three D-cell batteries.
– Frequency Coverage:
Covers standard AM and FM bands.
Three shortwave (SW) bands spanning 3.9 to 10 MHz, 11.7 to 20 MHz, and 20 MHz to 28 MHz.
– Double Conversion: Employs the FM intermediate frequency (i-f) at 10.7 MHz as the first i-f on shortwave bands for high image rejection, paired with a second i-f at 455 kHz.
– Bandspread Tuning: Features a second local oscillator variable from 10,550 kHz to 10,850 kHz, providing a calibrated $\pm 150$ kHz bandspread (300 kHz total) over any desired portion of the shortwave spectrum with 10 kHz dial markers.
– Mixer: Utilizes a doubly-balanced first mixer stage with a bipolar transistor for exceptional immunity from signal overload.
– Includes a built-in 250 kHz crystal calibrator and an automatic product detector for CW and SSB reception when the BFO is enabled.
* Tuning rate is 100 kHz per revolution on the bandspread control.
* Sensitivity remains strong on lower frequencies but falls off on the highest shortwave band (reaching about 8–10 uV).
* Shortwave selectivity measures approximately 4.5 kHz at 3 dB down, which can be supplemented using the bandspread tuning and tone controls.
