Sony icf 2010 manual Page 3 of, Sync Tuning Facility, 2003-01-27

Radio Netherlands Receiver Shopping List: Sony ICF-2001D / ICF-2010 Page 3 of 5

computers, and gadgets, this is a very flexible set. You can also opt for manual tuning, with a conventional recognisable knob. It allows you to move in steps up and down the bands. You move in 50 kHz steps on FM, 25 kilohertz on the airband, and either 1 kHz or 100 Hertz on short, medium and longwave, depending on what you select. Those steps are quite audible, and you may well find that since the minimum step is 100 Hz each time, that using this receiver for radio-teletype (RTTY) reception is difficult. It's less critical when listening to amateur radio operators on either upper or lower sideband, both possible on this set. Ideally we would have liked the tuning steps on between 150-29999 kHz to be 50 or even 25 kHz, though back in 1985 this would probably add to the cost. The set will take account of the fact that the spacing between medium wave stations is 10 kHz in North America, and only 9 kHz in Europe.

This leads to an examination of the ICF2001D's selectivity, or ability to pick out the station you want from the rest of the rabble. The wider the filter, (rather like a window looking out on the shortwave band), the better the audio quality, but the greater the risk other stations using frequencies nearby will also be heard. The ICF2001D offers two settings, wide and narrow. We found the filters used to be fair for a receiver of this type. The "wide" setting is perhaps too wide, for in crowded bands you always seem to suffer from a 5 kHz whistle caused by adjacent stations. The "narrow" setting, around 3 KHz at -6dB, is definitely needed, and still produces very acceptable audio when listening to news programmes.

"Sync" Tuning Facility

There's a new button on this receiver which is a major high-point. It's marked "sync". Push it, and the receiver switches to either upper or lower sideband, but locks on to the station's carrier. It's an automated version of the old shortwave listener technique of switching to single- sideband and tuning very carefully to get rid of the resulting whistle. Why bother? Because the result is a signal less prone to the fading distortion, and it's very handy if there is a strong station on one side of the one you're trying to listen to. Press the "sync" button, and select either the lower or upper sideband, which ever gives clearer reception. The 2001D is rock steady enough for this idea to work well.

We noticed a design fault on the first examples produced in early 1985. The sync circuitry generated its own background noise. On lower frequencies, e.g. medium wave or the 49 metre shortwave band, it's less of a problem. But during our on air review in 1985 we found Radio Bucharest (in those days) on 11940 kHz with an excellent signal when tuned to AM. You could hear a clear "Sssssh" sound when the sync facility was switched on. Some listeners reacted to our review by saying it sounded like a form of jamming. But it was generated by the set itself. Further down on the 60 metre tropical band results were quite good. We were also able to listen to feeder transmissions and easily separate the two programmes being broadcast.

However, we tested another example of the set in August 1985, and found the synthesiser noise had been considerably reduced, enhancing the "sync" facility. On very weak signals, the sync facility fails to lock on to the carrier, but in 9 attempts out of 10, the system works well. The selectivity of the narrow filter was slightly better than on the previous model.

http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/icf2001d.html 2003-01-27