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How would a Panasonic RF-2200 stack up against a Zenith Trans-Oceanic?

Romeo Wolf

Romeo Wolf

Super Member
So one of my radio collecting channels that I've been subscribed to just recently received (and did a video on) a radio he's been wanting for a good few years. It's a Panasonic RF-2200, highly regarded as one of the best for MW DX'ing, but surprisingly an FM DX'er as well!

An' that kinda got me thinking, how would one of these stack up against another highly regarded SW radio, the Zenith Trans-Oceanic? (Any model, basically). Personally I own one, but I don't have a panny manny since my desire for one isn't all that high.

Either way, I'm curious to know. Perhaps someone who has both can chime on in? :)
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A much overrated , low-tech radio that excels only in its medium wave performance
The Panasonic RF-2200 is a great radio on AM and FM but there are far better modern shortwave radios available for lesser cost. On a whole, the RF-2200 seems to be the most over-rated used/vintage radio out there. Buy one if your focus is on making money on re-sale or if AM broadcast is your interest. Also buy one if you don’t mind spending a lot for what you could find in AM band performance for a 1/4 of the price of an RF-2200. Example : A good working GE Super Radio or an RF-1170 Panasonic.
 
604man said:
cut and paste..

A much overrated , low-tech radio that excels only in its medium wave performance
The Panasonic RF-2200 is a great radio on AM and FM but there are far better modern shortwave radios available for lesser cost. On a whole, the RF-2200 seems to be the most over-rated used/vintage radio out there. Buy one if your focus is on making money on re-sale or if AM broadcast is your interest. Also buy one if you don’t mind spending a lot for what you could find in AM band performance for a 1/4 of the price of an RF-2200. Example : A good working GE Super Radio or an RF-1170 Panasonic.
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Of course some information about what the RF-2200 is realistically about is nice, but it doesn't directly answer the specific question that I had in mind for this thread.

Aside from that I already have a GE Superadio (III), and a bunch of great AM "pocket" radios including a Royal 500D, so I just don't see a need for the 2200.
 
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the trans oceanic radios have germanium transistors that
go bad ....why not get a Sangean ATS 818 ???
 
Unless your itching to get into shortwave or love the cool factor the 2200 has I'd save your money, the RF-2200 has become stupidly overpriced in recent years. Your Zenith in proper working order should hold its own very well against a 2200 on AM.

Depending when your Superadio III was built (there was an issue early on in the "A" version run and then later during their production run in the "B" version.) you may already have a radio that can compete with the RF-2200. My 7-2887A Superadio III built in December 1994 is excellent on AM in narrow mode but awful on FM. In the date code the second number is the year, (will be 199X) and the 3rd and 4th numbers are the week.

You've probably seen Radiojayallen's AM portables mega shootout but if not here it is.

He also answers his emails so you may get the info your looking for from him directly.

https://radiojayallen.com/am-portables-mega-shootout-2019-update/
 
As stated above, the RF-2200 is well regarded, especially when it comes to AM reception. Also, T-Os tend to be prone to images, particularly on the shortwave bands; that means that it might seem like you're picking up numerous signals across the dial, but at least some of them are duplicates. I have an RF-2200, but I haven't done much with it since it has issues somewhere, possibly a dirty bandswitch. I do, however, have af RF-2600 which works fairly well (though not quite up to RF-2200 standards, from what I've read) and features a digital frequency counter which works on all bands, unlike the one in the RF-2800. Here is a photo:
rf2600.jpg
 
I have that TO. I have worked on a few over the years that were not mine. I find that the transistor sockets themselves go bad quite frequently. They can sometimes be cleaned to some avail. The beauty of discrete construction is the ease of replacement for these and other parts, of course.

The band selector is problematic too, as you likely know. Hitting it with contact cleaner is only a temporary fix. These need to be taken apart and carefully hand cleaned. All in all, antenna is everything on SW and the built in rx antenna just does not suffice in a crowded noisy modern environment.

I have not tried the other radios mentioned; but I have put my R7000Y head to head with a couple of tube receivers (Hammarlund HQ-145, Hallicrafters SX-110) as well as a Tecsun S-2000 modern rig. It is superb on all but the highest band SW (over 20MHz). FM is quite good too.

To catch the sidebands, you can do better. For standard sw it is a fine receiver.
 
Rey1 said:
Only the early TO's had germanium transistors, the TOs were manufactured up to around 1980.
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Correct, the Royal 7000 series was the first to use silicon transistors. They can fail, but it's much easier to find replacements than with the 1000 and 3000 models. Speaking of which, my Royal 1000, 2000 and 3000 models were still working fine last time I tested them; not all of the germanium transistors have failed (yet). Some of them might need new electrolytic caps, but that's true of the 7000s as well.
-Adam
 
Generic germanium transistors don't seem to work well in certain functions of the early TO.
For AM, it's hard to beat the stick shift earlier GE SR, and they are usually trouble free.
 
I have good memory's of the TO, a relative lent me his TO
some time in the mid 60's ...I had a Halicrafter's S20R
and a 1938 Zenith chair side.. I was fascinated with SW.
 
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