A couple of days ago I found a nice box for the "Worldreceiver Boombox" department in my collection. Its a pretty box with very decent sound for a single speaker mono. It has lots of options, like a digital fluorescent display.

Special about it is, that it has lots of VHF bands. Ive never seen that on a normal world receiver or boombox. The VHF bands also make it rare, because it was forbidden to own such a device in a lot of countries during the time it was made. With this box it became possible to listen to police, taxi's, 27MC, wireless house phones, etc, etc,... Ive been listening to Schiphol Airport approach the whole morning!

Well, here are some pics again.. different scenery today... to much reflections at the steps because of the sun!!

That's amazing Michiel!

As an aviation buff, this would be running the whole time in my house!! What year was this box manufactured in?

I don't know exactly how old it is. I didn't open it up yet! Radio museum says 1985, on German forums they are talking about 1975. I think its somewhere in the middle. Around 1980 is my guess... But will let you know when I find something inside

cool! what range does it cover? I used to have a full range scanner in the mid 90s that picked up local airport, police, taxi's, CBs, analogue phones and even the odd baby monitor! is there anything worth listening to these days?

I think you're right about is age, looks like very late 70s design

VHF goes from 30MHz to 176MHz. Then there is UHF from 430MHz to 470MHz. LW goes from 145KHz to 360KHz. MW from 530KHz to 1600KHz. SW from 1.6MHz to 30MHz. It receives the complete spectrum I think!

I have to replace the VHF antenna... but even with the stump I can listen to airplanes! Its seems to be pretty sensitive! Schiphol approach was around 118MHz this morning Wish I had this box as a kid!!!

I hear a lot of Airport beacons and some talking between ground and planes. There is not much on the other frequencies. But I just did a quick scan with the tuning knob and I think the broken antenna doesn't give me the full coverage yet. But I'm sure its not like it used to be in the eighties... The CB band is completely silent for instance. I already knew that because I still have some CB equipment.

Great and seriosuly looking, huge scanner - congrats! 

From memory In the UK cordless phones were around 1Mhz or 30Mhz  CBs 26 or 27Mhz and Police were around 155-160Mhz so it sounds like all the bands of interest were covered there! This would have provided endless entertainment to a kid in the 80s

I have a son who is 8 that would be so excited to listen to the emergency services radio channels he might have possibly  exploded!!

No wonder you can receive airplane signals with this one Mike ,

it looks like a cockpit of a Boeing with all those switches and knobs !

The layout of the protective bars remind me of the RC-550.

Nice one!

I don't know how it's in UK, but since 2000 all emergency services went digital over here. So sad..... but on the other side... This box wouldn't be a bargain if it makes listening to the police possible

Didn't plan to service it today, but couldn't resist to open it anyway. Once opened it looked so easy, so I did the belts, compressor cleaning and the switch cleaning trick. Fully working now, except the VHF antenna. I did take the measurements for it, so up to eBay now lol

Didn't find any date inside... but it shares the deck with the big Silver spacemaster.... So I guess it's from begin eighties.

Please do!

I would have guessed the late 70's...hmmmm

Yeah, me too. But these multi band radios do look a bit old always. Probably because they were made for old people lol

Some sources say it's from early 80s, like this one:

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/s...r_nr94f1nr_94_f.html

A unique radio Marc did a version/aka of it .

Congrats Michiel,

Finally another one came up.

I own the same Marc for several years and I have not seen till now another one on the net, for sale etc.
It's a nice radio

now I'm wanting one but I see they're quite rare! can anyone recommend a vintage radio that covers a similar range?

Thanks guys Didn't know it was that rare Toni! I have never seen one before too! The strangest things pop up here locally sometimes!

Smeats, there is a version with no cassette. It's the NR-82F1. More common, but not a boombox

similar to the sony cf950?i love it michiel,great score

Thanks I'll start looking on epay buddy!

How far is the airport from you Michiel?

About 50 kilometers. One of the approach routes goes over my place. They are flying about 13000ft high at this point. BUT I've read somewhere there are "legal" versions of the radio without the cool VHF bands. So look carefully before you bid!

you're right i really don't want a "legal" version! I looked last night and today for this model and other model of  vintage radio with a similar coverage but but there's not much choice

Like Deli says, it's very unique! I haven't seen any multi bands with similar coverage!

I love the look of this machine  Michiel; I have a soft spot for world band receivers. Never seen one with extensive  VHF coverage like that! 

OK! after seeing Michiel's multi-band radio and checking out the AKAs I got this from ebay Germany....

The mighty globephone space commander icf 2003 dx!!

It covers LW 150 khz - 450 khz
MW 530 khz - 1600 khz
SW 1.6 - 30 MHz
UKW: 66 - 108 MHz in 2  bands
VHF 108 - 178 MHz in 2  bands
UHF: 430 - 478 MHz,

so nearly as much as the  pan crusader!

There are a few functions I'm not sure of so I'm hoping someone can school me.....

When do you use the VHF double conversion?

and what are the LSB, BFO and USB functions? (see below)

I have two Pan Crusaders, both versions, S & X, seen in the picture is the S version hooked to an external antenna(best), also a Satellit 750, both amazing machines.And here's the X at work, brilliant machines

ive just got a sanyo rp 8800 world band reciever but its poorly and awaiting the expert repair of a friend of mine

Michiel, please send me a PM, I tried to but it is apparently blocked.

Dude!! I completely missed your post! Congrats on finding such a cool looking multiband! Were you able to receive airplanes with it???

Someone explained me once that LSB and USB are for receiving the Lower Side Band and Upper Side Band for the tuned in channel. Something obsolete from the time there were not enough free channels on SW. I don't think its used nowadays... At least I didn't found any use for it BFO; no idea...

The Pan Crusader must be hooked to an external antenna(it has a connection on the back), recommend a dipole for better reception and usually after 20:00 PM. Planes, you get them all the time on UHF 4. Also add a preamplifier, that will really make a difference. Sometimes you have to adjust the antenna(plenty of info online). It also depend on the field of your antenna, don't have any roofs blocking the range.

Regards

George

The Eton you see in the pics is the equivalent of Grundig Satellit 750 and can also be connected to an external aerial, better performance as "advanced electronics". The secret is Antenna, if you get it right then you're up and running, it takes a little fiddling but eventually you will get it right.

Also  use LSB below 10 MHz, and USB above 10 MHz.-Using special circuits and filters, single sideband transmissions can consist of either the lower sideband (LSB) or the upper sideband (USB). If you listen to an SSB signal on an AM receiver, the voices are altered and sound very muffled, garbled and distorted. Some people even say "Donal Duck" sounding when tuned improperly in the sideband mode, that's why you need filters and "translators"

Read this http://www.hamuniverse.com/ssbinformation.html

BFO-In a radio receiver, a beat frequency oscillator or BFO , is a dedicated oscillator used to create an audio frequency signal from Morse code radiotelegraphy (CW) transmissions to make them audible. The signal from the BFO is mixed with the intermediate frequency signal to create a heterodyne or beat frequency which is heard as a tone in the speaker. BFOs are also used to demodulate single-sideband (SSB) signals, making them intelligible, by essentially replacing the "missing" carrier. BFOs are usually included in communications receivers designed for short wave listeners and amateur radio stations, which often receive CW and SSB signals.

Thanks for your explanation George. It cleared up a lot of questions.

Cool factor with a sense of mischief great find with an intresting alternative way to injoy radios perhaps before you sleep ...I like listening to the out side world happening 

Just made a picture of my CF-950S Skysensor. Its different. It doesn't have all those bands, but nevertheless its a cool box

Nice radio, there was a time when a few companies decided to build these radios just to rebel against the rules, there was a time when comms where closely monitored, just like today but the majority of people didn't have the necessary equipment that was only available to the"boys". Today you can buy , with the right money, anything including satellite stations for home. Considering that electronics were and still are very sensitive to EM pulses, radios like mine and probably yours, had included in the box a sort of shield to absorb discharges. Not very effective, unless underground. More soon.

If you like Sony?, here's 2 of them that you would like:Sony CRF-220 and CRF160

Wicked.  Love the green tuner dial.

There is a Pan Crusader X on eBay right now item:171826176371

regards