Sony ICF-SW40 Shortwave World Band Receiver Radio

by Sony

Product Details

Product Manual [1.28mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001ZUGW
• Item model number: ICFSW40
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #162,170 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 16, 2006

Product Description

Sony's ICF-SW40 World Band Receiver Radio features LW/MW/SW/FM Stereo Reception, but that's not all. How about Easy Dial Tuning, 20 Random Preset Memories Dual standby function lets you set the built-in alarm to sound at two different times or wake you to two different radio stations LCD display with Frequency/clock switch shows either the time or the tuned-in station frequency Frequency RangeAM - 530 - 1620kHz FM - 76 - 108MHz LW - 150 - 285kHz SW - 3850 - 26100kHz Antenna systemLW/AM - Built-in Ferrite Bar Antenna SW/FM - Telescoping Antenna Optional External Antenna may be added Speaker - 2-1/2 (66mm) Power requirementsAA Batteries x 3 (not included)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant to Use SW/AM/FM Portable, January 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Sony ICF-SW40 Shortwave World Band Receiver Radio (Electronics)

The Sony SW-40 is a portable shortwave receiver that gives good performance for its price range and is, best of all, truly a pleasure to use. The PLL tuning system incorporates a tuning knob, a digital readout, and an analog tuning scale to show your position on the spectrum. This makes the radio very easy and pleasant to use, whether finding stations or just "browsing" the spectrum. The preset function has 20 station presets, and is also very easy and efficient to use, as are the night light, sleep timer, and dual radio/buzzer "alarm" timers. The radio is small and light enough to be a practical travel radio. The sound, from a 2 1/2" speaker, is good quality for a radio this size and weight. The only "drawbacks" are sensitivity slightly lower than some might like (clip on an external antenna for weak stations) and a tendency for very strong local stations to interfere with reception--drawbacks only overcome by significantly higher-priced radios anyway. For its price this is a best buy and a great radio.

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible Radio, June 9, 2004

By 

"radioengineer" (Silicon Valley, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony ICF-SW40 Shortwave World Band Receiver Radio (Electronics)

It has absolutely no front end filters. All the noise existing around penetrates it. In the result, it receives noise, not signal. Strong chugging when you try to scan with the side tuning wheel.
Strangely enough, Sony takes off production decent world band models, but keeps making this kind of overpriced trash.
It would be a barely acceptable value at $30-$40, not at its current price. Buy instead incomparably better radios from Degen/Kaito, models 1102 and 1103. 1103 has an electronic needle scale blowing away that of SW40, and it is a competently engineered and very well finished radio. Its tuning works almost as smooth as that of an analog receiver. It also costs less than a half of SW40.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very happy with this radio, April 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Sony ICF-SW40 Shortwave World Band Receiver Radio (Electronics)

All I wanted was a radio with good reception, no need for headphones, and preset channels so that I could listen to NPR and the Red Sox game at work. To my surprise, this was pretty difficult to find - it seemed that there was no happy medium between the lower end clock radio / walkmans and the mini boomboxes with CD players, tape recorders, etc attached to them. All I wanted was a radio that acted as nothing but a radio, but did it well.

Finally I found this item - exactly what I had in mind. I'm very happy with this product. I just wished that it had come with an AC adaptor included, instead of having to buy it separately.