The SRF-39 is a portable AM/ FM radio introduced in approximately 1992 by

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

. It uses a single

AA battery The AA battery (or double-A battery) is a standard size single cell cylindrical Dry cell, dry battery. ANSI and IEC battery nomenclature gives several designations for cells in this size, depending on cell features and chemistry. The Battery nom ...

, as its

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

electronics require very little voltage. It was one of the first radios to use the CXA1129 30-pin

integrated circuit An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...

, which later was responsible for the SRF-39's sensitive and selective performance.T. Okanobu, H. Tomiyama and H. Arimoto
"Advanced low voltage single chip radio IC"
IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 465-475, Aug. 1992, doi: 10.1109/30.156724. A variant of the SRF-39, the SRF-39FP, has a transparent case, designed to thwart contraband concealment. The radio often appears on the

commissary A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

lists of U.S.

federal prison A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for people who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), people considered dangerous (Brazil), or those sen ...

s, hence the "FP" suffix. The SRF-39 was followed by the SRF-49 in 1997, the PSY-03 in 1999, and the SRF-59 in 2001. These radios are popular in the

DXing DXing, taken from ''DX'', the telegraphic shorthand for "distance" or "distant", is the hobby of receiving and identifying distant radio or television signals, or making two-way radio contact with distant stations in amateur radio, citizens ban ...

community due to their sensitivity,

selectivity Selectivity may refer to: Psychology and behaviour * Choice, making a selection among options * Discrimination, the ability to recognize differences * Socioemotional selectivity theory, in social psychology Engineering * Selectivity (radio), a ...

and ferrite antennas.

References

Walkman Models of radios Products introduced in 1992 Prison culture {{radio-comm-stub

See also

References