Sony ICF-SW1

Sony ICF-SW1 (8.3 oz./235g with 2-AA Eneloop, about $100 used if you know How to Win at eBay.) bigger.

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Sony ICF-SW1. bigger.

Sony ICF-SW1. Note permanently attached wrist strap. bigger.

HINT: The weird miniature hard plastic dog tag attached to the wrist strap inserts into the slot at the top center of the back and works as a stand.

Introduction top

I got my ICF-SW1 used at eBay (How to Win at eBay).

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This tiny ICF-SW1 radio gets every AM, FM, Shortwave and Long Wave frequency.

For FM stereo, use the headphone jack.

It has big buttons and is easy to use. Honestly I got one back in the days when there was a lot to enjoy on the shortwave bands as I was intrigued by its tiny size and classic industrial design.

It's a PLL synthesized design.

This tiny radio has great reception, even on FM. Usually these multiband radios have awful FM sections, loaded with all sorts of images (interference from fake mirror-images of real stations on different frequencies), while this radio has a decent FM section as well.

Of course used indoors today there will be loads of interference from computers and light dimmers and God knows what else; walk outside away from everything and reception will be much, much better on the AM bands.

There's a green LED backlight, which is very dim.

The telescoping antenna seems to be made of stainless steel.

It may be tiny, yet has room for a (mono) tape line out jack.

It's for general use; it lacks SSB or synchronous demodulation. Use the tiny ICF-SW100 or larger ICF-7600G if you need these.

This tiny radio is so small it easily can hide behind my iPhone 16 Pro Max. It's ideal for throwing in a bag and being prepared for anything. It's best to keep the batteries separate if you don't expect to be using it anytime soon as you don't want them to leak if left in for a couple of years unused.

While the Internet suggests that its electrolytic capacitors dry out and require replacement, I got this one in 2010 over eBay and it's always worked great. I'm writing this in 2025.

Specifications & Measurements top

I got my ICF-SW1 used at eBay (How to Win at eBay).

Bands (may vary by country)

150 ~ 528 kHz LW.

530 ~ 1,610 kHz MW (when set to 10 kHz spacing; also sets to 9 kHz spacing with a switch in the battery box).

1,615 ~ 29,995 kHz SW.

76.0 ~ 108.0 MHz Stereo FM.

Tunes in 5 kHz steps on AM/SW.

Audio

Tiny 66 × 35mm speaker (2⅝ × 1½ inches).

250 mW audio power output at 10% THD.

3.5mm stereo headphone jack rated for 18Ω headphones.

3.5mm mono tape out jack rated 775 mV from 1kΩ source impedance.

Power

2 - AA cells or 3V DC AC adapter.

Rated 12 hours of play time with SUM3 (carbon zinc) cells.

Measured Current Consumption

250 µA off. This calculates to about a year before running down alkalines.

17.5mA Light ON.

50 mA idle (ON but silent).

60 mA playing AM, which calculates to about 33 hours with alkaline or 2,000 mAh Eneloop.

Clock Accuracy

Every sample is different, but mine is poor, gaining about 35 seconds per month (1,128 milliseconds per day)

Size

2.97 × 4.86 × 0.93 inches HWD

71.4 × 118.2 × 23.7 mm HWD

Weight

8.272 oz./234.55g with strap and 2-AA Eneloop, actual measured weight.

Rated 8.1 oz. (230g) with batteries.

Versions top

I got my ICF-SW1 used at eBay (How to Win at eBay).

ICF-SW1: Radio only

The radio itself is called the ICF-SW1. It's all you need or probably want. It often comes in a slip-in case and has a built-in telescoping antenna that pulls-out from the top left of the radio.

ICF-SW1E: Radio, Long-Wire Antenna & more

This kit includes the radio in a harder carrying case with a snap closure, stereo earbuds, and an AN-71 "compact" external antenna, which was some rolled-up wire with a clip to attach it to the radio's own antenna.

This set isn't seen that often.

ICF-SW1S: Complete Travel Kit

It was often sold as a complete travel kit, called the ICF-SW1S, which includes a soft slip case, an active external antenna, worldwide AC adapter and stereo earbuds in a fitted polypropylene case.

The active antenna needs 4-AA cells to power its preamplifier. They go in the base that supports the antenna and help keep it from falling over. The active antenna won't be active at all unless you remember to insert its own batteries.

The case is not waterproof, and honestly I can't imagine carrying all this while traveling, but Sony knew how to sell the dream.

Oddly the whole kit sells used for about the same price as a bare radio (typically $100, ranging from $50 to $200), so you may as well get the whole kit as I did:

Sony ICF-SW1S Complete Kit. bigger.

Here's the box in which the case and system was sold:

Sony ICF-SW1S Box. bigger.

Other Sony Shortwave Radio Models top

ICF-SW07 (1999-)

The ICF-SW07 is a folding AM/FM Stereo/SW/LW radio that replaces the ICF-SW100 (1994-1999), which replaced this ICF-SW-1.

It's a digital PLL with SSB and synchronous detection. It uses a removal ROM chip to store various stations. These ROMs were updated from time to time and by location as well.

2-AA.

ICF-SW10 (1994-1999)

A small analog AM/FM Stereo/SW/LW radio with slide rule tuning:

Sony ICF-SW10. bigger.

I brought this one on a trip to the backwoods of Russia in the winter of 1996~1997, and not knowing what to expect, I blacked-out all the lettering to look as unassuming as possible.

The simple all-analog (no displays or computer) circuitry leads to low power drain, so it plays about 100 hours on 2-AA alkaline or eneloop cells, or about three times as long on the same two AA cells as the computerized SW1 reviewed above.

12.340 oz. (349.9g) with strap & 2-AA Alkaline.

ICF-SW12 (c. 1997)

A folding analog slide-rule tuned AM/FM/SW radio with a digital LCD world time clock.

2-AA and a CR2025 for the separate clock.

ICF-SW15 (c. 1993)

Basic AM/FM/SW slide-rule tuned radio.

3-AA.

ICF-SW20 (c. 1989)

Basic analog AM/FM/SW radio.

2-AA.

ICF-SW22 (1993-)

Basic analog AM/FM/SW radio.

2-AA.

ICF-SW30 (1993-1996)

Digital PLL AM/FM Stereo/SW/LW radio, an abridged version of the ICF-SW7600G.

3-AA.

ICF-SW33 (c. 1997)

Basic digital PLL AM/FM Stereo/SW/LW radio; sort of a simplified 7600G.

3-AA.

ICF-SW55 (1991-1998)

Impressive-looking PLL synthesized AM/FM Stereo/SW/LW radio with lots of displays and programmable timers and presets, wide and narrow AM and SSB, but no synchronous detection.

The speaker is internal and plays through a slot along the top front of the radio!

4-AA. It has about 30% more current consumption (and therefore 30% shorter battery life) than the ICF-7600G on AM; Sony says about 7 hours on carbon-zinc or I figure about 25 hours on alkalines or Eneloop.

31.465 oz. (892.0g) measured weight with strap and 4-AA Eneloop.

ICF-SW77 (1991-1995+)

A very serious-looking PLL synthesized AM/FM Stereo/SW/LW radio with SSB & Synchronous detection and Wide/Narrow AM bandwidths.

4-C cells.

ICF-SW100 (1994-1999)

Tiny folding digital PLL AM/FM Stereo/SW/LW radio with SSB and Sync detection. Looks great, but I've never used one. It replaces the ICF-SW1 reviewed above.

2-AA.

ICF-SW800 (1989-1990)

A "card tuned" radio that uses preloaded cards programmed with popular radio frequencies for people unfamiliar with the shortwave bands.

3-AA.

ICF-SW1000T (1995-2004)

Digital PLL AM/FM/SW/LW radio — and cassette recorder! The radio circuits are similar to the ICF-SW100 with SSB and sync detection, and its size, weight and controls are similar the ICF-SW7600G.

3-AA.

ICF-2010 (a.k.a. ICF2001D in Japan, 1985-2003)

A big, complex PLL Air/AM/FM/SW/LW radio. I bought one new back in the day, and returned it: like many of these radios, FM reception was awful.

Takes 3-D and 2-AA cells.

ICF-7600 (1977-1982), ICF-7600A (1982-1987) & ICF-7601 (1988-1993)

Slide-rule tuned analog radio.

ICF-SW7600 (1990-1994)

Digital PLL AM/FM Stereo/SW/LW; an earlier version of the 7600G.

4-AA.

ICF-SW7600G (1994-2000)

Digital PLL AM/FM Stereo/SW/LW.

4-AA, about 70mA actual measured current drain while playing AM, LW or SW to give about 30 hours on alkalines or Eneloop. Sony says about 20 hours on alkalines or 10 hours on carbon-zinc.

22.175 oz. (628.7g) with strap and 4-AA Alkaline.

A favorite of mine:

Sony ICF-SW7600G. bigger.

ICF-7600GR (2001-)

Newest, silver version of the 7600G.

Sony ICF-SW1 User's Guide top

I got my ICF-SW1 used at eBay (How to Win at eBay).

Get Normal 10 kHz Radio Channels

Before putting in AA cells, be sure that the tiny switch inside the battery chamber is set to 10 kHz for use in the USA. If it's set to 9 kHz then it won't tune properly in the USA (but will be set for use in Europe and some other places).

Set the Clock

● Turn OFF, but leave the MAIN POWER slide switch ON.

● Hold TIME SET while tapping or holding TUNE +/-.

Tuning

Direct: Press AM or FM, enter the frequency, and press AM or FM again.

Band Swapping: To swap among the numerous bands, hold BAND and tap +/-.

Scan: Tap SCAN TUNE to start. Tap again to stop.

Setting Presets

● Tune your station.

● Hold ENTER as you tap the desired PRESET number.

Each preset address (0 ~ 9) may be from any band. There are only ten presets total. An advantage of this system is that you never have to switch bands before selecting a preset, but you don't get ten presets per band as you do in the Sony ICF-7600G.

Sleep Timer

● Tap the SLEEP button just below the ON/OFF button.

It turns off in about 65 minutes. You can't select the delay.

Alarm ("Standby") mode

There's no alarm or buzzer, but you can set the radio to turn on to wake you or get a certain broadcast. To set these:

● Tune your station and set the volume.

● Turn OFF, but leave the MAIN POWER slide switch on the top ON.

● Hold ALARM SET (the same as the BAND button) and tap or hold TUNE +/- to set the turn-on time.

● Let go of ALARM SET and then tap STANDBY. You'll see STANDBY on the LCD. Tap STANDBY again to turn STANDBY ON or OFF. Easy!

Batteries

This tiny radio works great with regular AA alkalines or any sort of rechargeable AA cells, and even works great with primitive carbon-zinc chloride "heavy duty" AA cells sold in dollar stores and tiendas all over the developing world.

Don't bother with Lithium AAs; they don't run any longer than alkalines or Ni-MH or Eneloop and can leak just like alkalines. Eneloop are the best; they hold a charge at least as long as disposables and they don't leak.

Be sure to take out the batteries if you put the radio away. There's enough current drain running the clock even when turned off that alkalines run down in a year or two, and that continued drain is exactly what will make alkalines leak all over the insides of your radio.

Volume Control

HINT: To make precise adjustments, face your palm towards you, press the pad of your index finger on the back of the VOLUME knob, and move your entire hand slowly, using your finger as a lever.

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