PanasonicRF-562D AM FM SW Shortwave Transistor Radio - Retro Design (Battery operated)

Follow-Up/UpDate -09-02-2022Now, after 17 months of usage, I will 're-evaluate' this purchase.First off, this is not, NOT a marketed N. American product [check your "MW" listing for "AM", is your indicator]. AND should you need 'parts', you'll find yourself quickly being directed to Europe and/or the Middle East... I needed an antenna [knocked over and bent this one]; after doing so, I soon discovered this model of radio is not covered with PANASONIC N. America, and henceforth no parts...Since having it, the volume/0ff-on knob has began to fail... Now, it has little to no volume control at the lower end of the range and when 'turned-up', it soon grows annoying at the higher-output. This to me, is indicative of low /or poor quality materials used in the control [I'll use two of my radios, both portables, which are over 38+ yrs old and still function like the day purchased - One has a 'rotary-styled' potentiometer; the other a 'slide-style' AND I can still lower the volume to a whisper].My other 'big' complaint, with this radio is the quality [or lack thereof], of a decent working receiver portion and its ability to 'tune-in' to a radio station... It is weak, as is the sound-tonal quality from its speaker!Normally, I am an AM listener AND this radio has a hard time gathering that particular signal and locking on it strongly. This radio does not have a worthwhile tuner, plain-n-simple. I am located in suburbia-Americana and my other portables receive AM signals wonderfully, and with little to no issue - Especially when it comes to 'signal-fade'. This radio fails in this area.I finally grew tired of this particular PANASONIC, recently purchased a PANASONIC RF2400D Am/FM and absolutely love it! Great reception and great tuner dial - AND great volume.Do yourself a favor - Pass on this one and think of the purchasing another model, especially if you want decent sounds and reception... It's your money. As for this one, it is going 'out' and it won't be missed.It's everything I expected of an AM [MW... now]/FM radio.It's has decent sound quality - Good volume - Great reception - Looks 'old school', and I am 'old school'.Bought this for a replacement, for a multi-band 35+ yr old portable radio, used out in my garage [tuner was getting weak and I was losing tuner capabilities and reception integrity]. Once unpacked and set up, I have no complaints regarding this radio.Batteries replaced after nearly a full-month of it being left on, nearly 10-12 hrs a day - Yes, I like listening to the radio, out in my garage. And if you don't want to run it on batteries, pick up a power-pack and run it that way [Panasonic will give you the 'battery-eliminator-power-pack' info by just checking their website or the 'owners manual' has that info.About my biggest and only real complaint, is there is no dial-illumination light/lamp, one can reference when 'dialing-in' your radio station, in low-light conditions...My old one had that luxury.Overall, it is a good radio and I'd buy another without hesitation.

On FM this is every bit as good as another radio I have which cost many times more. On AM once you get used to tuning more slowly because of the dsp it is highly capable and the nice audio was a real surprise and better than I expected. On shortwave the reception is decent and its easier to tune on SW if you are careful and tune slowly. The audio recovery on SW is surprisingly good and the dsp makes for decent selectivity which is true on MW as well. Construction quality is good and I happen to like the case. I have military grade gear and many portables and this rig is, to me, definitely worth the price. Older guys like me might like the old style tuning dial just to remind them of days gone by. This inexpensive radio is, in its own way, a gem. I am 73, did military comms and am an Extra class amateur operator. Got my radio licenses when one still had to study and work hard for them, especially the Advanced Class license which doesn't exist anymore thanks to the ARRL and the FCC. Panasonic did a decent job and this radio is very fairly priced. Anyone who denies this doesn't know what they are talking about!

I mainly listen to talk radio. This is the second Panasonic RF-562D I bought. I returned the first one because the sound sucks. It sounds just like two 1960s Japanese transistor radios that my dad gave me. It's hard to describe the sound which seems to have a bit of distortion. I love the way the radio looks and I like the faux leather case like 1960's radios had although the old ones had real leather. I searched all over Amazon and couldn't find another radio that looked like these retro radios except the Crosley CR3040A-SI Rambler. The Crosley had too much static and popping noises which was just too much like the old 1960s radios and this model didn't come with a case. I ended up returning that one because I couldn't take the constant popping noises.After a while I just had to buy the Panasonic RF-562D again because I missed that retro style and case. The second one still has the slight speaker distortion. When I compare to my Panasonic RF-2400D, the RF-2400D is so much clearer and sounds much better and works fine with rechargeable AA batteries that put out 1.2 volts per battery. The RF-562D doesn't do well with rechargeables and I had to use alkaline batteries (I used AA batteries inside D cell adapters) which made the sound much better. When I plugged in an external power adapter, it cut out the batteries automatically. However, I kept hearing an annoying hum so I went back to batteries.Overall, the radio isn't all that great. But I love the 1960's styling so much and I love that faux leather case that reminds me of the old transistor radios my dad gave me.