559
Item nr.
Loud tropical portable
| Production | Asia, 1982. |
|---|---|
| Bands | MW (530-1610kHz), OC1 (2.3-7.3MHz), OC2 (9.4-21MHz), FM (87.5-108MHz), IF is 455kHz/10.7MHz. |
| Cabinet | Plastic. Size 30x17.5x7.5cm. Weight 1.6kg. |
| Power | Batt 4xD or AC110/230V (Off/On: 1.4W/1.8W). |
| Documents | Rmorg, Advertisement. |
It features two shortwave bands, but because of the many MHz's of band cramped on the dial, the practical use of especially the higher shortwave was probably limited. Tuning into a station is rather difficult there, let alone tuning the right station. The D2603 is the Tropical variant of the very similar D2604, that features just one shortwave band, and Long Wave. On the inside, the two models look very similar, of course, but one detail immediately identifies the models: in the D2603, the ferrite rod has just one coil, for MW, while the D2604 has an additional LW coil.A lot of D2000 portables had this metallic look. It looks metallic, but actually is painted plastic, so the paint may come off. The annual Vampire draw is about 12kWh, and will cost about the same as the current value of the radio.
With two speakers, a large cabinet, and separate bass and treble control, the sound of this model is good. It has the earphone connector in the front making it easily accessible. Unfortunately, Philips put the band switch in the back, which I find illogical because it is hard to operate.
| Obtained | 2/2022 from Gert (via Marktplaats); sn=KT01250008763. |
|---|---|
| Condition | 7; plays well, some scratches, antenna replaced, built-in FM bug. |
| Value (est.) | 6,8€. |
The telescopic antenna was gone, but I could replace it with an antenna from the NVHR Swap Meet. To my surprise, the radio plays reasonnably well without the antenna. Indeed, on the inside of the back panel, there is a black wire running across the panel, connected to the antenna. It looks like a revival of the good old Philips plate antenna. I wasn't completely sure, but my impression is that this wire is original. Could other D2603 owners please look into their cabinet to see if such a wire is there?
I installed a small FM transmitter so all stations received with this Orkan are also retransmitted in the FM band (96.0MHz). I also installed an antenna jack so as to connect a loop antenna (for SW).
