Panasonic RF-888

Perhaps the cheapest of all my hobbies, next to books, are portable radios. There are a wide range of neat looking and excellent sounding vintage radios. This one here is a Panasonic RF-888, unique in shape, sound and function. It was designed, I believe, for the professional on the move. It has a large, two-way 6-1/2" speaker with a tweeter in the middle of the woofer, which was novel as the time (circa late 1960s). It has a separate jack and signal control for a microphone making a small portable p.a. system. It also originally came with a locking, removable shoulder strap, now lost. The radio is three band (PSB, FM, AM.) with a tri-purpose needle meter which can measure tuning, VU, and battery levels. It also has light for the meter and tuning displays. And interestingly, the radio features a mechanical shut-off timer. 

I can attest to the sound quality of the RF-888. I ran an electric guitar through a direct box which brought the guitar signal up to line level, thus turning the radio into a guitar amplifier. It gave good, clean volume. I did this on D cell battery power. There is also an auxiliary input for digital music. I'll enjoy taking it on camping trips.