Sony ICF-8650 Power Supply

[fuelboy]

Hi folks, my first post here. I have my Dad's old but great condition Sony ICF-8650 I keep next to my bed and listen to the air traffic. I'm in need of an adequate 12V power supply for it but looking for the correct one. I'd like to avoid buying the Sony AC-12 AC Power Adapter that is specified for that radio, i'm sure I can use a more modern adapter but just don't want to mess up the radio unless I have one that fits the specs and get a little confused on the proper volts/amps needed. I just want to make sure so asking the experts here. Any help is appreciated!

 

[pro92b]

I don't own an ICF-8650 but saw some on eBay. The listings that included the AC adapter indicated that the Sony AC-D468 is the correct power supply for this radio. There are eBay listings for just the AC adapter and I would recommend just getting one.

The AC-D468 adapter is switchable and the output can be set to 6, 9, or 12 volts. The radio needs 12 volts. The adapter current rating is 800mA. If substituting another power supply, higher power supply current ratings are ok. From a web search the outside diameter of the DC power plug is 5.5mm. I'm guessing that the center pin is 2.1mm although plugs are made with 2.5mm and 2.8mm pins. The center pin is negative which is a bit unusual. You want to get this right so the radio is not fed reverse voltage.

I wasn't able to find a web reference that said if the AC-D468 is regulated or not. It is old enough to be a linear supply rather than a switcher but it may or may not be regulated. Replacing the original supply with a switcher might result in electrical noise that the radio would pick up.

There are enough unknowns about the AC-D468 that buying some other power supply to replace it will require some educated guesses that may end up being wrong.

 

[fuelboy]

Thanks for the reply, I thought I might've put this in the wrong forum topic. Well the ICF-8650 manual specifies the AC-12 adapter and I have seen those for sale on eBay recently but just got me thinking that surely there's a more modern (more compact) power supply that could be used instead. I'm thinking now it seems much safer to just get what this radio originally required. The AC-12 can be switched to different voltages.. 6, 9 or 12 as well so I'll take a look at that and the AC-D468 you mentioned.