"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote in message
...
I have an FR200. I bought it in 2003 when we thought Iraq would be sending
us
missles with chemical and biological weapons.

A wonderful portable radio it is not. It is a decent performer for an
emergency situation. As long as you keep the battery in good shape
then you will have no problems with it. Mine is on it's third battery.
They die from lack of use.

The FR-200 took a commonly available cordless phone battery. However the
cordless phones I have bought in the last few years took AAA NiMH
batteries
which don't fit.

I would be using the radio a few times a week at the very least. I will be
travelling throughout the world very soon, and I think batteries are the
scum of the earth; they're a huge waste of resources. It's something most
people aren't aware of, but it all adds up, and I don't mind the cranking. I
said cranking george, now Wa...

I would purchase the better-battery-life Freeplay Summit, but it only has AM
and FM.

If I'm in China, or Russia, I doubt I'll be able to get an English AM
station, will I? I've searched the net, but many old articles detailing the
various channels are out of date.

Thus I felt a LW/SW combination was essential. 198 longwave is the BBC world
service, and sound quality is much better than that of SW I find. However,
as you say, due to uninterstingness and lack of use, I don't mind
sacrificing LW for a decent handset, that can be recharged without
batteries/electricity from the power grid that has FM/AM/SW combination.

The FR200, having tried it, is a poorish design, but I am not arguing the
FR250 or FR350 are any better. They aren't advertised as 'emergency'
products here in the UK, we don't believe in Iraqi apocalypses unlike
yourselves ;-) nudge nudge...

If I could get a BBC-style service or a decent English station
internationally then the Freeplay Summit would prove excellent.
Unfortunately, as it stands, unless you would like to tell me otherwise
(which I would love!) I need a unit with SW too, and without batteries.

I also find a speaker useful for my friends whom I travel with, and radio is
often a social thing, I find headphones on a trip slightly selfish. I
realised this was unsociable when my mate had headphones on a speakerless
radio, and I had nothing, as it had been stolen! It sucked.

Cheers George.