|
"Emergency" SW radios
I'd like to hear opinions on any of the "emergency" short wave radios available
that have alternative energy sources, such as hand-cranking for extended power outages. I've seen Grundig FR 200, Kaito KA 008. Any suggestions? Thanks. |
I have the Grundig FR-200, and it's one of my favorite radios (probably the
best $40 I ever spent). That said, you should look at the "Freeplay Plus" at C.Crane. I've never used one, but I do have their CC Radio Plus, and it's a very high quality radio. It has a crank mechanism, but also the option of solar power. See it he http://www.ccrane.com/freeplay_plus.asp -- Stinger "Dentistguy" wrote in message ... I'd like to hear opinions on any of the "emergency" short wave radios available that have alternative energy sources, such as hand-cranking for extended power outages. I've seen Grundig FR 200, Kaito KA 008. Any suggestions? Thanks. |
Grundig $40.00 - "Freeplay Plus" $100+ . I wonder what the big difference
between them besides the LED light and such? Is the Plus worth that much more? Anyone have one? "Dentistguy" wrote in message ... I'd like to hear opinions on any of the "emergency" short wave radios available that have alternative energy sources, such as hand-cranking for extended power outages. I've seen Grundig FR 200, Kaito KA 008. Any suggestions? Thanks. |
|
- Still like the Jwin JX-M14.
If you really need a radio with a crank because all the stores that sell batteries have been blown away by an apocalypse, or washed to sea by 1,000 Foot Tsunamis, - Your screwed anyway.! The separate flashlight / Small AM/FM/SW radio combo worked fine for me during the last blackout.. http://store.yahoo.com/kb-electronics/jx-m14.html Dan In article Ao3ub.172180$275.548893@attbi_s53, "Jim Douglas" writes: Grundig $40.00 - "Freeplay Plus" $100+ . I wonder what the big difference between them besides the LED light and such? Is the Plus worth that much more? Anyone have one? "Dentistguy" wrote in message ... I'd like to hear opinions on any of the "emergency" short wave radios available that have alternative energy sources, such as hand-cranking for extended power outages. I've seen Grundig FR 200, Kaito KA 008. Any suggestions? Thanks. |
No, no, no, NO, Dan!
You miss the point.....this is a great excuse to buy another radio! ;^) -- Stinger "Diverd4777" wrote in message ... - Still like the Jwin JX-M14. If you really need a radio with a crank because all the stores that sell batteries have been blown away by an apocalypse, or washed to sea by 1,000 Foot Tsunamis, - Your screwed anyway.! The separate flashlight / Small AM/FM/SW radio combo worked fine for me during the last blackout.. http://store.yahoo.com/kb-electronics/jx-m14.html Dan In article Ao3ub.172180$275.548893@attbi_s53, "Jim Douglas" writes: Grundig $40.00 - "Freeplay Plus" $100+ . I wonder what the big difference between them besides the LED light and such? Is the Plus worth that much more? Anyone have one? "Dentistguy" wrote in message ... I'd like to hear opinions on any of the "emergency" short wave radios available that have alternative energy sources, such as hand-cranking for extended power outages. I've seen Grundig FR 200, Kaito KA 008. Any suggestions? Thanks. |
In article , Diverd4777 wrote:
If you really need a radio with a crank because all the stores that sell batteries have been blown away by an apocalypse, or washed to sea by 1,000 Foot Tsunamis, - Your screwed anyway.! They may still be there, but impossible to get to. I live in Jersualem. During the last gulf war, we carried gas masks and outfited sealed rooms. I carried my gas mask in a gym bag, along with a small radio (with a speaker) a flashlight, a pack of wet wipes and a small camera. At home, I had an FR-200. I bought it because we could be sitting in our sealed room for hours while the radio played loud enough for everyone to hear. Most likely we would still have modern conviences, such as electricity, cable tv and internet. But if the electricty went out, being able to sit by the light from the radio hearing a human voice from the outside would be essential. There might have been a hundred AA batteries in another room, but we could not get to them, nor could we light a candle. As for stores being closed, even an inch of snow closes the schools here. No snow tires, no snow plows, and very steep hills. It's gone completely in a day or two, but while it's here, it's a mess. Geoff. -- Geoffrey S. Mendelson 972-54-608-069 Icq/AIM Uin: 2661079 MSN IM: (Not for email) |
"Dentistguy" wrote...
I'd like to hear opinions on any of the "emergency" short wave radios available that have alternative energy sources, such as hand-cranking for extended power outages. I've seen Grundig FR 200, Kaito KA 008. Any suggestions? Thanks. I've been reading all the great replies to this post, and know I want to buy an "emergency" radio too. The Kaito KA008 looks pretty good to me, but does anyone own one and care to give an evaluation. http://www.kaitousa.com/KA007D.htm I'm also reminded of a post I made many months ago... asking about a blurb I saw in the 2003 Passport. On page 104 of the 2003 issue, at the bottom of the "Coming Up" box, it says "Emergencies? Look for the forthcoming appearance of a new digitally tuned windup/solar powered travel portable, reportedly engineered for serious performance." As far as I know, no one knew what that referred to when I posted the question... so I ask again... anyone know what radio they're referring too? None of the "emergency" radios I've seen seem like they are serious performers. |
That would just about have to be the Freeplay Summit radio from C. Crane.
It's smaller than the Freeplay Plus, but is digitally tuned and works on solar or wind-up. You can see it he http://www.ccrane.com/freeplay_summi...adio_index.asp I notice they have a new one called the Freeplay Ranger, too. -- Stinger "Sanjaya" wrote in message nk.net... "Dentistguy" wrote... I'd like to hear opinions on any of the "emergency" short wave radios available that have alternative energy sources, such as hand-cranking for extended power outages. I've seen Grundig FR 200, Kaito KA 008. Any suggestions? Thanks. I've been reading all the great replies to this post, and know I want to buy an "emergency" radio too. The Kaito KA008 looks pretty good to me, but does anyone own one and care to give an evaluation. http://www.kaitousa.com/KA007D.htm I'm also reminded of a post I made many months ago... asking about a blurb I saw in the 2003 Passport. On page 104 of the 2003 issue, at the bottom of the "Coming Up" box, it says "Emergencies? Look for the forthcoming appearance of a new digitally tuned windup/solar powered travel portable, reportedly engineered for serious performance." As far as I know, no one knew what that referred to when I posted the question... so I ask again... anyone know what radio they're referring too? None of the "emergency" radios I've seen seem like they are serious performers. |
FO&A,
The Grundig F200 is made by Tecsun in China and sold there as the Tecsun Green 88. http://www.tecsun.com.cn/english/pro...8/green-88.htm http://www.tecsun.com.cn/product/138/138-2.htm Tecsun has now updated and released a newer model of "GREEN" Radio as reported by RadioIntel.Com. Its is called the Tecsun Green-138. - - - Will this replace the Grundig RF-200? http://www.radiointel.com/oldnews.htm - - - Photo Image of the Tecsun Green-138 (Chinese) http://www.tecsun.com.cn/product/138/138-1.htm ~ RHF .. .. = = = "Jim Douglas" = = = wrote in message news:Ao3ub.172180$275.548893@attbi_s53... Grundig $40.00 - "Freeplay Plus" $100+ . I wonder what the big difference between them besides the LED light and such? Is the Plus worth that much more? Anyone have one? "Dentistguy" wrote in message ... I'd like to hear opinions on any of the "emergency" short wave radios available that have alternative energy sources, such as hand-cranking for extended power outages. I've seen Grundig FR 200, Kaito KA 008. Any suggestions? Thanks. |
Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
In article , Diverd4777 wrote: If you really need a radio with a crank because all the stores that sell batteries have been blown away by an apocalypse, or washed to sea by 1,000 Foot Tsunamis, - Your screwed anyway.! They may still be there, but impossible to get to. I live in Jersualem. During the last gulf war, we carried gas masks and outfited sealed rooms. I carried my gas mask in a gym bag, along with a small radio (with a speaker) a flashlight, a pack of wet wipes and a small camera. At home, I had an FR-200. I bought it because we could be sitting in our sealed room for hours while the radio played loud enough for everyone to hear. Most likely we would still have modern conviences, such as electricity, cable tv and internet. But if the electricty went out, being able to sit by the light from the radio hearing a human voice from the outside would be essential. There might have been a hundred AA batteries in another room, but we could not get to them, nor could we light a candle. As for stores being closed, even an inch of snow closes the schools here. No snow tires, no snow plows, and very steep hills. It's gone completely in a day or two, but while it's here, it's a mess. Geoff. But you still had electricity in your sealed room, correct? Or was the electricity totally shut off in a "war blackout" like New York and San Francisco did during World War 2 to prevent enemy bombers from seeing their targets? In that case, I would think that outfitting your sealed room with adequate batteries would be a must. Also, I would think that in the event of a real war (not an intifada) like the Yom Kippur War where Israel was being bombed that electricity could be easily cut off, thus necessitating a non-AC radio. Larry Magne in Passport 2004 gave relatively high marks to the Freeplay Summit which is powered by cranking a small alternator instead of the spring wound generator like the original Freeplays. Is it available in Israel? |
Diverd4777 wrote:
Thanks Geoff, Point taken. We do live in an increasingly creepy world; I carry a small flashlight everywhere, & should add a tiny SW radio to the mix Currently carry a Sangean DT 110 around, I like the Digital display & memories. If something that size had SW, digital memories & was cheap, I'd get one in a heartbeat. Look at the new generation of Chinese SW portables reviewed in 2004 Passport. They may be a little bigger than your mini Sangean, but if AM/FM/TV went out and you were trapped someplace, they would be nice to have. During 9/11 we had it during "The Walk Home."; - & thats how I found out that the Huge Cloud way downtown was the remains of the WTC... And the remains of 3,000 people... I believe that most New York media outlets had transmission facilities on top of WTC 2, along with cell phone repeaters and a bunch of other stuff. IIRC most domestic media in the New York area was out of service for quite a while. (I do remember that channel 4 had the entire 104th floor.) Dan In article , (Geoffrey S. Mendelson) writes: In article , Diverd4777 wrote: If you really need a radio with a crank because all the stores that sell batteries have been blown away by an apocalypse, or washed to sea by 1,000 Foot Tsunamis, - Your screwed anyway.! They may still be there, but impossible to get to. I live in Jersualem. During the last gulf war, we carried gas masks and outfited sealed rooms. I carried my gas mask in a gym bag, along with a small radio (with a speaker) a flashlight, a pack of wet wipes and a small camera. At home, I had an FR-200. I bought it because we could be sitting in our sealed room for hours while the radio played loud enough for everyone to hear. Most likely we would still have modern conviences, such as electricity, cable tv and internet. But if the electricty went out, being able to sit by the light from the radio hearing a human voice from the outside would be essential. There might have been a hundred AA batteries in another room, but we could not get to them, nor could we light a candle. As for stores being closed, even an inch of snow closes the schools here. No snow tires, no snow plows, and very steep hills. It's gone completely in a day or two, but while it's here, it's a mess. Geoff. -- Geoffrey S. Mendelson 972-54-608-069 Icq/AIM Uin: 2661079 MSN IM: (Not for email) |
I must have hit on something here. I've been wondering about that Kaito, too.
The description seems spot on, but I haven't seen much information... it seems like it might be a decent second radio as well as one for the "apocalypse". I'm looking forward to more dialogue on this subject. |
Dan: Still like the Jwin JX-M14.
Me, too. It's easy on batteries. When they can no longer properly support operation of my eTR7, I use those batteries (actually two AA dry cells) to power the jWIN for a few more hours of operation. G I just wish the jWIN had one more SW band on the low end. Bill, K5BY |
|
I pick up all kinds of SW stuff on my jWIN, using just the whip, and I live in
a metal-sheathed mobilehome. The audio is crisp in the voice range, so speech as well as piano and horn music sound great on it. Yes, I use mine on FM quite a bit, too. I have a spare set of computer speakers. Their power supply isn't portable, but the ones I have on the computer now are. I just might switch the speakers around, so my jWIN music system will be portable. G Bill, K5BY |
Interesting. I also live in a faraday cage, (ALUMINUM MOBILE HOME) and I
don't get any signals much less than 88 mhz that can find their way in through the windows. Ok, I can get the local blowtorch M.W. stations indoors, but pulling in WWV or any of the H.F. powerhouses on any radio on it's whip (inside) is impossible... "WShoots1" wrote in message ... I pick up all kinds of SW stuff on my jWIN, using just the whip, and I live in a metal-sheathed mobilehome. The audio is crisp in the voice range, so speech as well as piano and horn music sound great on it. Yes, I use mine on FM quite a bit, too. I have a spare set of computer speakers. Their power supply isn't portable, but the ones I have on the computer now are. I just might switch the speakers around, so my jWIN music system will be portable. G Bill, K5BY |
Sanjaya wrote:
know I want to buy an "emergency" radio too. The Kaito KA008 looks pretty good to me, but does anyone own one and care to give an evaluation. http://www.kaitousa.com/KA007D.htm I've got two of what looks to be the same radio except that it's analog, not digital--an earlier model? I got these for $20 each from a web discounter. I've got a couple of other solar/crank radios as well. I find them VERY handy-- one (AM/FM only) lives in my garage. I can listen to the radio while I'm working in the garage, on solar power, and don't have to plug in the radio or keep batteries in it. Where I live, we lose power fairly occasionally, and it IS a good idea to have plenty of batteries, but I really like having a couple of radios to hand that don't NEED batteries. (And I just ordered a solar charging panel for my 80AH and several 17AH gel-cells for my ham rigs. :-) "Be prepared" is good advice, IMO!) _______________________________________________ Ken Kuzenski AC4RD kuzen001 at acpub .duke .edu _______________________________________________ All disclaimers apply, see? www.duke.edu/~kuzen001 |
wrote... Sanjaya wrote: know I want to buy an "emergency" radio too. The Kaito KA008 looks pretty good to me, but does anyone own one and care to give an evaluation. http://www.kaitousa.com/KA007D.htm I've got two of what looks to be the same radio except that it's analog, not digital--an earlier model? I got these for $20 each from a web discounter. I've got a couple of other solar/crank radios as well. I find them VERY handy-- one (AM/FM only) lives in my garage. I can listen to the radio while I'm working in the garage, on solar power, and don't have to plug in the radio or keep batteries in it. Where I live, we lose power fairly occasionally, and it IS a good idea to have plenty of batteries, but I really like having a couple of radios to hand that don't NEED batteries. (And I just ordered a solar charging panel for my 80AH and several 17AH gel-cells for my ham rigs. :-) "Be prepared" is good advice, IMO!) _______________________________________________ Ken Kuzenski AC4RD kuzen001 at acpub .duke .edu _______________________________________________ All disclaimers apply, see? www.duke.edu/~kuzen001 Thanks Ken. I'm seriously considering the Kaito KA008. |
HI, Guys, One of the best of those alternate-powered "emergency" sortwave-capable radios is not being made and sold anymore. That was the one sold by Radio Shack as the Optimus Alternative Power Multiband Radio. It was sturdily built, had an easy-turning crank that yielded a very respectible playing time with about 90 seconds of turning. It has the North American AM Broadcast band, (medium wave), broadcast FM, the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) weather band, and 6 SW bands, covering the broadcast band portions only of 49, 41, 31, 25, 13, and 16 meter bands. Radio Shack sold it for around $60 and quietly discontinued it some time last year. The FreePlay Ranger is the current implementation of the older FreePlay models with AM and FM broadcast only, no shortwave. It has the strong spring-wound FreePlay crank which dumps power into a built-in battery pack and the radio plays off the battery. I believe this one has the solar panel so it can be powered by bright sunlight, or bright light sources such as strong light bulbs, and it can be powered from an optional accessory external AC/mains power adapter, the ubiquitous "wall wart". The FreePlay Plus is the largest, heaviest, sturdiest, and most variably alternatively powered of the current crop of "emergency" SW receivers. It weighs around five pounds, has astrong LED flashlight in one end, has MW, FM, and SW coverage. SW coverage is from 3-10 MHz on one band, and from 10-18 MHz on the other band. MW (AM broadcast) is from about 530-1710 KHz, and FM covers from 88.0-108.0 MHz. Power is from the Baylis clockwork generator which charges a built-in battery pack; or a large solar panel on top of the radio, or by AC power through an extra-cost optional adapter. The adapter can also charge the built-in battery pack, which, they say will run for 40 hours on a full charge. A hefty 60-second full wind of the crank will run the radio for about an hour, depending on the volume level. The Kaito model offers everything__all the power sources, including optional regular AA batteries; the hand-cranked dynamo to charge built-in batteries; a solar panel; and an AC power adapter which is also supplied with the unit. You also get a pair of earbud headphones and a long-wire external antenna with the Kaito. You get SW on three or four bands, plus FM coverage that gives you the audio for TV channels 2-13 plus weather radio frequencies, and most of the rest of the VHF spectrum between about 142 and 174 MHz. It's a cheap radio circuitry and you get so much out-of-band imaging and overload, that it's hard sometimes to really know what band you're actually hearing, despite what the display claims depending on your chosen band settings. Though it has no SW coverage, the Coleman OutRider, available from Universal Radio and other places, is the most ruggedly built of all the alternative-powered radios on the market at the moment. It has a solar cell, and an easily-turned dynamo crank that gives you the longest playing time with the least cranking of all these radios. The AC power adapter can charge the built-in battery. AM and FM performance are about average among radios designed to actually sell almost everywhere in the under-one-hundred-dollar price range. Most of the points made in this thread so far about the FR-200, I generally concur with. It's a good little 40-dollar radio, and I was actually surprised at the MW coverage. It earned itself a spot on a very short list of radios that can actually hear and receive CHWO from Toronto on 740 KHz at night, in this faraday cage where I live. Oh, 750 KHz is occupied by WSB in Atlanta, and the public transit systems here in Atlanta could take me from my door to the studios of WSB in less than 30 minutes. None of my other alternate-powered radios can receive CHWO here on any night, even well enough to cause one to suspect that a signal is even present at that spot on the dial--forget about actually identifying it and extracting enough information to convince a possible QSL-card provider that you actually listened to the station. Just in case you wonder, the much-vaunted C. Crane CC Radio, original model, has yet to detect CHWO at this location. The Grundig S-350, the Satellit 400, the Satellit 700, the Satellit 210/6001, the Kenwood R-1000, and the AM receiver in the Yamaha CR-2040 "Natural Sound" Stereo Receiver, can all hear CHWO most nights in this Faraday cage location. Were I to rate the current crop of alternative power SW capable receivers based on how well they actually do most of what they were designed to do, I would probably choose something about like this order, starting with the best and working downward. Some of the radios do some things better than other models do the same thing: FreePlay Plus, available for $99.99 from C. Crane Company--large, heavy, multiple power sources, fine tuning control which works on all bands; respectible FM coverage, but subject to overload from nearby strong signals; very good MW coverage, but subject to interference from external noise sources on the lower part of the band; surprisingly good SW coverage through the full rage of 3-18 MHz. Grundig FR-200 (Tecsun Green 88): small, light, easy to carry, with a nice canvas-type carry case with a shoulder strap, and the radio has a nice carrying handle. The fine tuning control works well. MW performance is surprisingly good, even for semi-serious DX work at night. FM is average with slight overload from strong nearby FM signals. SW reception is good on the lower band once you get used to tuning in a crowded band and figure out the quirks of the slight dial backlash as you tune. The higher of the two SW bands is basically useless above about 16 MHz. The Coleman OutRider doesn't do short wave, but it's a solid, easily cranked, fairly respectible MW and FM broadcast radio, although the bandwidth filter is too wide to let you DX with it. Sony still sells a small AM/FM-only dynamo-cranked radio with an obnoxiously loud emergency alarm, a light, and a small crank that's easy to turn once you get a good hold on its small crank. It's about half the size and weight of the Coleman model, and at its list price of $99.99, it's priced very much out of line with the competition. Get used to its crowded dial, and its signal reception is actually quite good for the class. The Optimus Self-Powered multiband emergency radio is a real emergency unit, since it has the NOAA weather band coverage. It also has a loud emergency alarm and a light. Its coverage is fair to good on the 49, 31, 25, and 19 meter bands; FM is about average, and MW reception is quite good. It receives NOAA reather radio signals better than many purpose-built dedicated weather radio receivers, being matched in receiving ability only by the weather-radio band of that CC Radio, original model among the radios I have. The Kaito KA-007 would really be nice if its FM and VHF bands did not receive every strong signal on all of its FM and VHF bands indiscriminately. The AM section is actually fairly good, with the MW reception being the best feature of the radio. It is small and light, but its odd shape and size, combined with the long and flimsy crank handle makes it less comfortable to crank the dynamo very long, and it needs quite a bit of cranking to build up much playing time. You might find yourself using regular batteries, AC power, or maybe a strong light source for its back-mounted solar collector, more often than the cynamo crank. The FreePlay Summit is a cheap Chinese direct-entry "digitally tuned" single-conversion receiver mated to the FreePlay dynamo drive mechanism. If you like a digital display, push-buton frequency entry, some station memories, and push-button up/down scanning capabilities and want the alternative power, the Summit might be what you want to get. I have not seen or used it, so I can speak to the convenience and comfort of its crank operation, or how well it actually receives signals in the spectrum claimed on the display scales. I saw quality-control problems and sample-specific flaws in two different FreePlay Plus units I bought a couple of years ago and returned each radio in turn because of them. Otherwise, I liked the radio. Now that production of even this last of the South African-made FreePlay radios has now moved to China, I'm hoping the quality control may have actually improved. I may acquire another one to find out. Reply to: Brent Reynolds, Atlanta, GA USA |
I got an "TECSUN 88 GREEN POWER",
dynamo powered outdoor radio last week. It is relatively cheap, but it works great even without batteries. Is is astonished what those people from China can produce nowadays. Maybe there are only robots ? ;-) wrote: HI, Guys, One of the best of those alternate-powered "emergency" sortwave-capable radios is not being made and sold anymore. That was the one sold by Radio Shack as the Optimus Alternative Power Multiband Radio. It was sturdily built, had an easy-turning crank that yielded a very respectible playing time with about 90 seconds of turning. It has the North American AM Broadcast band, (medium wave), broadcast FM, the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) weather band, and 6 SW bands, covering the broadcast band portions only of 49, 41, 31, 25, 13, and 16 meter bands. Radio Shack sold it for around $60 and quietly discontinued it some time last year. The FreePlay Ranger is the current implementation of the older FreePlay models with AM and FM broadcast only, no shortwave. It has the strong spring-wound FreePlay crank which dumps power into a built-in battery pack and the radio plays off the battery. I believe this one has the solar panel so it can be powered by bright sunlight, or bright light sources such as strong light bulbs, and it can be powered from an optional accessory external AC/mains power adapter, the ubiquitous "wall wart". The FreePlay Plus is the largest, heaviest, sturdiest, and most variably alternatively powered of the current crop of "emergency" SW receivers. It weighs around five pounds, has astrong LED flashlight in one end, has MW, FM, and SW coverage. SW coverage is from 3-10 MHz on one band, and from 10-18 MHz on the other band. MW (AM broadcast) is from about 530-1710 KHz, and FM covers from 88.0-108.0 MHz. Power is from the Baylis clockwork generator which charges a built-in battery pack; or a large solar panel on top of the radio, or by AC power through an extra-cost optional adapter. The adapter can also charge the built-in battery pack, which, they say will run for 40 hours on a full charge. A hefty 60-second full wind of the crank will run the radio for about an hour, depending on the volume level. The Kaito model offers everything__all the power sources, including optional regular AA batteries; the hand-cranked dynamo to charge built-in batteries; a solar panel; and an AC power adapter which is also supplied with the unit. You also get a pair of earbud headphones and a long-wire external antenna with the Kaito. You get SW on three or four bands, plus FM coverage that gives you the audio for TV channels 2-13 plus weather radio frequencies, and most of the rest of the VHF spectrum between about 142 and 174 MHz. It's a cheap radio circuitry and you get so much out-of-band imaging and overload, that it's hard sometimes to really know what band you're actually hearing, despite what the display claims depending on your chosen band settings. Though it has no SW coverage, the Coleman OutRider, available from Universal Radio and other places, is the most ruggedly built of all the alternative-powered radios on the market at the moment. It has a solar cell, and an easily-turned dynamo crank that gives you the longest playing time with the least cranking of all these radios. The AC power adapter can charge the built-in battery. AM and FM performance are about average among radios designed to actually sell almost everywhere in the under-one-hundred-dollar price range. Most of the points made in this thread so far about the FR-200, I generally concur with. It's a good little 40-dollar radio, and I was actually surprised at the MW coverage. It earned itself a spot on a very short list of radios that can actually hear and receive CHWO from Toronto on 740 KHz at night, in this faraday cage where I live. Oh, 750 KHz is occupied by WSB in Atlanta, and the public transit systems here in Atlanta could take me from my door to the studios of WSB in less than 30 minutes. None of my other alternate-powered radios can receive CHWO here on any night, even well enough to cause one to suspect that a signal is even present at that spot on the dial--forget about actually identifying it and extracting enough information to convince a possible QSL-card provider that you actually listened to the station. Just in case you wonder, the much-vaunted C. Crane CC Radio, original model, has yet to detect CHWO at this location. The Grundig S-350, the Satellit 400, the Satellit 700, the Satellit 210/6001, the Kenwood R-1000, and the AM receiver in the Yamaha CR-2040 "Natural Sound" Stereo Receiver, can all hear CHWO most nights in this Faraday cage location. Were I to rate the current crop of alternative power SW capable receivers based on how well they actually do most of what they were designed to do, I would probably choose something about like this order, starting with the best and working downward. Some of the radios do some things better than other models do the same thing: FreePlay Plus, available for $99.99 from C. Crane Company--large, heavy, multiple power sources, fine tuning control which works on all bands; respectible FM coverage, but subject to overload from nearby strong signals; very good MW coverage, but subject to interference from external noise sources on the lower part of the band; surprisingly good SW coverage through the full rage of 3-18 MHz. Grundig FR-200 (Tecsun Green 88): small, light, easy to carry, with a nice canvas-type carry case with a shoulder strap, and the radio has a nice carrying handle. The fine tuning control works well. MW performance is surprisingly good, even for semi-serious DX work at night. FM is average with slight overload from strong nearby FM signals. SW reception is good on the lower band once you get used to tuning in a crowded band and figure out the quirks of the slight dial backlash as you tune. The higher of the two SW bands is basically useless above about 16 MHz. The Coleman OutRider doesn't do short wave, but it's a solid, easily cranked, fairly respectible MW and FM broadcast radio, although the bandwidth filter is too wide to let you DX with it. Sony still sells a small AM/FM-only dynamo-cranked radio with an obnoxiously loud emergency alarm, a light, and a small crank that's easy to turn once you get a good hold on its small crank. It's about half the size and weight of the Coleman model, and at its list price of $99.99, it's priced very much out of line with the competition. Get used to its crowded dial, and its signal reception is actually quite good for the class. The Optimus Self-Powered multiband emergency radio is a real emergency unit, since it has the NOAA weather band coverage. It also has a loud emergency alarm and a light. Its coverage is fair to good on the 49, 31, 25, and 19 meter bands; FM is about average, and MW reception is quite good. It receives NOAA reather radio signals better than many purpose-built dedicated weather radio receivers, being matched in receiving ability only by the weather-radio band of that CC Radio, original model among the radios I have. The Kaito KA-007 would really be nice if its FM and VHF bands did not receive every strong signal on all of its FM and VHF bands indiscriminately. The AM section is actually fairly good, with the MW reception being the best feature of the radio. It is small and light, but its odd shape and size, combined with the long and flimsy crank handle makes it less comfortable to crank the dynamo very long, and it needs quite a bit of cranking to build up much playing time. You might find yourself using regular batteries, AC power, or maybe a strong light source for its back-mounted solar collector, more often than the cynamo crank. The FreePlay Summit is a cheap Chinese direct-entry "digitally tuned" single-conversion receiver mated to the FreePlay dynamo drive mechanism. If you like a digital display, push-buton frequency entry, some station memories, and push-button up/down scanning capabilities and want the alternative power, the Summit might be what you want to get. I have not seen or used it, so I can speak to the convenience and comfort of its crank operation, or how well it actually receives signals in the spectrum claimed on the display scales. I saw quality-control problems and sample-specific flaws in two different FreePlay Plus units I bought a couple of years ago and returned each radio in turn because of them. Otherwise, I liked the radio. Now that production of even this last of the South African-made FreePlay radios has now moved to China, I'm hoping the quality control may have actually improved. I may acquire another one to find out. Reply to: Brent Reynolds, Atlanta, GA USA |
IG,
The Tecsun Green 88 "Field" Radio is sold in the USA/Canada by Grundig North America (ETON Corp.) as the "Grundig FR200". http://www.grundigradio.com/asp/Prod...ction=overview Eton's Grundig FR200 Receives "Good Housekeeping's" GOOD BUY Award The Grundig FR200 provides access to information and light when its needed most. GoTo= http://www.grundigradio.com/asp/december4.asp FWIW: Tecsun has a 'newer' GREEN (Environmentally Friendly) Radio; the Tecsun Green 138 has many good features and full coverage from 3.2 MHz to 22 MHz - - - NO Gap between 7.6-9.2 MHz as with the Green 88. http://www.tecsun.com.cn/product/138/138-1.htm The Tecsun GREEN 138 has a Slightly 'smaller' Vertical Format. - - - More Portable at 88% of the Size and Weight of the Green 88. Take a Look at eBay Item # 3064720193 = = = "NIB TECSUN GREEN-138 FM/MW/SW EMERGENCY RADIO" ihtth ~ RHF .. .. = = = Igor Gros wrote in message ... I got an "TECSUN 88 GREEN POWER", dynamo powered outdoor radio last week. It is relatively cheap, but it works great even without batteries. Is is astonished what those people from China can produce nowadays. Maybe there are only robots ? ;-) wrote: HI, Guys, One of the best of those alternate-powered "emergency" sortwave-capable radios is not being made and sold anymore. That was the one sold by Radio Shack as the Optimus Alternative Power Multiband Radio. It was sturdily built, had an easy-turning crank that yielded a very respectible playing time with about 90 seconds of turning. It has the North American AM Broadcast band, (medium wave), broadcast FM, the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) weather band, and 6 SW bands, covering the broadcast band portions only of 49, 41, 31, 25, 13, and 16 meter bands. Radio Shack sold it for around $60 and quietly discontinued it some time last year. The FreePlay Ranger is the current implementation of the older FreePlay models with AM and FM broadcast only, no shortwave. It has the strong spring-wound FreePlay crank which dumps power into a built-in battery pack and the radio plays off the battery. I believe this one has the solar panel so it can be powered by bright sunlight, or bright light sources such as strong light bulbs, and it can be powered from an optional accessory external AC/mains power adapter, the ubiquitous "wall wart". The FreePlay Plus is the largest, heaviest, sturdiest, and most variably alternatively powered of the current crop of "emergency" SW receivers. It weighs around five pounds, has astrong LED flashlight in one end, has MW, FM, and SW coverage. SW coverage is from 3-10 MHz on one band, and from 10-18 MHz on the other band. MW (AM broadcast) is from about 530-1710 KHz, and FM covers from 88.0-108.0 MHz. Power is from the Baylis clockwork generator which charges a built-in battery pack; or a large solar panel on top of the radio, or by AC power through an extra-cost optional adapter. The adapter can also charge the built-in battery pack, which, they say will run for 40 hours on a full charge. A hefty 60-second full wind of the crank will run the radio for about an hour, depending on the volume level. The Kaito model offers everything__all the power sources, including optional regular AA batteries; the hand-cranked dynamo to charge built-in batteries; a solar panel; and an AC power adapter which is also supplied with the unit. You also get a pair of earbud headphones and a long-wire external antenna with the Kaito. You get SW on three or four bands, plus FM coverage that gives you the audio for TV channels 2-13 plus weather radio frequencies, and most of the rest of the VHF spectrum between about 142 and 174 MHz. It's a cheap radio circuitry and you get so much out-of-band imaging and overload, that it's hard sometimes to really know what band you're actually hearing, despite what the display claims depending on your chosen band settings. Though it has no SW coverage, the Coleman OutRider, available from Universal Radio and other places, is the most ruggedly built of all the alternative-powered radios on the market at the moment. It has a solar cell, and an easily-turned dynamo crank that gives you the longest playing time with the least cranking of all these radios. The AC power adapter can charge the built-in battery. AM and FM performance are about average among radios designed to actually sell almost everywhere in the under-one-hundred-dollar price range. Most of the points made in this thread so far about the FR-200, I generally concur with. It's a good little 40-dollar radio, and I was actually surprised at the MW coverage. It earned itself a spot on a very short list of radios that can actually hear and receive CHWO from Toronto on 740 KHz at night, in this faraday cage where I live. Oh, 750 KHz is occupied by WSB in Atlanta, and the public transit systems here in Atlanta could take me from my door to the studios of WSB in less than 30 minutes. None of my other alternate-powered radios can receive CHWO here on any night, even well enough to cause one to suspect that a signal is even present at that spot on the dial--forget about actually identifying it and extracting enough information to convince a possible QSL-card provider that you actually listened to the station. Just in case you wonder, the much-vaunted C. Crane CC Radio, original model, has yet to detect CHWO at this location. The Grundig S-350, the Satellit 400, the Satellit 700, the Satellit 210/6001, the Kenwood R-1000, and the AM receiver in the Yamaha CR-2040 "Natural Sound" Stereo Receiver, can all hear CHWO most nights in this Faraday cage location. Were I to rate the current crop of alternative power SW capable receivers based on how well they actually do most of what they were designed to do, I would probably choose something about like this order, starting with the best and working downward. Some of the radios do some things better than other models do the same thing: FreePlay Plus, available for $99.99 from C. Crane Company--large, heavy, multiple power sources, fine tuning control which works on all bands; respectible FM coverage, but subject to overload from nearby strong signals; very good MW coverage, but subject to interference from external noise sources on the lower part of the band; surprisingly good SW coverage through the full rage of 3-18 MHz. Grundig FR-200 (Tecsun Green 88): small, light, easy to carry, with a nice canvas-type carry case with a shoulder strap, and the radio has a nice carrying handle. The fine tuning control works well. MW performance is surprisingly good, even for semi-serious DX work at night. FM is average with slight overload from strong nearby FM signals. SW reception is good on the lower band once you get used to tuning in a crowded band and figure out the quirks of the slight dial backlash as you tune. The higher of the two SW bands is basically useless above about 16 MHz. The Coleman OutRider doesn't do short wave, but it's a solid, easily cranked, fairly respectible MW and FM broadcast radio, although the bandwidth filter is too wide to let you DX with it. Sony still sells a small AM/FM-only dynamo-cranked radio with an obnoxiously loud emergency alarm, a light, and a small crank that's easy to turn once you get a good hold on its small crank. It's about half the size and weight of the Coleman model, and at its list price of $99.99, it's priced very much out of line with the competition. Get used to its crowded dial, and its signal reception is actually quite good for the class. The Optimus Self-Powered multiband emergency radio is a real emergency unit, since it has the NOAA weather band coverage. It also has a loud emergency alarm and a light. Its coverage is fair to good on the 49, 31, 25, and 19 meter bands; FM is about average, and MW reception is quite good. It receives NOAA reather radio signals better than many purpose-built dedicated weather radio receivers, being matched in receiving ability only by the weather-radio band of that CC Radio, original model among the radios I have. The Kaito KA-007 would really be nice if its FM and VHF bands did not receive every strong signal on all of its FM and VHF bands indiscriminately. The AM section is actually fairly good, with the MW reception being the best feature of the radio. It is small and light, but its odd shape and size, combined with the long and flimsy crank handle makes it less comfortable to crank the dynamo very long, and it needs quite a bit of cranking to build up much playing time. You might find yourself using regular batteries, AC power, or maybe a strong light source for its back-mounted solar collector, more often than the cynamo crank. The FreePlay Summit is a cheap Chinese direct-entry "digitally tuned" single-conversion receiver mated to the FreePlay dynamo drive mechanism. If you like a digital display, push-buton frequency entry, some station memories, and push-button up/down scanning capabilities and want the alternative power, the Summit might be what you want to get. I have not seen or used it, so I can speak to the convenience and comfort of its crank operation, or how well it actually receives signals in the spectrum claimed on the display scales. I saw quality-control problems and sample-specific flaws in two different FreePlay Plus units I bought a couple of years ago and returned each radio in turn because of them. Otherwise, I liked the radio. Now that production of even this last of the South African-made FreePlay radios has now moved to China, I'm hoping the quality control may have actually improved. I may acquire another one to find out. Reply to: Brent Reynolds, Atlanta, GA USA |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:33 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
RadioBanter.com