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Freeplay Lifeline
I recieved something that I ordered over the net from C. Crane, and was
flipping through the catalog they included when I noticed, on page 25, a Freeplay Lifeline radio. It says that this radio is made for humanitarian projects in the third world and is sold to Americans exclusively by C. Crane. It appears to be a four band radio, with FM, AM, and two SW bands covering 3.5-10 and 10-18 Mhz. The ad has a picture of an African boy working in a field while listening to this radio, but that radio appears to be different-it has a red and white dial instead of a blue and white dial. I was wondering if anybody owns a Freeplay Lifeline and can comment on it. I assume that the SW bands are good only for regional reception, so in the US you'd only hear bible thumpers. At $99.95 it's quite expensive, I don't see how they can afford to give them away to people in Africa. Page 78 of the catalog shows a Rwandan girl with a Lifeline, and it IS different-the dial is marked with the Voice of America logo. ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
#2
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running dogg ) writes: I recieved something that I ordered over the net from C. Crane, and was flipping through the catalog they included when I noticed, on page 25, a Freeplay Lifeline radio. It says that this radio is made for humanitarian projects in the third world and is sold to Americans exclusively by C. Crane. It appears to be a four band radio, with FM, AM, and two SW bands covering 3.5-10 and 10-18 Mhz. The ad has a picture of an African boy working in a field while listening to this radio, but that radio appears to be different-it has a red and white dial instead of a blue and white dial. I was wondering if anybody owns a Freeplay Lifeline and can comment on it. I assume that the SW bands are good only for regional reception, so in the US you'd only hear bible thumpers. At $99.95 it's quite expensive, I don't see how they can afford to give them away to people in Africa. Page 78 of the catalog shows a Rwandan girl with a Lifeline, and it IS different-the dial is marked with the Voice of America logo. I have no idea, but when the Baygen first came out, much was said about how it was invented for the African market, and the radios were then also sold to Europe and North America at a greater price to help fund the African project. It's expensive here, given the relatively crummy radio (the real hook is the windup generator) because the profits are paying for the production of the radios for the intended end users, the Africans. Michael |
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#4
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Michael:
Yes, the radio, in my opinion, is worth about 19.99... and only for the reason that an asteroid might strike the planet and there would be no batteries left--however, there would probably not be any multi-kilowatt sw stations left either.... Warmest regards, John "Michael Black" wrote in message ... running dogg ) writes: I recieved something that I ordered over the net from C. Crane, and was flipping through the catalog they included when I noticed, on page 25, a Freeplay Lifeline radio. It says that this radio is made for humanitarian projects in the third world and is sold to Americans exclusively by C. Crane. It appears to be a four band radio, with FM, AM, and two SW bands covering 3.5-10 and 10-18 Mhz. The ad has a picture of an African boy working in a field while listening to this radio, but that radio appears to be different-it has a red and white dial instead of a blue and white dial. I was wondering if anybody owns a Freeplay Lifeline and can comment on it. I assume that the SW bands are good only for regional reception, so in the US you'd only hear bible thumpers. At $99.95 it's quite expensive, I don't see how they can afford to give them away to people in Africa. Page 78 of the catalog shows a Rwandan girl with a Lifeline, and it IS different-the dial is marked with the Voice of America logo. I have no idea, but when the Baygen first came out, much was said about how it was invented for the African market, and the radios were then also sold to Europe and North America at a greater price to help fund the African project. It's expensive here, given the relatively crummy radio (the real hook is the windup generator) because the profits are paying for the production of the radios for the intended end users, the Africans. Michael |
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On Thu, 02 Jun 2005 20:41:53 -0700, running dogg wrote:
I recieved something that I ordered over the net from C. Crane, and was flipping through the catalog they included when I noticed, on page 25, a Freeplay Lifeline radio. It says that this radio is made for humanitarian projects in the third world and is sold to Americans exclusively by C. Crane. It appears to be a four band radio, with FM, AM, and two SW bands covering 3.5-10 and 10-18 Mhz. The ad has a picture of an African boy working in a field while listening to this radio, but that radio appears to be different-it has a red and white dial instead of a blue and white dial. I was wondering if anybody owns a Freeplay Lifeline and can comment on it. I assume that the SW bands are good only for regional reception, so in the US you'd only hear bible thumpers. At $99.95 it's quite expensive, I don't see how they can afford to give them away to people in Africa. Page 78 of the catalog shows a Rwandan girl with a Lifeline, and it IS different-the dial is marked with the Voice of America logo. ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- In the past, IBB/VoA has given away receivers so our targets can hear our signals. We're not the only ones to do this. In the early days of the FEBC in the Philippines, they had an electronic shop wherein they manufactured nice wood-grain AM receivers locked onto their AM frequency. God loves a captured audience.... LOL Al in CNMI ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
#6
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Tebojockey wrote:
On Thu, 02 Jun 2005 20:41:53 -0700, running dogg wrote: I recieved something that I ordered over the net from C. Crane, and was flipping through the catalog they included when I noticed, on page 25, a Freeplay Lifeline radio. It says that this radio is made for humanitarian projects in the third world and is sold to Americans exclusively by C. Crane. It appears to be a four band radio, with FM, AM, and two SW bands covering 3.5-10 and 10-18 Mhz. The ad has a picture of an African boy working in a field while listening to this radio, but that radio appears to be different-it has a red and white dial instead of a blue and white dial. I was wondering if anybody owns a Freeplay Lifeline and can comment on it. I assume that the SW bands are good only for regional reception, so in the US you'd only hear bible thumpers. At $99.95 it's quite expensive, I don't see how they can afford to give them away to people in Africa. Page 78 of the catalog shows a Rwandan girl with a Lifeline, and it IS different-the dial is marked with the Voice of America logo. ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- In the past, IBB/VoA has given away receivers so our targets can hear our signals. We're not the only ones to do this. In the early days of the FEBC in the Philippines, they had an electronic shop wherein they manufactured nice wood-grain AM receivers locked onto their AM frequency. God loves a captured audience.... LOL I remember seeing an article somewhere about receivers Philips made for an educational radio station in Colombia. The radios had five channels, each set to an AM or SW frequency of the station, and that's all they could get, although you could tune a little to either side by turning a screw inside the radio. Philips saved a few of these radios in their warehouse in the Netherlands, and when they sold off the contents of the warehouse a while back a radio collector from America got one of these Colombian radios and wrote an article on it. It's unknown if any survive in Colombia, but it's unlikely considering they were made 40 years ago. ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
#8
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running dog:
That still sounds like I pay a hundred bucks for a 19.99 radio so they can donate a 1.98 radio to someone in foreign land so they can listen to American propaganda... .... frankly, giving the wino on the street a couple of bucks for a bottle sounds like better use of the money... Warmest regards, John "running dogg" wrote in message ... Telamon wrote: In article , (Michael Black) wrote: running dogg ) writes: I recieved something that I ordered over the net from C. Crane, and was flipping through the catalog they included when I noticed, on page 25, a Freeplay Lifeline radio. It says that this radio is made for humanitarian projects in the third world and is sold to Americans exclusively by C. Crane. It appears to be a four band radio, with FM, AM, and two SW bands covering 3.5-10 and 10-18 Mhz. The ad has a picture of an African boy working in a field while listening to this radio, but that radio appears to be different-it has a red and white dial instead of a blue and white dial. I was wondering if anybody owns a Freeplay Lifeline and can comment on it. I assume that the SW bands are good only for regional reception, so in the US you'd only hear bible thumpers. At $99.95 it's quite expensive, I don't see how they can afford to give them away to people in Africa. Page 78 of the catalog shows a Rwandan girl with a Lifeline, and it IS different-the dial is marked with the Voice of America logo. I have no idea, but when the Baygen first came out, much was said about how it was invented for the African market, and the radios were then also sold to Europe and North America at a greater price to help fund the African project. It's expensive here, given the relatively crummy radio (the real hook is the windup generator) because the profits are paying for the production of the radios for the intended end users, the Africans. Don't miss the point that even in NA that radio will work without batteries when the power goes out. It a good emergency radio, which is how they are marketed here. I have a first generation Freeplay S360, one of the ones that used the actual Bayliss Generator, and I was underwhelmed with its performance. It requires a LOT of cranking (66 turns of the crank two or three times) in order to get 15 or 30 minutes (can't remember exactly) of playing time, and the reception is crummy-local stations only, although you can hear some AM skywave at night. But I suppose that if you lived in the jungles or bush of Africa and had no access to batteries that it would be a godsend. Batteries are very expensive in the non Western world, and hard to get too-that's why Degen radios come with rechargeable batteries, even in China batteries are costly and scarce. In Africa most people live on less than $1 a day, so paying for batteries is out of the question. The C. Crane catalog does mention that for every Freeplay Lifeline purchased in America the company donates one of the VOA Lifelines to Africa. ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
#9
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John Smith wrote:
running dog: That still sounds like I pay a hundred bucks for a 19.99 radio so they can donate a 1.98 radio to someone in foreign land so they can listen to American propaganda... More or less. These things must only cost a few bucks to make in China, and the SW on the first generation Freeplays was pretty much useless for North American purposes. Like I said, these radios must be godsends for poor African farmers living on 50 cents a day, but for Americans, who have access to cheap batteries and who don't have the stress demands on these radios that the average African would, a $50 Degen or Tecsun would be a better choice. The Freeplay Lifelines that the VOA gives out don't look like they're frequency fixed, but I doubt they're good for much more than listening to a few major stations (DW and Radio France have major African operations) and the small, local SW stations operated by local govt's. .... frankly, giving the wino on the street a couple of bucks for a bottle sounds like better use of the money... Thunderbird is made by Gallo Wines. Buy a bottle of good wine with that money. Warmest regards, John "running dogg" wrote in message ... Telamon wrote: In article , (Michael Black) wrote: running dogg ) writes: I recieved something that I ordered over the net from C. Crane, and was flipping through the catalog they included when I noticed, on page 25, a Freeplay Lifeline radio. It says that this radio is made for humanitarian projects in the third world and is sold to Americans exclusively by C. Crane. It appears to be a four band radio, with FM, AM, and two SW bands covering 3.5-10 and 10-18 Mhz. The ad has a picture of an African boy working in a field while listening to this radio, but that radio appears to be different-it has a red and white dial instead of a blue and white dial. I was wondering if anybody owns a Freeplay Lifeline and can comment on it. I assume that the SW bands are good only for regional reception, so in the US you'd only hear bible thumpers. At $99.95 it's quite expensive, I don't see how they can afford to give them away to people in Africa. Page 78 of the catalog shows a Rwandan girl with a Lifeline, and it IS different-the dial is marked with the Voice of America logo. I have no idea, but when the Baygen first came out, much was said about how it was invented for the African market, and the radios were then also sold to Europe and North America at a greater price to help fund the African project. It's expensive here, given the relatively crummy radio (the real hook is the windup generator) because the profits are paying for the production of the radios for the intended end users, the Africans. Don't miss the point that even in NA that radio will work without batteries when the power goes out. It a good emergency radio, which is how they are marketed here. I have a first generation Freeplay S360, one of the ones that used the actual Bayliss Generator, and I was underwhelmed with its performance. It requires a LOT of cranking (66 turns of the crank two or three times) in order to get 15 or 30 minutes (can't remember exactly) of playing time, and the reception is crummy-local stations only, although you can hear some AM skywave at night. But I suppose that if you lived in the jungles or bush of Africa and had no access to batteries that it would be a godsend. Batteries are very expensive in the non Western world, and hard to get too-that's why Degen radios come with rechargeable batteries, even in China batteries are costly and scarce. In Africa most people live on less than $1 a day, so paying for batteries is out of the question. The C. Crane catalog does mention that for every Freeplay Lifeline purchased in America the company donates one of the VOA Lifelines to Africa. ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
#10
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Greetings! I picked up a BayGen Freeplay made in South Africa about 2
years ago at our local Big Lots Store, discount store, for $30 out of curiosity. This one looks to be made for the American market and has no model number on it. MW, FM, and SW from 3.3 to 12 mhz. Fifty turns gets you 30 minutes. It loves local stations, but with the addition of a long wire it does a decent job without the typical nasty overload problems. The most agravating thing is the grinding hum while it is playing. You can give it 3-9 volts with a walwart and avoid the hum. It looks like a lunch box and is way too heavy to be practical for camping etc. So, needless to say it doesn't get much play time even if the power is off. I would love to add solar cells to it to run off while I am outside at the picnic table listening. Have a great weekend! Jon. |
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