Here is the one I plan on getting at some point.

http://www.hamcq.com/short-wave-listener-antennas-and-radios/katio-voyager-ka-500/prod_204.html

 

I have this. It works very well. We used it outside all summer. Reading light is a neat feature.

 

Hand crank radio

Not sure what else is out there on the market these days. Can tell you that i purchased a Grundig FR 200 about 6 years ago. I has a hand crank and battery power. Bands are AM/FM/SW1/SW2. It also has a small flash light that works off of either source.

THis unit served my family well. We utilized it in during Hurricanes Katrina and GUstav. We were w/o power for over 2 weeks for each event. The dynamo works well, I was concerned if it would hold up, but it did fine.

I believe I purchase mine on line, for about 50 bucks. Check out their line of products, mine was dependable and is still sitting on the dresser, ready to use again.:thumb:

 

We have an Eton, which during the ice storm this winter, worked great. I was without power for a week. I cuddled up next to the wood stove with a 6 pack and the crank radio. It got TV statios (which I don't think it does now with analogue gone), weather, etc. Has a little LED light on it as well. worked great!

 

I also have the Eton, great little radio..

 

Thanks for the information I will check out the radios suggested.

 

If you do a search for "crank radio", you'll see several threads about some eaton radios being POS.

 

Whats the range of SW?
I want to get the voyager, I am surrounded by mountains so FM, and maybe AM will be down if there is no power.
I am hoping SW will make it though, so I can here whats going on.

 

Depending on the SW frequency in use, and the day/night interface it encounters, it can be a few miles to around the world. Certain frequencies are best during the day for both parties, best during the night for both parties, and some best when crossing a day/night interface. The big time SW broadcasters use the frequency for the time of day of their target audience.

 

That weather station could them be heard anywhere.
not that the weather would be that bad here, but hopefully if we had a big quake someone would have the common sense to use it to get news in this area.
I want to get three or four handcranks so I have one happy each of my daughters has one and my friend rick who will not prepare himself

 

There are seven different NOAA weather radio frequencies. They broadcast in FM so they are short range. The different frequencies are spaced out in the grid to avoid interference with the next nearest station. The coverage isn't 100% of the contiguous 48, but it is close. In low quality reception areas an external antenna works wonders.

 

Yep I am back up against the san gabriels FM would probably be a gonner unless it was broadcasted locally or had a repeater, since it is line of sight.
SW is not popular but I could get some contact with the outside world. I think BBC and other still broadcast, but I don't know for sure.

I would think that someone would have thought about this and set up something reliable in a large devistating event.

Still the Voyager offers not only the radio offers a flash light and a cell phone charger which might be useful, and it's also solar.

 

I wish I could find a hand crank or solar ham reciever that is HF.
the antenna would be long but you can always here something, since it bounces off the ionisphere.

 

The only other major nation wide warning system is the NIST time standard radio stations WWV. It broadcasts on 5, 10, & 15 MHZ. The shortwave bands of the Voyager should get one or more of those frequencies. No special alarm system like NOAA, but they routinely carry maritime, major weather, and solar weather information and are tasked with carrying emergency information during times of public danger.

 

perfect so SW is HF then does the radio need a ground plain for good reception?

 

No, but a good long wire antenna helps. I think the Voyger has an external antenna input, but I couldn't verify it. One of the places that sells them showed other popular items sold with the radio and it included a roll up antenna.

 

Have you tried a copper ground antenna? I was reading an article on them but havent gotten around to buying a piece of copper tubing yet.

 

I have been looking at emergency radios also lately. I would like to have something in case **** hits the fan and also something while I am camping. Sometimes a little music is great while setting up a campsite!

 

Grundig/Eton FR250 here. AM/FM and seven SW bands. It has a fine adjust knob on the channels so you can get the really tiny ones in clear, too. Great speaker for a small radio, loud, clear as a bell. It has an LED light built in, a red strobe LED, and a pretty loud siren. Works on AC adapter, internal rechargeable pack, 3AA's or hand crank....and it even has a bag of attachments to charge cell phones.

It's gotten us through a handful of short outages and one longer one (two and a half days) with zero probs.

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/etn-red-cross-fr250-am-fm-shortwave-radio.aspx?a=567291

rich

 

....and it even has a bag of attachments to charge cell phones. rich

But, does it charge up the cell phones?????????

I've read more con/neg posts than pro/pos ones. People say you can't turn crank fast enough to charge cell, but you can use it while radio is plugged into AC. But if you've got AC power, why not use your cell's charger?

 

This guy on Ebay has about 3 or 4 of these left I think.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120474465709

I ordered one from him. I think it's around $46 shipped and they are new radios. The Kaito KA500. Best price I could find.

 

We live in a strange world where SW isn't concidered AM... I guess it's because it's not on a normal radio these days. But really AM is LW, MW and SW.

 

But, does it charge up the cell phones??????

Yes, it does. It's not designed to sit there and crank to try to fully charge a phone, though. By my figuring, the internal battery would take approx 6-8 hours of constant cranking to charge it....a cell would be comparable. But it will let you use a dead phone when you have no other options. Besides, you shouldn't be waiting til the blackout to charge your radio's batteries. You should be topped off at all times. In that case, the internal battery will partially charge your phone without cranking.

rich

 

Besides, you shouldn't be waiting til the blackout to charge your radio's batteries.
rich

Gee, do you work for the government??

I'm not going to unpack my BOB just to top off my crank radio battery.
That's why it's in my BOB, it has a crank, so I don't have to worry about fresh batteries!!!!

There are some folks that use their cell phone till it dies. Then they charge up the battery. I guess you will have to tell them: "Nope I can't charge up your cell, you should of kept it topped off at all times. Yep I know it's day three of no AC, you still should of kept it charged. Per rich's rules."

 

http://www.ccrane.com/radios/wind-up-emergency-radios/ the company has been around for a number of years

 

Gotta link?

 

Yep

Ground Antenna

Miles uses a copper rod, the guy in the links listed at the end of the article uses copper pipe.

 

I'm not going to unpack my BOB just to top off my crank radio battery.
That's why it's in my BOB, it has a crank, so I don't have to worry about fresh batteries!!!!

It's a crank backup radio, idiot, not a crank *only* radio. It has a built in battery pack that recharges plus the three AA's plus the AC. I guess you didn't pack those either since you plan to crank it to get it to work at all.

What part of "prepared" confuses you, bud?

There are some folks that use their cell phone till it dies. Then they charge up the battery.

Again, the word "prepared" seems to have eluded you. If you don't have a means of charging it *after*, then the smart thing would be to prepare *before*. Now go and whine somewhere else. I have better things to do than listen to *******s.

r

 

It's a crank backup radio, idiot, not a crank *only* radio.
r

So I'm an idiot for having a radio that is solar, crank, AA, AC powered??

What kind of radio must I carry so I won't be called names??

The kind that YOU carry??

 

I bought one 15yrs ago and it still works, why worry about if it charges up a cell phone or not. They most likely won't work any way.

 

Cuz after a hurricane about all that works is cell phones. You also have to prepare for the event that locally you're gonna have major problems but the rest of the country will be fine and functioning.

One of the greatest radio announcements that I heard while sitting around waiting for the roof to blow off during Andrew was--"This message from the Civil Defense- Residents of Kendall with cell phones please stop calling 911 nothing can be done for you, All emergency services have taken cover. You are needlessly jamming the system."

 

So has anyone really determined which one is best all around? I'd be interested to know.

 

So has anyone really determined which one is best all around? I'd be interested to know.

Pretty much all of the common ones are made by Tecsun or Degen in China. They make them and about a half a dozen other companies brand them with their names. You'd be hardpressed to really find a "best" in the bunch. Degen makes the Kaito radios....and the Degen branded ones sell for about half the Kaito brand. Tecsun makes most of the rest. A Tecsun branded radio is about half the same radio with a Grundig name. Eton is a marked down Tecsun/Grundig.

r

 

That is interesting information. Thanks! I'm always so skeptical of goods manufactured in China. But I suppose not even the Japanese manufacture many products like this anymore.

We had a SW radio in our group years ago. It was AC/Battery operated (Realistic Brand) and was as big as a ghetto blaster.

I've been looking for one of the crank/solar/batt models but couldn't make up my mind of which brand or model.

I guess I'll actually have to put some thought into it.

 

Thanks for that link randkl
That's a really good deal for the fr 250, they have the same one in Radio Shack for $50