Need recommendations on emergency radio

I'm looking for a reliable emergency radio and wanted to know if anyone can suggest one or two models that they have experience with (used for camping, survival, emergencies, etc.). Thank you.

[edit on 3-3-2008 by AtlantisAgain]

Most folks like the hand crank ones that have a little solar panel. I thought I would be smart and put one in the camping stuff. I forget to buy batteries and things so it seemed like I was getting a handle on it. Well it was fine in the sun. once the sun was down it was a crank thing about every 10 minutes and add to that pumping lanterns and adding firewood and it seemed a bit much to me for a relaxing trip.

Some one must have gotten a good one though. They will probably post.

I have an an Eton Mini300PE. it's portable, battery powered, and has AM, FM, and 7 shortwave bands. It does an acceptable job as far as reception goes. I also intend to buy it's larger cousin the FR300, which is hand- cranked and has rechargeable batteries. It picks up AM, FM, TV1 and TV2, NOAA weather with the alert feature, and will recharge cell phones in an emergency.

The smaller unit is for my bug out gear, and the larger will be for home use.

Thanks guys, i'm going to look for one that's solar powered (with a crank backup, if possible) and that has shortwave reception. I'll check out those Eton models especially.

''I've been using a [FreePlay Plus] for4 years now, om the same factory installed rechargeable batteries - solar or hand crank charging -

the Free-Play comes from South Africa, a "C. Crane Co." is the importer & sales/distributerout of CA.
one other feature is a LED ,mini spotlight that has a 6ft rewind cord, & the LED reflector has a magnet to fix the spot at a handy place.


its not cheap... ~ 100 federal reserve notes

((but it is very cost effective as i actually use it daily (nightly)
to listen all night --actually 1AM-5AM-- to Coast-to-Coast,
cause then i'm up doing jig-saw puzzles on-line))

[edit on 4-3-2008 by St Udio]

Avoid the plastic hand crank Grundig. It is simply not a good radio.

This is the one I have... works great so far.

Kaito KA009 Radio

Kaito brings you the KA009, a compact portable radio you can run in any condition! It's powered both by 110V electricity or 3 AA batteries, but if neither are available, you can play this radio with the direct sun or charge the NI-MH batteries. With 12 hours in the Sun, you get 6-8 hours playing! And when the sun goes down, the hand crank generator charges the internal NI-MH Batteries. It receives AM and FM, as well as weather stations and contiguous Shortwave that covers most of the world stations. Other features include a built-in bright LED light for use in the dark, an AC/DC adapter, earphones and a soft antenna.

I got this
Radio

Seems good so far. It's my hurricane radio. Probably not so good to bug-out with a bright yellow radio though. Crank it for a couple minutes and you will be bored with listening long before the charge is gone.

[edit on 4-3-2008 by Tinhatman]

I have two of the plastic handled Grundig FR 200 Radios and have had no problem with them. I also have a small Grundig Mini 100 PE radio.

Since I bought the FR 200s many other companys have moved into the market. I am not entirely sure what is on the market now days.

Of what I figured out to be concerned and also desire in a survival radio of this type is waterproofing. I do not know if someone makes a model with waterproofing. At the time I bought these Grundigs I did not know of anyone who does this Thought these radios come with some kind of carrying case it is still not waterproof.

THe small Mini 100 PE Grundig is also not waterproof. I carry it in my daily go to work bag along with my Two Meter Walkie talkie and two different antennas for this HT. These two radios are carried in small plastic bags and also put into a ziplock bags.

IF I was to do it over again..I would look for a waterproof type with common battery requirements.

I use my FR 200 Grundig several times a week to listen to AM radio while running around the house taking care of different tasks.

I also have two portable shortwave radios capable of Single Sideband receptioin in addition to the regular AM/FM bands. One of them also uses AA type batterys while the older of the two uses D cells and one AA for the clock.

I would also recommend some forethought in purchasing a radio or different radios..to the concept of common battery requirements. You dont want to have to stock or keep track of to many different types of batterys. I keep around one to two of the 40 count AA type battery bundles from Costco all the time. Also if you have children ..this means keeping them out of these battery supplies. You dont want to reach for your battery stash and find they are all gone to play toys, CD players and other electronic nonsense....these are emergency supplies..not fun stuff...conveniences. A tall order in a family.

I always try to keep on my person two to four of the AA type batterys. It is just my habit. After I have carried them for a couple of months I use them or throw them away and get a fresh four pack.
I alway have aN AA battery type mag lite on me and a spare in my go to work back pack.

IF it really comes to hard times and disaster preparedness wateproofing would be a desired thing to know how to do if your radio is not initially set up or built for this

Thanks,
Orangetom

I can understand the importance of keeping plenty of batteries in stock (I keep atleast one bulk pack of AA's that Costco sells).
Right now i'm leaning toward the Kaito KA009 that yankeerose suggested - it's got multiple backup power sources which is very nice and it's priced at about $35.
I'm also considering a portable shortwave such as Kaito's KA1102, 1103, or WRX911, or Grundigs YB300-PE or mini300PE that Lloyd45 has.

Not to get off topic, but the idea of alternative media sources obtainable through shortwave from other parts of the world has greatly stimulated my interest and i've never had an interest in radio other than listening to local news (garbage) here in New York.

I greatly appreciate all of your responses!

I've been considering the different hand-crank radios for months and have yet to make a descion. Some of them will pick up tv signals, which seems like a great idea as you'd be able to hear local news. BUT, TV is going digital before too long and so I guess that would make that option useless. So, I haven't made up my mind yet. But I guess I should just pick something.

Atlantis again and others,

Not to get off topic, but the idea of alternative media sources obtainable through shortwave from other parts of the world has greatly stimulated my interest and i've never had an interest in radio other than listening to local news (garbage) here in New York.

Keep in mind again...that I also refered to the "commonality" of battery types used in these radios. The battery requirements seem to be scaling down as time and technology marchs on. AT one time it was "D" cell type batterys that went into these portable type short wave radios. Now it is down to AA types. A significant advancement in battery requirements.
One of my shortwave sets still uses 4 D cells as it also has a cassette tape player/recorder in it. Olde school compared to what is out there today.

Nonetheless try to stay within a single battery type if possible. It will simplify much.

Understand entirely about alternative media sources through shortwave. I did this years ago with an olde shortwave set purchased at a yard sale and strung an olde type copper wire antenna out to my tree. Hours and hours of listening pleasure resulted from this as well as the awareness of how much news and information did not get into what amounted to our mainstream media back then. This was before home computers.

What I learned from this shortwave listening experience was how heavy a paper curtain was actually over a supposedly free people. Also another confirmation as to how little many Americans know about other countrys and peoples. I had already suspected this as I was raised as a child by my military father and mother and all over the globe.

I have since those years obtained my Amateur Radio licence and have several Ham radio sets....both base station and portable/mobile. Make no mistake here...I still value my portable shortwave sets in case of emergency. I have battery setups...and also two generators. But I still maintain several portable battery operated sets of the type being described here. I even take one with me on vacations. Olde habits die hard.

Hope all turns out well in your choice of radio/radios.

Thanks,
Orangetom

not trying to fill a Consumer Reports type of service,

but a list of survival- alt/news radios can be found at;
www.survivalblog.com...


briefly, from the link we find >
- Kato KA1102, least expensive ~ 35$ ?
- Sony ICF-SW-7800G ~ 210$
- Drake R8A ~ 1100$
- Bearcat BC8T ~ 240$



others are mentioned at various prices, but click the link for the descriptions & prices & functions...


All of which gladens me, in that 4 years ago and even Today, my choice of a "Freeplay", seems to have been => and still is

Orangetom1999,
That sounds like a great hobby, plus the benefit of having access to a huge amount of global information (as well as a substitute to the internet in the event of an emergency). I assume you can spend huge amounts of time scanning the channels and listening to regular programs.
Would you recommend any of the brands/models that I listed above for quality shortwave? Thanks.

St Udio,
Thanks for that link, gotta check it out when I get the chance.
I notice that they mention the Kaito KA1102.
I'm still considering the Freeplay (it's a little expensive but still comparing).

AtlantisAgain,

Wow!! You are close by the web today. Didnt take you long to reply. Doing odds and ends around here in addition to occasionally monitoring this site.

I have one of my comptuers in my radio room. I just fixed up this room with new rug etc..before putting my equipment back up and on the air.

I took a look at those different radios you mentioned in your earlier post. For my liking it looked like the Kaito 1103 offereds alot of value. I was particularly impressed with this model in that is offers non muting in its features when dialing the frequency dial. This is because it is a analog type dial verses digital. I like that feature and have no problem with an older design analog dial. With my two digital SW sets when you change the frequency the volume mutes till the PHase lock Loop catchs up with the new frequency. This is not so on analog type sets. Also the 1103 model offers SSB type reception. This is a big plus at that price.

I recommend if you get a model like this in Shortwave set..or even another set...that you get a better antenna than the little telescoping antenna which comes with them. These factory telescoping antennas are marginal at best. There are alot of good accessory external antennas on the market or you can make your own if you want better reception.
My regular ham radio transmiter can tune in all the SW bands but I still like to listen to my portable sets when doing work not confined to this radio shack.

I bought a Grundig short wave set similar to my Radio Shack DX 398 for my mother some years back. I dont recall the model but it had the short wave bands plus SSB. IT was some $139.00 at Radio Shack back then. It seems that there are alot more of these type radios on the market now days and at less expensive prices too. I find this to be a great plus.

THe very small pocket type radios like I have in the Grundig PE100 mini are marginal at best. All my other short wave sets out perform this little radio. What these smaller radios offer at best is alot of frequency coverage in a small set. They are not that easy to tune or locate as station outside of the AM/FM bands and even sometimes these too.

This is just me speaking.but I prefer sets with SSB tuning circuitry. The reason is that alot of Ham Radio operators are tuned into not only the internet..but other hams as well and talk about what they have known or found out on the web daily. These Hams, like me, often have a computer in thier radio shack as well as numerous frequency coverage both transmit and recieve. Thus I can tune into them for alternate sources of information and opinion..not just the 'mainstream " media. I have grown weary of much of the techniques of the mainstream media over the years as a result of knowlege gleaned from back in my short wave listening days before obtaining my Ham license.....both left and right media.
But that is just me.
There are alot of olde timers out there on the Ham Bands with very intresting life experiences ..not just a television/movie education....do you understand to what I am alluding? I love to listen to these olde codgers when I run across them on the dial. They tell wonderful stories of their lives..not just what they saw in a movie or on television.

HOpe this helps.

Orangetom