All this disaster stuff has got me thinking that I should have a battery powered radio.  Are there any that are better than others, or will anything work about the same?  

What about this one?:Link

I bought a nice used Grindig at a pawn shop for $20

Grundig with an onboard genny and led lamp W/ verner dial for about $39 at Radio Shack.  

Got mine from LL Bean.........$39.00 too.

tag

Quoted: Grundig with an onboard genny and led lamp W/ verner dial for about $39 at Radio Shack.

I picked up one of the Grundigs (also got it from Radio Shack) a couple of days after 9-11.  Besides the built in generator, it will also run off of three AA batteries for a long time.  AM/FM/SW bands.

Quoted: Grundig with an onboard genny and led lamp W/ verner dial for about $39 at Radio Shack.

+1

I love mine

Quoted: All this disaster stuff has got me thinking that I should have a battery powered radio.  Are there any that are better than others, or will anything work about the same?   What about this one?:Link

The radio you linked to seems pretty cool.  Cheap price and a small size.  Definately would be easier to carry in a BOB.  It seems to have a long battery life.  The only advantage the Grundig has is the the built in generator.  Anyone try one of these?

I've been looking at this one.

Radio

The Survival Forum is thataway ----------->>>>>

Quoted: I've been looking at this one. Radio

I played with that one. the only difference between the one I mentioned above is that it has a flashing red strobe and 9 NOAA presets. For only $10 more. not too shabby IMHO.

Quoted: The Survival Forum is thataway ----------->>>>>

Ah....didn't know there was such a thing...sorry about that!

don't forget the heavy duty ziploc with flotation. get it wet it might be toast

Quoted: Grundig with an onboard genny and led lamp W/ verner dial for about $39 at Radio Shack.

+1  got mine at circuit city

Quoted: www.grundigradio.com/US/images/header/fr300.jpg What I have.

Wave,

Does this have SW?  From what I gather there are two different models that are basically the same, one with SW, one with TV.  I would guess the TV would be more  useful, yes?

Quoted: Wave, Does this have SW?  From what I gather there are two different models that are basically the same, one with SW, one with TV.  I would guess the TV would be more  useful, yes?

Well, I'm in Baton Rouge right now and yes, TV band audio would be more useful today.  HOWEVER,
Granted that Shortwave is probably less useful, at least you aren't limiting the useful life of your radio (well some of its usefulness anyway).

Futuristic

Quoted: Quoted: Wave, Does this have SW?  From what I gather there are two different models that are basically the same, one with SW, one with TV.  I would guess the TV would be more  useful, yes? Well, I'm in Baton Rouge right now and yes, TV band audio would be more useful today.  HOWEVER, remember that in just a few years (3 - 6) the audio TV bands will be abandoned in favor of Digital Broadcast TV.  These radios won't get any TV audio then.  Shortwave on the other hand isn't going anywhere. Granted that Shortwave is probably less useful, at least you aren't limiting the useful life of your radio (well some of its usefulness anyway). Futuristic

Ugh....decisions, decisions.  TV or SW?  I don't know!

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Wave, Does this have SW?  From what I gather there are two different models that are basically the same, one with SW, one with TV.  I would guess the TV would be more  useful, yes? Well, I'm in Baton Rouge right now and yes, TV band audio would be more useful today.  HOWEVER, remember that in just a few years (3 - 6) the audio TV bands will be abandoned in favor of Digital Broadcast TV.  These radios won't get any TV audio then.  Shortwave on the other hand isn't going anywhere. Granted that Shortwave is probably less useful, at least you aren't limiting the useful life of your radio (well some of its usefulness anyway). Futuristic Ugh....decisions, decisions.  TV or SW?  I don't know!

Get one that has both.  Seriously.  I have a similar unit to the one shown but it has both, plus the Police/Fire band (providing your city hasn't gone digital).  Then again the unit I use also has a solar array (in addition to the crank & optional AA batteries) which actually works when it's in bright sunlight.

Here is the review I did on it for the Survival Forum early last year:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radio Review. Kaito KA007

Recently my wife bought me a Kaito KA007 radio as a valentines day present. This is a multi-band radio with multiple power sources. I wanted it because right now I have 3 radios to do the job this one radio does – and this one still does more. It was $34.97 from CheaperThanDirt.com (www.cheaperthandirt.com/ctd/product.asp?sku=LOW%2D605&mscssid=0KP65SD4PJV28NH2VURU0GEUNSJB7478)

When I opened the rather abused looking box (it looked like a gorilla had played with it) I found a radio in perfect condition, an AC adapter, an set up plug in earphones, and a ‘extended short wave antenna’ (long wire with a jack on the end – it plugs into the headphone jack to enhance reception).

We’ll start with the power sources: This radio has a variety of power sources. First off you can run it off 3 ‘AA’ batteries for a rather long time. There is also a Solar panel on the back which can charge the internal NiMH battery pack. According to the manufacture 12 hours of sunlight gets you 6-8 hours of play time). You can plug in the AC adapter to run the radio and charge the internal batteries (6 hours of AC charging get you 48 hours of play). Finally there is the large crank on the rear of the radio to charge the internal batteries. This crank is much larger (and more sturdy) then the little one on my combo AM/FM/flashlight solar/crank radio. With 100 cranks I’ve been able to run the radio about 20 minutes so far (and still going).

The next best thing about this radio is the number of bands it can receive:
AM/FM (standard American commercial radio frequencies).
VHF/Weather (the weather band is a subset of the VHF frequencies)
TV (you can get all 12 (ch 2 to ch 13) of the VHF TV audio signals – the TV channels are broken up into two bands).
Short Wave (it can receive from just below 4.9MHz to 22MHz, which is broken up into four bands).

So with one radio you can receive the common mass media AM/FM/TV, the government weather stations, and shortwave signals from around the world; it even can pick up your local police and fire department. Not bad for a box that measures 6.5"x5.5"x2.25". Tuning is done with an analog knob with a moving bar to show you what frequency you are tuned in on. Frequency numbers are printed in alternating black and white. The white lettered numbers are easy to read, even in low light. The black numbered bands required a lot of light to read (I had to resort to a flashlight in a room lit by a 40w bulb). Bands are selected using several sliding switches on the front of the radio – this gives me pause as my DX-351 SW had similar switches which had problems. The radio’s volume is also the on/off control (which I like), no more turning the radio only to find it’s on at full volume. The case is sturdy with a built in carry handle, however it is not ‘weather resistant’ so keep it out of the rain (think gallon sized zip-lock bag).

Ok so far it sounds good – but how does it perform? Can it do the job? To find out I compared it against the radios it would be replacing as the primary emergency radio (especially for a bug-out).

Here is what I compared it against:
Sunmate AM/FM/Flashlight Power: Windup, Solar, 2xAA battery (internal battery is NiCad)
Radio Shack DX-351 Compact AM/FM/SW/LW Power: 2xAA battery or AC
Radio Shack desktop Weather Alert radio Power: AC with backup 9v

Compared to the Sunmate, the KA007 is larger and lacks the poor flashlight, however it has a larger (and easier to use) crank. The KA007 also does a better job of bringing in the AM/FM signals (and the Summate is no slouch), and has a louder speaker.

I love my little DX-351, it’s a compact shortwave that I received as a birthday gift from my wife several years go. IIRC she got it for around $40 when it was on clearance at the ‘shack. Its about the size of a paper back book and runs on two AA batteries. It has roughly the same shortwave spectrum as the KA007 (maybe it goes a little lower below 4.9 than the KA007), but it spreads the range over 9 bands. This really helps in tuning the weaker stations, especially when you may have several stations close together. However the slide selector on my DX_351 broke within a year of getting the radio, so AM/FM and LW are now not available – which is why I needed the Sunmate to supplement. So I wanted to see of the KA007 could live up to the DX 351. There is a LED on the KA007 which shows how well you are locked onto a station (the brighter it is the better the lock). This really helps with tuning, but I found the KA007 was really sensitive to adjustments as its shortwave is spread over only 4 bands. All the strong stations were no problem, but I picked up one weak Arabic station on the DX that took several passes of the KA to finally find the station (to be fair there were two strong stations very close by on the band). I found the KA007 could pick up anything the DX-351 could, but it might take more work for the weaker stations. Once locked on to a frequency the KA007 generally had the better signal, and had the advantage of a louder speaker. Overall I’m pleased with the KA007s shortwave abilities.

I then checked the TV station reception. All the local stations came in loud and clear, with most of the stations located roughly 15-25 miles away. This is a nice addition in capabilities that I did not have before.

The final test was the VHF/Weather radio band. I ran the tuner along the VHF band just to see what I could find. Along my scanning I found some Morse code, some digital bursts, fire department and police radios (not sure which departments though), and I even picked up some TV audio (which really surprised me). However I did not pick up any weather stations (which is a subset of the VHF band). To find a weather station I brought the KA007 into the bedroom and put it next to my weather radio. I picked up this ‘base station’ weather radio/weather alert on clearance last year. I normally keep it tuned to a Delaware (50-60 mi) station (162.5) that sends out warning for my area. I tried and tried but could not get the KA to find the station. Finally I picked up a weather station in Towson (20-25 miles) broadcasting on 162.4. The dial was sitting over the second 5 in ‘162.55’ as marked on the weather band (looks like the weather band markings are a bit off). As I walked through my aluminum sided house I had problems keeping a lock on the station (to be fair my all digital weather radio has similar issues –though not as pronounced). So yes this radio can pick up the weather bands – but the station had better be fairly close or very strong. It also takes much patience and a gentle touch on the tuner. Overall I’d rate its weather radio performance as poor – thankfully I have 3 other radios that can pick up the Wx band.

Overall I like this little radio, and for the price it’s hard to beat. Just keep it out of the rain and go easy on the controls and it should do right by you.

I've got the Kaito from CTD. The genny handle broke on the first one. I sent it back. The genny handle broke on the second one. I fixed it. Needless to say, this is a weak point on the Kaito.

Considering that:

1. The average radio will operate for several hundred hours on a single set of batteries - almost a year of daily use for an hour, and

2. A crank generator adds dozens of flimsy plastic parts to an otherwise-reliable radio,

The money spent on a crank generator could probably be better used on other features (such as a digital display or BFO circuit for receiving sideband signals).

Most radios use common flashlight batteries anyway - something that should already be stockpiled for other purposes.

Quoted: I've got the Kaito from CTD. The genny handle broke on the first one. I sent it back. The genny handle broke on the second one. I fixed it. Needless to say, this is a weak point on the Kaito.

Interesting I have not had that problem.  Where in the handle did it break?  How are you winding it?

I grasp the handle with my thumb and forefinger and spint it around at a reasonable pace.  I could see if you were trying to crank it really fast it would break.

Quoted: I've got the Kaito from CTD. The genny handle broke on the first one. I sent it back. The genny handle broke on the second one. I fixed it. Needless to say, this is a weak point on the Kaito.

The crank handle on the Grundig is pretty strong. Never had a problem with it

Quoted: Quoted: The Survival Forum is thataway ----------->>>>> Ah....didn't know there was such a thing...sorry about that!

We have a lot of new visitors over there!  Don't be afraid to jump in.

My personal favorite is the Yaseu VX-2R, which is actually a dual-band ham radio talkie that also includes a very wide-range general-coverage receiver (500 KHz to 999 MHz, which covers the AM, FM, shortwave, TV, NOAA weather, aircraft and most public service bands). Includes a long-life rechargeable LiON battery and recharger - Currently sells for about $125 after rebates at Ham Radio Outlet, among other places.





- Would be great choice for anyone who is considering eventually getting their ham radio license (and yes, you can listen without a license!).

Tag

I have been meaning to upgrade/get a back up.

Seydou

Quoted: www.grundigradio.com/US/images/header/fr300.jpg What I have.

I just bought one too-that thing is the balls. It's pretty slick that it can recharge cellphones too. I just retrofitted mine with a cord that will attach to my 12V battery charger-so I can recharge my NiMH batteries as well

Quoted: Attention Radio Shack Shoppers...The price on this radio is now $19.97 until October 16th! www.grundigradio.com/US/images/header/fr300.jpg I freakin' paid $49.99 for mine about a month ago!

Where did you see that. Website shows them still for $49?????  In store sale only?

Quoted: Quoted: Attention Radio Shack Shoppers...The price on this radio is now $19.97 until October 16th! www.grundigradio.com/US/images/header/fr300.jpg I freakin' paid $49.99 for mine about a month ago! Where did you see that. Website shows them still for $49?????  In store sale only?

$49.99 on teh intarweb and in the store too.