Small Portable Radio's?

[Sub_Umbra]

True, but I was thinking of intelligible communications vs static spelling out S.O.S.

Probably a moot point in the US to be able to communicate out since if you're really in trouble, someone is going to notice or be within walking distance.

I commute, been doing it since 1986. There's been a few 'disasters' that has kept me from getting home in a timely manner (landslide, earthquakes, floods, traincars with hydrazine derailed). A few of those times landline and even cellphone communications were down for most of the day.

I was thinking more of communicating with others not so much for emergencies but to reach family.

Anyone see "Sudden Impact"? That movie makes me want to buy an off road motorcycle so I can get out or into town in an emergency when all the freeways are gridlocked.

In that case use your cell phone. When the crap gets really deep use text messages on your cell phone as they will get through when voice won"t. I've already lived through this to the Nth degree -- trust me on this.

If you want to 'just reach family' in a casual manner in a real emergency you're heading in the wrong direction -- no matter what happens. Casual just won't work.

If connecting with family in an emergency is your concern you must set up a network where you call (or text) just one relative and then have them call all of the rest of them and tell them that you are OK. Set that network up now. Trust me, I've already been through a catastrophy that overloads the phone networks for weeks. Set up your text net before it hits the fan. Text will get out when nothing else will.

My stuff about expedient transmitters was for...expedient transmitters. Don't go there if you don't have to.

 

[Lit Up]

I guess we digress here in that the thread is about small portable radios. Worth another thread on larger format AM/FM's.

Bill

True. Also another thread on what I just started to look into: HD-Radio.
The HD portables are still not efficient enough with battery life. The chipsets just won't allow it at this time. In any event, pretty cool concept with possibility of one station having multiple streams to offer different genres of music.

 

[Lit Up]

That's really too bad. It was unique. Aside from the great AM side it was also the only real FM DX rig I've ever heard of. Lots of people really found that radio useful. Over the years I've bought five of them.

It's just hard to find a really great radio. You can find a decent or doable one, but it's like everyone just forgot how?

With JVC; Pioneer; Sony; Alpine; Kenwood and all the others out there, you'd think there's still someone doing it right.
I looked at Grundig's site the other night and didn't even see the Mini 300 listed on there. All I saw was what looked to be cheap plastic, uninspired radios.
It seems to be that one or two models of cheap radios along with bookshelf stereos and AM/FM alarm clocks is all you see on store shelves much anymore.

I guess it's all about the MP3 and iPOD hard drives these days. Which DOES kick the crap out of a portable CD player, I just want more choices out there for portable radios.

 

[Omega Man]

I think a easy, cheap transmitter could be nothing more than an FRS. They've been around long enough, that I found one 2 years ago at a yard sale for $0.50. And in the same vein, why not CB? You can't find them as easily or cheap in retail stores as FRS, but you have a good chance of being heard in my opinion, I still see signs in my area stating "Police Monitor CB Channel 9".

 

[baterija]

There's decent chance many of the National Guardsmen responding in the event of a disaster are carrying FRS radios. An FRS radio with good scanning capability will let you find the probably less military sounding chatter then on their official networks.

 

[shakeylegs]

Check out this Kaito model. Small, multiband, great reception, and about $35 buy now on ebay.
Here's a review: http://www.radiointel.com/review-kaitowrx911.htm

 

[greenlight]

May I be the only one to mention that the plural of radio is radios, and that the posessive form is radio's (the radio's reception is horrible). OK?

 

[Sub_Umbra]

It's just hard to find a really great radio. You can find a decent or doable one, but it's like everyone just forgot how?

With JVC; Pioneer; Sony; Alpine; Kenwood and all the others out there, you'd think there's still someone doing it right.
I looked at Grundig's site the other night and didn't even see the Mini 300 listed on there. All I saw was what looked to be cheap plastic, uninspired radios.
It seems to be that one or two models of cheap radios along with bookshelf stereos and AM/FM alarm clocks is all you see on store shelves much anymore.

I guess it's all about the MP3 and iPOD hard drives these days. Which DOES kick the crap out of a portable CD player, I just want more choices out there for portable radios.

Yes. Big changes in radio...in many ways. I've used tiny Walkman type AM-FM radios since the start of the 80s. I used to really like them. You could even DX with them. For years now I haven't been able to find one that runs on AA cells and it's getting harder and harder to find them equipped for AM. We're still using the tiny Sony SFR-M37Vs and they're good radios but I don't like them as well as the Sony SRF-M40-W, which they replaced.

The M40 was huge by today's standards but it ran forever on two AAs and had such great ergonomics that I could search, tune and jump from preset to preset without ever taking it out of my coat pocket.

I'd buy another in a heartbeat...if I could find one. :-(

Omega Man,

We use FRS/GMRS radios every night. When our old FRS radios started to poop out I looked long and hard for replacements that would let me use AA NiCD/NiMH cells. I finally bought a pair of Motorola T9500XLR FRS/GMRS radios. I highly recommend them for daily or emergency use. Since they run on AAs they may be used by battery freaks months after the power has gone down. We have ours set up on some of Motorola's own extended paging codes so in theory we should almost never get a page from anyone else -- in our use we haven't. They also have the weather freqs and alert. WX wasn't a factor in the purchase but it is nicely implimented and it doesn't get in the way so that's a plus.

They were ~$85 for the pair at Rat Shack and I'm pleased with them even though I'll never use the NiMH packs and charger that were included in the price.

 

[Sub_Umbra]

There's decent chance many of the National Guardsmen responding in the event of a disaster are carrying FRS radios. An FRS radio with good scanning capability will let you find the probably less military sounding chatter then on their official networks.

That's really interesting. That's a good thing to know. Thanks.

 

[Lit Up]

A new one from Sangean expected around the middle of June:
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/spcialty/4400.html

No FM antenna, however.

 

[Lit Up]

OK, curiosity got the better of me and I had a poke around at the state of radio.

It seems that HD-Radio has been available by some early adopters as long as five years ago. It just seems to not have gained much of a foothold.
We also have XM/Sirius, and the analog signals of AM/FM, of course.
Well a lot are saying HD-Radio is a little too late. I don't see how as satellite is a pay for subscription service (With a lot of complaints over phantom charges and problems when trying to cancel service) and HD is free...

There's also talk of something currently being heavily developed that's called IP Radio. (WiMax) Basically radio streams via IP. Like VoIP being voice over IP. Everyone is banking on this it seems. To the point that station owners could be faced with the question of turning off their physical station transmitters altogether sometime down the road.

In short: This is going to be a far worse headache than HDTV and the Blu-Ray HD-DVD battle combined ever thought of being. And it's most likely why we have all the reluctance to have a lot of radio models available out there.

Some reading:
http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0048/t.9030.html

In the meantime, grab a decent radio that gets weather band and go with it until all this dust clears.

 

[StarHalo]

Portable radio DXing (long-distance listening) is one of my other hobbies, and I have a modest portable radio collection, so I've got some mileage on the subject - I would recommend an *analog tuned* (needle-and-dial tuner, no digital display) radio, preferably powered by AAs (or larger/more batteries), as these have ridiculously long runtimes. You'll find you don't need a high-dollar super-sensitive unit to pull in distant stations at night, even a bare-bones model will easily pick up bigger AM stations from several hundred miles away. Ideally it should receive the weather band, shortwave is not useful in any local/regional event (aside from being almost impossible to tune, especially in any emergency situation). XM/Sirius radio doesn't cover anything local, and HD stations are exclusively local (you can't hear them from longer distances) and require an expensive/complex tuner. Put your money into a good bang-for-the-buck known-brand-name model that puts the cost into quality more than extraneous features (the two analog Sonys Lit Up posted are excellent choices).

Unfortunately the most useful feature, TV audio, won't be useable after next year; the one time I was in a five-day ice storm power outage, the TV audio was pretty much all I needed, and had far better coverage and information than any radio station. But second to TV stations would be local/regional AM stations; Make sure you know ahead of time what AM stations you'd want to tune in an emergency, specifically the all news format and big/powerful regional stations.

 

[bmstrong]

I appreciate everyone who replied to this topic. Makes for some very interesting reading...

 

[Black Rose]

Check out this Kaito model. Small, multiband, great reception, and about $35 buy now on ebay.
Here's a review: http://www.radiointel.com/review-kaitowrx911.htm

Excellent review for such a low cost multiband radio.

I've always wanted a shortwave equipped radio and prefer analog tuning - seems perfect for what I want.

Might have to order one (yeah, like I need more toys )

 

[StarHalo]

The WRX is a solid unit, but be aware of the difficulty and limitations of receiving worldband on an analog portable; "off the whip" (using just the antenna) you're only going to get a few of the major stations and those that are closest to you, and when you do find something, tuning it is quite a challenge since the signals are usually quite weak and tend to drift/fade. And finding it later requires some very careful notetaking and patient knob-turning.

If you'd still like to give it a try, I'd recommend picking up a ~$10 pocket reel antenna available by many manufacturers and vendors (here's one: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/3184.html ) and works with any radio. If used properly, this single little length of wire will easily double or triple the number of stations (shortwave only) you receive.

Again, I don't recommend a worldband radio like the WRX for purchase as an emergency kit radio, but for a fun bang-for-the-buck shortwave unit, it's a good choice.

 

[Black Rose]

Since I more or less live right in the middle of the continent, I would probably need one of those pocket reel antennas.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[stitch_paradox]

This is a really great thread. A lot of people don't know this but one key of survival is information. The GE super radio seems to be a winner, too bad I didn't see it before I bought this:

Eton FR300

(Moderator note: Hotlinked pic removed IAW CPF Image Rules.)

Haven't really used it, I just cranked it up and turned it on then put it away with my emergency stuff.

Does anyone here have this or have used this more extensively?

 

[Sub_Umbra]

This is a really great thread. A lot of people don't know this but one key of survival is information. The GE super radio seems to be a winner, too bad I didn't see it before I bought this:

Eton FR300

(Moderator note: Hotlinked pic removed IAW CPF Image Rules.)

Haven't really used it, I just cranked it up and turned it on then put it away with my emergency stuff.

Does anyone here have this or have used this more extensively?

I have not used that one but I have followed many threads about crank up radios. They seem to work best when used every day, week or at least once a month. The rechargable cells inside it are the same as rechargable cells everywhere (except perhaps cheaper :sigh: ) and as such they really don't like long periods of inactivity. There are many posts about people storing crank up gear only to find it dead and unusable later. The cells inside them are like all rechargable cells in that they are similar to your teeth -- if you ignore them they go away.

In general, crank radios work best in places like the Third World where folks are forced to use them every day because they simply can't afford batteries. Everyday use would seem to demand a modicum of quality -- because it's being used every day -- crank mechinisims with plastic gears probably won't fare well under everyday use.

This is not meant to be a monolithic condemnation of crank up radios. If the device is of high quality and it's use is worked into one's everyday life I think it could be a valuable piece of emergency gear. Also, even if it is of lessor quality a crank device will not let you down if it is incorporated into one's everyday life as one will see it going bad as it happens and not be so likely to be left in the lurch. Generally this would also be true of many, many other classes of emergency gear -- working it into one's daily life will make one not only much more familiar with it's workings but also alert one to it's shortcomings before the crunch.

As a side bar, I see that this radio has Red Cross endorsement. I personally have a huge amount of experience with the Red Cross under very serious disaster conditions and I can assure you that their actions, advice and endorsements may be hazardous to the health of your family in any type of serious emergency.

 

[StarHalo]

The Eton emergency radios have gotten generally mediocre reviews due to a remarkably stubborn battery cover, just-decent reception, and the "cell-phone charge" feature being greatly overhyped. If you're set on the Eton, I'd opt instead for the FR400, essentially the same radio but weather-resistant.

 

[StarHalo]

I apologize for not giving a specific suggestion for a particular radio, but between a new baby and a new house, I'm not afforded a lot of time to do product comparisons; I do think it's a pretty important topic though, and after a rare moment to do some intensive investigating, I can definitively say there's a winner:

The Sony ICF-B05W

Standing a just over 7 inches tall, it features an AM/FM/Weather band analog tuner, a hand-crank generator that will power the AM band for one hour for one minute of cranking, an LED light with a high and low setting, a water resistant case, and best of all: it's powered by *two C cells* for a total AM runtime of 355 HOURS.

In my five-day power outage ordeal, I found that I left the radio on pretty much nonstop in the waking hours, not just for news but to provide entertainment and generally keep up morale. This radio, if used for 16 hours a day will last *over 22 days* on a single pair of batteries, and even then you still have the option to crank.

It looks like the Sony engineers have really put their heads together to make a serious emergency radio, and this one definitely deserves some looking into.