need suggestions for an emergency radio and go bag

[lightyearsaway]

Will be doing the review soon, however, got a question...

how long can these emergency radios last, in terms of life expectancy without use? Currently I have three, but the newest Sony radio is telling me I should charge the internal lithium batteries monthly, true or false? I do have concerns that when I go to use it if I need it that they lithium batteries may be bad... Camera batteries for example start to bulge, that happed to me recently, 5 years of usage, I had to toss them before they exploded. I am considering to buy the Solar Observer and then show all three of these radios in a review for others, however, I am not so sure I need so many, especially if the internal batteries may be toast in just a few years...

 

[StarHalo]

The Sony's internal battery is the very safe NiMH chemistry (not Li-ion like a camera battery), like a rechargeable Eneloop, but probably not low-self-discharge, so it runs itself down over time. It will lose some capacity if you don't "exercise" it occasionally, but that's the benefit of a good emergency radio design - even if one power source fails completely/isn't available, you still have many other options.

 

[lightyearsaway]

How about the CCrane Solar Observer? The same? Yep, it is, I just checked, it also uses NiMH. Indeed these are better than Li-ion.

How often do I need to exercise them? And to what extent? Full charge? By crank or by AC?

 

[StarHalo]

How often do I need to exercise them? And to what extent? Full charge? By crank or by AC?

Just make sure the internal battery doesn't stay empty/uncharged during storage; some monthly cranking would probably be sufficient. I'm not sure you can charge it using the DC in, but since you have the solar option, that makes it pretty easy for you.

 

[Sway]

How about the CCrane Solar Observer? The same? Yep, it is, I just checked, it also uses NiMH. Indeed these are better than Li-ion.

How often do I need to exercise them? And to what extent? Full charge? By crank or by AC?

I have a CC Solar Observer that gets used just about every morning for around an hour and it runs on the internal NiMH pack. I leave it setting in a south facing window and the solar panel keeps the batteries charged, no alkalines or cranking needed

 

[StarHalo]

Should also mention: A CPFer in the other radio thread noted that the Solar Observer will operate on sunlight with no battery - you can remove the internal battery completely and just set it in the sun, and it plays on..

 

[zehnmm]

I should like to strongly agree with what Ed (KC0UKR) has said. If one is serious about radio for emergency purposes getting a ham license is highly recommended.

In my mountain search & rescue volunteer work we suggest getting a ham license. Indeed I have done that. Cannot recommend it too much.

Steve. KF5VQU

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[lightyearsaway]

Charging these once a month is a bit of a chore, I read one article that says once a year, but of course I want the batteries to last forever, but... Star it is interesting that the the batteries can be pulled out of the CCrane and just run off of solar. I wonder how it stores so much power, the capacitor must be high capacity. I just worry about the memory effect with Ni-MH, and without using them, only charging them every month, that must effect the lifespan?

zehnmm, have considered it, but I don't have much time for that right now. But I am interested.

 

[StarHalo]

Star it is interesting that the the batteries can be pulled out of the CCrane and just run off of solar. I wonder how it stores so much power, the capacitor must be high capacity. I just worry about the memory effect with Ni-MH, and without using them, only charging them every month, that must effect the lifespan?

The CCrane's solar panel provides enough current to run the radio without any form of battery or stored power. You can't get the volume too high, but it's still pretty impressive to have a sunny day free-energy radio.

And there is no memory effect with NiMH, the goal is to prevent the cells from being stored at zero charge over time. Just make sure it's not empty when you store it and you're fine.