Small portable radios?

[Phaserburn]

I have a Superradio, Radio Shack's version but identical. It does do a good job at pulling in stations and gets alot of use during football season in the fall. I like to listen to games while doing yard work outside, etc.

 

[drs2000]

A quick note regarding batteries in emergency radios.

All of the digital, and, i think, any of the 'scanning' ones that remember the last station used, draw power from the battery to maintain memories and clock, if they have one. One of my Sonys'll eat a set in a few months without touching it. Always store these without batteries.

I've got some of the Baygen radios. But they sure won't fit anywhere small. Tho the original one has enough room inside that you could probably put the emergency kit inside the radio.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif The C.Crane modified Baygen was cool, as they put a jack on the back, and gave you a three white LED 'car trouble light' that plugged in and ran off the generator, essentially replacing the shunt regulator in the radio. So you really do get 'free' light, as that energy would be used as heat in the reg, otherwise.

But they sure ain't small.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

yours, drs the crazed.

 

[LEDmodMan]

They use AA batteries instead of AAAs, but I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the County Comm $10 shortwave radios.

Great radio for the $$$. See this thread

 

[AlphaTea]

Yea, I too was wondering why the countycomm $10 radio's were not mentioned. These are great!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif
I made a purchase from countycomm and decided to get one of the little radio's on a whim.
It was so popular, I ordered 5 more.
They are tiny (4"X 2.5" X .75") or about the size of a deck of cards.
Even if it isnt exactly what you need, you wont complain about spending $10 on it.

 

[drs2000]

By the way, the Superradio and the RS version are really nice machines. I have all four versions, IIRC, and they're all excellent. Specifically designed for pulling power, which could be nice if a BIG disaster hit and there aren't any locals left.

I was reading the Urban Emergency Kit thread, and was reminded of a funny. (Craig, you'll appreciate this...) I collect old transistor radios, 50s and early 60s, with some exceptions. When we had an area-wide power outage a few years back while I was at work, we needed to monitor broadcast radio to help us decide what to do. Nobody had any radios.. Then I remembered. Ran upstairs and grabbed the only one of my novelty transistors I had at work. It's called "Little John". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I actually thought of snapping a picture of this, but no Polaroid film..

Picture this: Electrical Shop Dept Head, Facilities, Operations and Maintenance Dept Head, Airport Electrician Foreman and myself (Electronic Tech) standing around a desk, lit by a twin tube Ray-O-Vac lantern, intensely staring at a miniature pink toilet...........

It was a long day.. But Little John did the job.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smoker5.gif


By the way, the wristwatch and in-the-ear radios are probably a bad choice for emergency use. They are a minimalist design that just barely works, and use small, odd batteries. Those Sonys, Toshibas and the like are much better radios.

DRS the home with a cold.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sick.gif

 

[milkyspit]

drs2000, I have the GE Superradio that's pictured farther up the thread. But I've also read elsewhere, in some posts by shortwave enthusiasts, that the older versions of that radio were actually better. Apparently GE has cut some corners in recent years to hit their price point, or something. Wonder if the older ones are still available anywhere?

On another, possibly off-topic note, what ever happened to those crystal radio sets? As a kid I remember hooking one up from parts, and listening through an earphone. If I understand correctly, it actually drew its power from the radio signal itself. The radio had an antenna and a grounding wire that needed to be physically connected with the Earth, at least temporarily. Then there was just enough juice to drive a small earphone.

In a real disaster with extended power outage, I'm wondering it it might be useful to have one of these around? In theory, it could work day and night, for as long as necessary, and be stored indefinitely until it's needed...

 

[paulr]

The Countycomm is a good deal, but rather big and heavy for tossing in a travel kit, which is what this thread was originally about. It's 2.5"x4"x.75" or so, and feels packed with stuff, i.e. heavy even for its size, 4+ ounces with the AA cells inside.

I sort of remember once having a 1AAA FM headphone radio about the size of a Zippo lighter. I wonder why they don't make those any more. This thing I just got for $2.50 is about twice that size. Except for its flaky earphone connectors (needs some contact cleaner spray maybe), I guess it's not bad. It's maybe a third of the size and weight of the Countycomm. I better check whether it uses any battery power when turned off, but I don't think it does.

I've left it on continuously since last night on two partially discharged 700 mAH NiMH AAA's and it's still going fine. So it should run at least 24 hours on alkalines. I guess that's plenty. If they made one half the size and weight that ran 12 hours on 1AAA, that would be perfect.

 

[BlindTiger]

I know what you're talking about. Toshiba and Aiwa made them. they were smaller than a zippo and were high quality.
I just sold one for a few bucks and the lady who bought it loved it. For their size they pulled in a lot of stations and were quite loud. Back then they were $50 but that was during the mid eighties with the walkman craze.

 

[paulr]

The one I had was probably Aiwa but may have been Sony. It wasn't a no-name and it wasn't anything like $50. I'm sure it was under $20. I may still have it in a box somewhere, but not much chance of finding it.

 

[Avix]

maybe a bit more than you want to pay ($35.00), but it's got solar, crank, nihm internal and AA batteries. AM/FM/WX/SW.

http://tinyurl.com/2b4pa

comes with ear buds and wire antenna.

 

[paulr]

Avix, thanks, but it's not just an issue of cost, I want something TINY, like cigarette lighter sized or built into a wristwatch or whatever, and solar and crank power just don't fit in with that.

 

[this_is_nascar]

They don't get much smaller than This.

 

[this_is_nascar]

This radio looks small too, however I can't seem to stay focused on the radio.

 

[paulr]

Ray, thanks, that's exactly what I want (China toy factory coin cell radio, looks the same as the Unique Stuff one). I wonder where the volume control is (if there is one?), what type batteries it uses (hopefully 2032), and who retails them for less than 20 bucks. I found the same link as a Google text ad when I looked for tiny radios, but it didn't work at that time. Anyway, the link works now. I probably won't buy one anytime soon but it's good to know that it's there.

 

[shankus]

Hmm...group buy?

 

[brightnorm]

FROOGLE PAGE FOR SONY SRF-M37V

Brightnorm

 

[tsg68]

I see this Coby radio at drug stores all the time for between $4 and $7 and it looks good, smaller than a pack of cigarettes, uses one AAA (like my $30 Sangean) has an external fm antenna for extra pull, and has an external speaker as well as ear buds. Cheap and uses one battery with no digital drain. I carry a small AAA case that holds four AAA's and a single AA to give me more power for the radio as well as my Arc AAA and AA which usually accompany me everywhere.

Ray, my wife would kill me if I got one of those (not talkin' bout the radio) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif

Tad /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[drs2000]

I'll try looking around at the flea market this weekend. Lots of small import units..

Milkyspit: The earlier Superradios were better built and more selective, with better frontends. But the current one's pretty good. I'll look out in the garage and see which ones I've got..

Somewhere I've seen a very small radio with an internal speaker of the type found in laptops. Not the best sounding, but very useable, and still small. I like the idea of a speaker, if more than one person would like to hear..

The Coby above is close.

Still here. DRS the crazed..

 

[paulr]

My experience with tiny speakers is it's hard for more than two people to listen, especially if there's breaking news, which tends to get people talking over it. So I've let go of a speaker as an important requirement for this radio. Note you can separate stereo earbuds from each other, so two people can listen. For home use, you want a radio with a reasonably powerful amplifier and big speaker, that can fill a room with sound. The Superradio or a medium sized boom box should do the job.

I haven't seen that Coby radio but have seen a couple of other Coby gadgets (a walkman and a travel alarm clock) which were really junky, cheaply made and ready to fall apart. I hope the Coby radio is better made than that other stuff.

 

[tsg68]

I've seen the following Coby for sale around $11 to $15 dollars as well and it's a little bit bigger than the other (3 1/8x 5 x1 1/8) but is still very small for a SW radio. Has 9 bands (AM, FM, and 7 SW) and features a DX/local feature to pull more distant stations incase of loss of local ones. I think it takes AA's but I'm not sure.

Tad