Weather/AM/FM radio
- Thread starter 3_gun
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An easy solution is to carry aa light back up and aa radio. Even c or d radios can run on aa's with spacers.But if they made a cheap 18650 powered radio I'd probably buy one.
Many radios powered by 18650 battery are for sale on Italian amazon. Have you tried to write in your amazon "18650 radio"?
Long ago people were enamored about shake lights and crank radios etc but since LEDs have got way more efficient along with circuitry for them also more efficient and lower dimmer modes showing up they run a long long time off batteries such that shaking and cranking for a half hour of runtime that declines and leaves you yet in the dark again over and over just isn't worth it in an emergency. Radios are the same way they can run a long long time off batteries and cranking gives you short runtimes and if the crank generating mechanism breaks then you still have to depend on batteries. It is best to get a radio that has decent runtime and focus on batteries that work for it and other devices so you can share them among everything. I've also found weather radios useful but with decent talk radio stations on AM and some even on FM now when there is bad weather ahead you can listen to their broadcasts instead of having to pay a lot more for one with weather bands. With cell phones and streaming radio it reduces the need for an occasional check on a radio so unless you desire to listen to the radio for entertainment something like IHeart radio may suffice.
It would have to be a huge power outage or you are in a bad area for cell reception etc.
3_gun
Enlightened
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Thanks for the link but sadly this screams scam or just a bad idea to me for a number of reasons. 1) No one makes a honest 4000mah 18650 2) A solar panel that size would need a couple of days [or more] to charge said battery 3) a crank; see #2 4) a lack of actual specs on anything meaningful [pdf does a bit better] 130rpm for crank speed? 2 18650 batteries gives 10hrs of 135L light. 6hrs to recharge by usb. 30hrs of radio from 2 18650 batteries. None of these things inspires confidence. It might work but I'll keep looking.
At least you did find a listing. My attempt got a long list of AA/AAA radios. Hard to understand that from a search term of "18650 powered radio"
Braddah_Bill
Enlightened
The Midland ER210, just make sure you get the NEW stock, the older model has an 18650 with a plug soldered onto the battery.
New stock is powered by 18650 - 2200mAh button top, hand crank, flashlight, AM, FM, Weather, solar charger, clock
It has a small speaker, but works well if you don't blast it.
Picked it up at Wal Mart $39.00. Amazon is a little more. Nice enough for me to buy a second one to keep the car.
New stock is powered by 18650 - 2200mAh button top, hand crank, flashlight, AM, FM, Weather, solar charger, clock
It has a small speaker, but works well if you don't blast it.
Picked it up at Wal Mart $39.00. Amazon is a little more. Nice enough for me to buy a second one to keep the car.
Dave_H
Flashlight Enthusiast
Not to got too far OT but I too had a few shake lights around a found them to work marginally at best, mostly useless. I kept one around somewhere just to look at and fool with once in a while. One light hand-crank light which worked not too badly and at low cost came from Dollar Tree ($1.25 here).
Dave
When we get a tropical storm or severe thunderstorms cell service goes out with the power. It's happening more and more in the Northeast.
3_gun
Enlightened
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This looks promising & it really uses 18650 REPLACEABLE batteries
I've done at least 1 web search everyday since my first post about this but I may have found it
GadgetGeek
Newly Enlightened
C.Crane Pocket is my favorite but is AA powered. It's excellent. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BSYCZZ0/?tag=cpf0b6-20
this_is_nascar
Flashaholic
I have a couple of their older style ones like this, in yellow. Still running great and performing flawlessly. Battery life is amazing.
UFO
Newly Enlightened
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I wholeheartedly agree. C Crane makes excellent radios. I have three of them. I don't think they make the kind that 3-Gun is looking for, but for anyone else looking for excellent radios, this is a very good choice.
timbo114
Enlightened
Nope.
I run the Sanyo NCR18650GA 3500mAh flat top for loooong runtimes.
There's a protruding nipple on the POS battery connector that works well with flat tops.
I own several various Tecsun radios.
Their tuners are phenomenally sensitive.
I run the Sanyo NCR18650GA 3500mAh flat top for loooong runtimes.
There's a protruding nipple on the POS battery connector that works well with flat tops.
I own several various Tecsun radios.
Their tuners are phenomenally sensitive.
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