The first original Freeplay wind up AM FM Shortwave radios were made in
Africa and they were/are good radios.I read an article about them around
15 years ago.The article said the Freeplay radio factory moved from
Africa to China and the quality of the radios then went down
hill.Somewhere around 12 - 13 years ago,I saw a wind up Freeplay made in
China radio sitting on a shelf in a Hudsons discount store in
Brandon,Mississippi. (about 14 miles East of me) If I remember,I think
the Hudsons store price tag label on the radio said $45.00.Naturally,I
passed on by.
cuhulin

On May 2, 8:20 pm, wrote:
The first original Freeplay wind up AM FM Shortwave radios were made in
Africa and they were/are good radios.I read an article about them around
15 years ago.The article said the Freeplay radio factory moved from
Africa to China and the quality of the radios then went down
hill.Somewhere around 12 - 13 years ago,I saw a wind up Freeplay made in
China radio sitting on a shelf in a Hudsons discount store in
Brandon,Mississippi. (about 14 miles East of me) If I remember,I think
the Hudsons store price tag label on the radio said $45.00.Naturally,I
passed on by.
cuhulin

Try the Freeplay Plus, which is a really nice emergency radio that
also doubles as an everyday set. The NiCad batteries can be charged
through a crank, a built-in solar panel, and an optional AC adaptor.
It has also has a detachable LED light that can a real bonus during a
power failure. One incredibly nice thing about the Freeplay Plus is
its large speaker, which actually improves the quality of SW sound.
This single-conversion radio lacks the hum that's usually present with
PLL double-conversion circuits. Its audio quality is smooth and
pleasant, and while it may not be a DX machine, the Freeplay Plus does
a good job for program listeners. Build quality is also excellent .
CCrane.com often has it for sale in the $89 range.

gthh wrote:
I would be using the radio a few times a week at the very least. I will be
travelling throughout the world very soon, and I think batteries are the
scum of the earth; they're a huge waste of resources. It's something most
people aren't aware of, but it all adds up, and I don't mind the cranking. I
said cranking george, now Wa...

I agree and disagree. NiMH batteries now have 1 1/2 times the capacity of
alkaline batteries and can take 300-350 charges from totally dead until
fully charged without any appreciable problems. I don't think this is
a waste of resources. It's a cheap, easy to carry way of storing electricity.

Note that NiCad and Lithium batteries are not the same and contain chemicals
that need special disposal.

If you figure that one NiMH battery is the equivalent to almost 500 alkaline
batteries or one heck of a lot of cranking, it may change your opinion.


If I'm in China, or Russia, I doubt I'll be able to get an English AM
station, will I? I've searched the net, but many old articles detailing the
various channels are out of date.

Sometimes. Local stations often have an "International" broadcast for
tourists. It may be on once a day at 3am, but they have it. If you are
in a place that has no tourists there may not be one. Note that some
countries may restrict your possesion or imporation of a radio.

Thus I felt a LW/SW combination was essential. 198 longwave is the BBC world
service, and sound quality is much better than that of SW I find. However,
as you say, due to uninterstingness and lack of use, I don't mind
sacrificing LW for a decent handset, that can be recharged without
batteries/electricity from the power grid that has FM/AM/SW combination.

LW is really a European thing now. I doubt that you can hear the BBC longwave
anywhere outside of the U.K. and western Europe.

The FR200, having tried it, is a poorish design, but I am not arguing the
FR250 or FR350 are any better. They aren't advertised as 'emergency'
products here in the UK, we don't believe in Iraqi apocalypses unlike
yourselves ;-) nudge nudge...

Then I would not take one with me. I used to have a Sony ICF-2002 and thought
it was excelent for the job. The newest version is not cheap and requires
and external power supply or batteries. It may also have "steal me" written
all over it in letters only the locals can see.


If I could get a BBC-style service or a decent English station
internationally then the Freeplay Summit would prove excellent.
Unfortunately, as it stands, unless you would like to tell me otherwise
(which I would love!) I need a unit with SW too, and without batteries.

Pretty much.

I expect that if yougo "off the grid" (away from some sort of commercial
power or a generator) in Russia, you will be very far afield and in
China if you go there without a chaperone you could be shot as a spy.


I also find a speaker useful for my friends whom I travel with, and radio is
often a social thing, I find headphones on a trip slightly selfish. I
realised this was unsociable when my mate had headphones on a speakerless
radio, and I had nothing, as it had been stolen! It sucked.

That's fine, but it adds weight and compexity and requires a lot more
electricity. I was recently in the hospital and you can imagine my
reaction when another person in the room woke up at 6:30 and put his
radio on. :-(

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 Fax ONLY: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
Visit my 'blog at http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/

On May 2, 4:35 pm, "gthh" wrote:
"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote in ...

I have an FR200. I bought it in 2003 when we thought Iraq would be sending
us
missles with chemical and biological weapons.

A wonderful portable radio it is not. It is a decent performer for an
emergency situation. As long as you keep the battery in good shape
then you will have no problems with it. Mine is on it's third battery.
They die from lack of use.

The FR-200 took a commonly available cordless phone battery. However the
cordless phones I have bought in the last few years took AAA NiMH
batteries
which don't fit.

I would be using the radio a few times a week at the very least. I will be
travelling throughout the world very soon, and I think batteries are the
scum of the earth; they're a huge waste of resources. It's something most
people aren't aware of, but it all adds up, and I don't mind the cranking. I
said cranking george, now Wa...


If you are worried about non-rechargeable batteries being the scourge
of the earth then why are you buying a radio made of plastic with
electronics made from synthesized materials using highly toxic
chemicals that runs on rechargeable batteries made from toxic
chemicals. When most recharbeable devices stop taking a charge the
unit usually gets pitched in the dump.

"Roadie" wrote in message
ups.com...
If you are worried about non-rechargeable batteries being the scourge
of the earth then why are you buying a radio made of plastic with
electronics made from synthesized materials using highly toxic
chemicals that runs on rechargeable batteries made from toxic
chemicals. When most recharbeable devices stop taking a charge the
unit usually gets pitched in the dump.

Quite a stupid post really, wasn't it?

Allow your mal-thought prognosis to consider:

I buy a radio made of plastic, toxic materials, etc etc, and use normal
batteries in it. The number of batteries it would use in its lifetime would
be a huge amount even with normal use.

I buy a radio the same, but that has an in-built replacable rechargable
battery, that will very likely last longer than the same batteries used
above. I can order a replacement for $5, and can send the old one back to
them for recylcing, which simply involves replacing the chemicals in it
safely (and that doesn't mean underground, it means they can be used to
contribute to a number of other products or applications).

The real bonus is also that I don't just use an inefficient method of
charging the battery (ie: a wall outlet!) as I'm using a hand-crank.

As a result of the low-current generated, the radio isn't fantastic. On AM
it's great, on FM it's great, on SW it's 'acceptable' for use with strong
stations. For the price, that's what I expect.

To those who are slightly interestede, the FR350 is the same technology
inside, except it's got 1 extra SW channel capable of receiving, and it's
waterproof to some extent.

Cheers.

Most people buy regular batteries at the stores and use them in whatever
devices,clocks,wris****ches,radios,you name it.When the batteries are
worn down,they put them in the trash cans/bags and the batteries,along
with other garbage/trash get set out front for the garbage trucks to
pick the garbage up and haul the garbage to the garbage dumps and the
batteies wind up buried down in the masses of other garbage.Some people
throw old batteries down on the parking lots,roads,sidewalks,just
anywhere they want to dispose of them.
cuhulin

On May 3, 4:05 pm, "gthh" wrote:
"Roadie" wrote in message

ups.com...

If you are worried about non-rechargeable batteries being the scourge
of the earth then why are you buying a radio made of plastic with
electronics made from synthesized materials using highly toxic
chemicals that runs on rechargeable batteries made from toxic
chemicals. When most recharbeable devices stop taking a charge the
unit usually gets pitched in the dump.

Quite a stupid post really, wasn't it?

Well, yes I agree. You should give more thought to the impact of what
you are suggesting before pushing the send icon.



Allow your mal-thought prognosis to consider:

I buy a radio made of plastic, toxic materials, etc etc, and use normal
batteries in it. The number of batteries it would use in its lifetime would
be a huge amount even with normal use.

I buy a radio the same, but that has an in-built replacable rechargable
battery, that will very likely last longer than the same batteries used
above. I can order a replacement for $5, and can send the old one back to
them for recylcing, which simply involves replacing the chemicals in it
safely (and that doesn't mean underground, it means they can be used to
contribute to a number of other products or applications)




The real bonus is also that I don't just use an inefficient method of
charging the battery (ie: a wall outlet!) as I'm using a hand-crank.

As a result of the low-current generated, the radio isn't fantastic. On AM
it's great, on FM it's great, on SW it's 'acceptable' for use with strong
stations. For the price, that's what I expect.

To those who are slightly interestede, the FR350 is the same technology
inside, except it's got 1 extra SW channel capable of receiving, and it's
waterproof to some extent.

Cheers.

wrote in message
...
Most people buy regular batteries at the stores and use them in whatever
devices,clocks,wris****ches,radios,you name it.When the batteries are
worn down,they put them in the trash cans/bags and the batteries,along
with other garbage/trash get set out front for the garbage trucks to
pick the garbage up and haul the garbage to the garbage dumps and the
batteies wind up buried down in the masses of other garbage.Some people
throw old batteries down on the parking lots,roads,sidewalks,just
anywhere they want to dispose of them.
cuhulin

Actually, we only do that in America and the UK.

In other smarter countries, they recycle them through legislation. Take a
visit to London, and you'll see just how extensive recylcing is. It's
excellent.

I'm aware that (from the sound of it) as an American you are unfortunately
statistically likely to be unaware of the effects of what you do in life in
terms of environmental issues. Batteries are a major plague, rechargable
less so, but the systems used to charge them are largely inefficient, unless
you pay over $100 for one. People don't pay over the odds because 1)
electricity is cheap in most places and 2) The initial cost of a good
efficient charger outweights the overall benefit when compared to how many
packets of cheap batteries the $100 would buy.

Alls I can say is watch out, that defiant method of living will wear out
within the next 10 years. Don't 'make the best' of it now, try live a better
life now, you'll appreciate it.

Plus look at it this way, a crank-up radio will likely strengthen the
masturbation wrist :-)

NB: That doesn't mean I'm saying all Americans don't give a **** about the
environment, but research shows that most don't care, which is a real shame.

gthh wrote:

electricity is cheap in most places and 2) The initial cost of a good
efficient charger outweights the overall benefit when compared to how many
packets of cheap batteries the $100 would buy.

Even with a lousy charger, the economy is there to recharge batteries.
Assuming a really bad charger uses 10 watts of electricity to charge a
2700mAH NiMH battery (2/3s "overhead") that's still nothing in cost.

The average price of electricity in the U.S. is less than 10 cents a
kWH, To simplify things, I'll calculate it in one hour, but it comes
out the same, ONE TENTH OF ONE CENT A CHARGE.

One small island in the Pacific did exactly that. They bought a bunch of
NiMH rechargable AA batteries and charge them in a central location.

If your figure the batteries cost $1 each in bulk and can be recharged
once a day for a year, the ecological and financial cost is minimal.
Since everyone brings their batteries back for recharging, you don't
even have a collection problem for the bad ones.

Sounds like a good business for a microenterpreneur.

Plus look at it this way, a crank-up radio will likely strengthen the
masturbation wrist :-)

On the other hand, having a radio that requires electricity and can be shared
encourages social activity, which helps you find someone else to do that
for you.

Think of it this way. If you go around knocking on doors looking for a place
to plug in your radio, you might just find a place to plug something else
into........... :-)

Even better, spend the time and effort to get a Ham license. There is
a thriving VHF community in the U.K. You don't need a very advanced
license, you don't need to learn morse code, you just need a handheld
radio and some manners (and a license) and you can meet all sorts of
people with all sorts of interests.

Even if the people you talk to on the radio are all married men in their
50's :-) they have friends, families and co-workers to introduce you
to.

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 Fax ONLY: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
Visit my 'blog at http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/

You know where VHF Radios were invented/developed? I know.Do you?
www.devilfinder.com Key Brothers Meridian Mississippi
cuhulin