There has already been discussion of the importance of including a radio in urban survival kits, and a few people have mentioned the miniature Sinclair radio. I recently bought one, and thought I would post a brief review.<br><br>I ordered the radio from Sinclair’s web site Sinclair Research. The price is listed in British pounds, and the converted price (including shipping) appeared on my credit card bill at about US$16; it arrived 2 or 3 weeks after I placed the order. I chose the AM model, since the station I would be most likely to tune to in the event of emergency is my local all-news CBS affiliate, KCBS (San Francisco).<br><br>The AM earphone radio comes with a key chain carrying case, battery, and two antennas - a short spring antenna and a longer wire.<br><br><br><br>For strong local stations, neither external antenna is necessary. I could hear my desired station quite well using only the built-in internal antenna. The external antennas snap into a small socket on the radio.<br><br>The only controls are an on/off switch and a tuning knob. The on/off switch is a tiny slide switch. In my experience, slide switches are not the greatest for reliability and durability, but this one works adequately, at least for now. The tuning was a pleasant surprise; I was anticipating the finicky tuning of a small transistor radio with a stiff tuning capacitor, but this was quite smooth. This may in part be because the tuning did not seem especially selective. This made it convenient for my task of pulling in a strong nearby station, but someone trying to get a distant station might have some difficulty. Because this is for an _urban_ PSK, however, it is entirely appropriate for the use case of learning which bridges have fallen down in the earthquake as I attempt to walk home from the city.<br><br>As you can see below (assuming the image shows up in your browser), the radio fits quite nicely in an Altoids-like tin (a different brand, actually, but similar size) used to contain an urban PSK:<br><br>

i thing i have sawn one of those earplugradio's ( or whatever you call them ) with both fm and am......just cant remember were.....

Great review. Thanks for the pictures. Nice looking kit, too.

Yes, thanks Michael for a nice review. As an owner of both the AM and the FM radios I would add the following caveats to your remarks on the AM set:<br><br># The on-off switch is fiddly, especially for users with large fingers. In fact very difficult to operate in the dark. But then if you are prepared enough to carry one of these Sinclairs I guess you also have a nice little LED light in your kit!<br><br># The flexible antenna is gimmicky. That is, the radio seems to work fine without it [ as you found ] or the wire antenna is easier to use. The flexible antenna on my set is difficult to seat properly without it coming loose. Hence I have discarded it, in the knowledge that it would be superfluous in an emergency.<br><br># Tuning is excellent for a piece of kit this size, but I have found only the most powerful local AM stations are audible. Not a radio to use other than in areas with strong radio signals. <br><br># The plastic carry box is probably not robust enough by itself. I would secure the 'clasp' with a rubber band if the box is to be used.