If you don't have your amateur radio license you might think about getting one, good to have in emergencies. There are several handheld radios that have extended receive.

Lee

BTW, for more reviews on this radio see:

http://www.donrearic.com/grundig2.html

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2573

http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/mt2002reviews.html#Grundig

http://www.hamuniverse.com/emergencyradio.html

...anyone have more?

From Polak187's Water filter (miox type vs UV) thread there was a neat step down voltage adapter mentioned by Falcon5000 available at
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?...d=1074787382733

This should do the trick quite nicely for the Eton Grundig FR200

You could then get a general AC mains adaptor which has a 12v DC car cigarette ouput connector. This will allow you to use the mains electricity and the 12V car cigarette output.

The SunLinq 6.5 W folding waterproof solar panel should then power the radio with no problems using the step down voltage adapter.

I looked at the FR200 at my local shop. But then I looked at the FR400 next to it for only a few bucks more. It includes the missing AC adapter not sold with the lesser models.
It has the following features:
* AM/FM/NOAA/TV1/TV2-VHF channels 2-13
* Water resistant body
* NOAA Weather ? all 7 channels plus ?Alert? function
* 3 LED light system with emergency flash
* Can be powered from four different sources:
o Built-in rechargeable Ni-MH battery
o Dynamo crank alone
o AC Adapter (included)
* Emergency Siren
* Built-in cell phone charger
http://www.etoncorp.com/upload/contents/307/FR400_Specs.pdf

The difference between the FR350 and the FR400 is that the 350 has shortwave while the 400 has TV channels. It seems you can't get both. Otherwise the same low profile, colours, etc. Mine is a metallic red colour - nice. Both the 350 and 400 are the lower form factors than the 250/300 series but don't have the nifty 2way control knob. The 350 would seem to fit your wish-list pretty closely - maybe you want to trade up?

I keep it set to hear weather alerts but it's seems to have a resonable sound from it's all-range speaker, maybe I'll use it for simple listening to the music while on the beach as well.

The LEDs are very basic and not very bright - they (2 white, 1 red) will do in a pinch. The flashing red signal flashes too quickly for my taste.

I've used the crank for the 1st week and never plugged it in - it seems to be rugged enough but if you want to make sure that it is useful during emergencies it probably isn't a good idea to really wrench on it and crank at a zillion revs per minute. It may not last THAT long.

BUT the weakest link appears to be the AA battery compartment. It uses 3 AAs but the lid has 2 tiny little tabs on it to hold it in place. While holding the radio and checking it out, the battery cover popped open on several occasions. So I simply duct taped the thing closed.

The other really neat feature is the ability to charge the cell phone - luckily my Samsung can make use of one of the adapters and I was able to bring it to long enough charge to make a couple of phone calls. This extra feature is a good backup in case I'm away from a chargeable electrical outlet.

My two cents on this radio:

First, the light will go a fair while on a good cranking. At one point this model had a mini-mag style bulb instead of the LED. Well, LED's became popular, so they popped one in it. Good move, too, but they did not really bother to update the manual. You can get a good 20 minutes of light out of this thing with the radio also turned on (low volume).

About the model with TV reception: you know that analog TV is going to be gone in two years, right? After that, the TV audio reception will be useless. The NOAA channels are still useful, but I have so many radios around the house capable of picking up NOAA that I don't even worry about it any more.

To me, shortwave is more "useful." In the event of a prolonged power outage, playing around with trying to find cool shortwave stations might prove to be an interesting diversion. Listening to TV audio without the picture would be quite annoying after a while.

Analog TV may be gone in 2 years where you live but not where I live. I don't think the CRTC has even set a date for the turnover to digital yet - I think they are letting the marketplace decide. So I suspect the analog signal will likely be good for a few years yet. As far as voice without the video - it that's what you have then that's what you live with - it's better than 2 tin cans and a string. :-)

Secondly, the FR350 model seems to be in short supply locally - most stores only carry the FR200/250 model, I thought I was fortunate to find the 400 series unit.

Thirdly, my experience with shortwave on "economic" radios leaves A LOT to be desired - just getting ANY RECEPTION is a chore in and of itself.

Weather radios and the weather broadcast system in Canada is not as well known as it may be south of the 49th. Severe weather may be the occasional lightning storm or tornado, anything else isn't the type of thing you need instant warnings of. I can see the weather coming days in advance just by looking out the window or listening to conventional weather reports. Still, it's handy to have a dedicated weather alert radio. BTW, none of my other radios is NOAA capable.

I just got a "regulated universal AC adapter" from Orvacs, a southern california electronics retailer. it has a range of 3-12 volt output and, up to, one amp (0-1000 ma). it also has eight detachable plugs, one of which fits the radio's ac input. best of all, it works. regards.

Many thanks to the info by [bold]Roarmeister [/bold]. I would be concerned that siren use would take a lot of power away from the radio function. I might be more inclined to use a whistle or light. I still think the band selector knob on all models is ridiculously huge and not as reliable as an ordinary slide-type button. It should be noted that their website no longer even lists the FR200, so folks may want to look for closeout deals. It seems to have been replaced by the 250. It doesn't look like there is a great difference other than adding a siren and going from 1 to 2 LEDs. IMHO, theuy would havebeen better served by going with a single more efficient LED than just adding an additional poorly performing LED. After all, an emergency radio shouldbe all about energy efficiency...especially when adding additional energy-using functions. I do think the supplimental jacks for better external antennae is a GREAT option on the FR350 though.

Like [bold]harrkev [/bold] I also feel that while the weather band is useful, shortwave would be of more use to me. I'd like to see a radio that has all of it, but in a pinch, I'll use my scanner for the weather bands (police as well).

The light function I originally thought was useful but now I'm not so sure. From all reports, it drains power far too quickly and it is very weak. I think keeping a photon freedom handy would be the better option. Better light, longer power, and more modes.

I do appreciate everyone's feedback on the crank. It would seem to hold up for some time and work almost as promised. That said, I just can't shake the manufacturer's feeling that it should only be used in emergencies. Since they're the folks attending to warranty issues, something tells me they see a good number of crank issues. Still, the radio functions seem to be quite good on a set of batteries. So, I've left the chargeable batteries unplugged so it will be available if needed. I'll continue to use batteries for now. My next purchase will probably be the AC/DC, and a solar kit. That would cover enough redundant power options that I should be fine...and may be able to suppliment cell phone power options as well.

[bold]comlpro [/bold], where did you get the orvacs adapter?

So, all-in-all, I paid around $26 (including postage) for my FR200 on sale (http://tinyurl.com/ywxdgu). There may be some sellers/supporters in the form who also have this radio.

The MSRP of the various models is/or was:

FR200 - $40.00USD
FR250 - $50.00USD (same for Red Cross version)
FR300 - $50.00USD (same for Red Cross version)
FR350 - $60.00USD (same for Red Cross version)
FR400 - $60.00USD (same for Red Cross version)

So, in answer to that thought/question posed by [bold]Roarmeister, [/bold] would I trade up? I still think the FR200 is, and will be, the better deal given the functionality and possibility of closeout pricing (if it's not too late). And the Red Cross versions are ok, but I'll certainly have better visability with my yellow-orange one and for you folks who like camo...they have that option at least in the 250s and up (can't remember on the FR200s). But if they add the external antennae jacks and weather to the FR250s features, I may have to re-evaluate.

Anyone done any mods to these?...even small add-ons (bolting something on, better earphones, portable external antenna options, attaching a photon, etc)???

Picked one up online today for 47 bucks delivered,new,ebay,no charger but I bet I have a few on hand.

Update on the Eton radio.

This thing is much better than my initial response.First I wasnt overly impressed,now I am.

What I really like is 3 AA batteries will keep it running 3 weeks or so at 10 hours a day.I listen to night time talk radio,fall asleep and it keeps on going.Sometimes I awake in morning and forget to turn it off. And it still goes three weeks,thats mighty fine for 3 small batteries,in this case Eneloops.Ive charged the batteries once since Christmas,outstanding!

The AM receiver is very good.My reception is poor here,but this radio can really latch onto an AM signal with very little drift at all.The fine tube knob,just another added bonus.

Mrs likes the light on it,and I admit I do too,amazing how useful that is in the bedroom at night.Power out you have a light that is there,didnt roll away,but there,very useful to get you to your real lights.Her last comment was buy another one.

So thats it,this radio is a winner for sure,for the price it packs a lot of quality.

Survival radio....maybe.GOOD radio,that it is.