I didn't want to hijack JRR's flashlight thread, so I'm starting a new one. But in lasd02's post, he shows a photo of a Sony hand-crank radio. Member Eagle first brought it to our attention last May in this post, but at that time, I think the radio was still only sold in Japan. I guess it finally made it to the US--and at Target!

I have a thing for a good hand-crank radio. Lasd02, is the rechargeable battery user-replaceable? Probably not, but I thought I would ask. NiMH batteries eventually wear out, and I hate the thought of having to toss a radio because the battery can't be replaced and won't hold a charge anymore.

And how's the reception?

Arney,
Unfortunately, the built in battery is not replaceable but it does have a separate compartment to house user-installed batteries. Again unfortunately, the built in generator doesn't charge the user-installed batteries. I share your "thing" for hand-crank radios and this model from Sony has been the best so far. I have a Jensen, Eaton and a couple of made in China crank radio's and the Sony gets the best reception (despite it's dial tuner), and seems to be the best built of the bunch. As you may be able to see in the pictures, I have a piece of tape over both switches (LED & radio), to keep them from moving to the "on" position while in my BOB, that happened to me several times before I taped them down.

Thanks for the feedback, lasd02. Well, at least it has a separate battery compartment. It won't be a hand-crank anymore, but if the internal battery goes bad, at least I can still use the radio with my own batteries and not have to throw it out.

What kind of external batteries does it take? 2AA?

It takes 2AAA's. Looking at the specs on Sony's website, they claim only 15min. of LED or 1 hour of radio on a full crank charge...that sounds to me like maybe it's only got a couple of those button cell batteries built in.


http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHO...s&var2=

15 min of LED or 1 hour of radio? Whoah, that's a lot less performance than I expected. Both the light and radio should run a good long time on fresh alkaline AAA's.

Sorry for the confusion, the AAA's will last much longer, the 15 min/1 hour times were for the hand-crank charged, built-in batteries.

Oh, no, I understood what you were saying. Just thinking how disappointing those runtimes are and how much superior a couple of lowly AAA's would be in comparison to the built-in battery.

Still, it looks cool and sounds like it's pretty solidly built. I'll keep an eye out the next time I'm at Target. Which section was it in? Camping?

They have them in the Electronics section. All 3 Target's I've seen them at have them situated way down low in the radio area. They are packaged on a blister card. I'm a little disappointed in the built-in run times myself, but Sony generally puts out a quality product and this radio is no exception.

> is the rechargeable battery user-replaceable?

I have one that uses a capacitor instead of a battery. I have no idea how long capacitors are good for. Who would know?

Hey that is pretty slick! A decent Sony wind-up radio at Target. I will definitely be checking this out next trip. Thanks for the heads up!

Capacitor? That's something I've never seen in a hand-crank radio before. What brand/model is this? I'm not aware of a capacitor ever wearing out, particularly at the low levels needed to power a radio, so it should be good forever.

How long does your radio play for, say, a minute of cranking?

Straight from Sony's website...

[color:"blue"]Because it's never too early to prepare for a crisis, the ICF-B01 radio ensures you'll never be caught without important emergency tools such as a flashlight and AM/FM radio. The radio is battery powered, but if disaster strikes, one minute of cranking the built-in power generator provides up to one hour of AM radio, 40 minutes of FM radio or 15 minutes of light. Since the radio operates on two "AAA" batteries, it?s also perfect for everyday activities like boating, camping or a day at the beach. The ICF-B01 emergency radio also contains an LED light, which comes in handy at night.

AM / FM Radio with Resistant Tuning
Built-in Power Generator Recharges the Internal Ni-MH Battery
Can Operate from Two ?AAA? Batteries (Not Supplied)
Two Different LED Light Options: Flashlight or Softlight
Charging Indicator Shows the Optimum Charging Rate
Tuning Indicator Shows the Station is Tuned in
Large 1-7/16 Inch Speaker Provides Clear Sound
Telescopic and Built-in Ferrite Bar Antennas
Earphone Jack for 3.5mm Earphone Set (Not Supplied)
Bright Orange Color Makes it Easy to Locate
Water Resistant Design1
Hand Strap for Carrying Included

Battery Life (Approx.): Optional AAA Batteries x 2
AM Radio: 50 Hours
FM Radio: 40 Hours
Light: 30 Hours
Power Back-up --- Built-in Power Generator
AM Radio: 60 Minutes
FM Radio: 40 Minutes
Light: 15 Minutes
Supplied Accessories: Hand strap for carrying
Optional Accessories: Two ?AAA? batteries, 3.5mm earphone set [/color]

Target's website states that the radio is available in stores only. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Sorry - we've got four, and none has a brand. Just says Made in China. There's a picture of it here:
http://www.toolspotting.net/2006/07/illuminator_handcranked_flashl.html

I haven't run it till the radio died. I've cranked it for two minutes and turned on the 3 LEDs and the radio, and we'll see if I notice when it fails. 2:00 pm start time.

Hmm, interesting. But also confusing to try and find out more information about it. There seem to be different models called "Illuminator"--some are flashlight/radio combinations, others are just flashlights.

I was surprised to find that C.Crane sells the flashlight/radio you linked to! They normally don't sell junk.

But nowhere do I see the word "capacitor" mentioned on any of the websites I have seen. Only "battery free" comes up many times. It makes me skeptical.

Finally, I saw this listing on Amazon. It's only a flashlight, and it's called a "Dynamo Illuminator" so maybe it's a totally different product, but someone took it apart and it used a lithium-ion button cell. Sounds similar to the trick that Nightstar warns about cheap versions of "shake lights" that look like they use a capacitor, but the actual power comes from the button cell.

Sorry, Phillip, I don't mean to say bad things about your radio/light. I'm just surprised that I have never heard of a capacitor-driven radio before so it makes me a little skeptical until I can be sure. I think it would be really interesting to find a real capacitor-powered radio.

No problem. I bought it wherever based on the statement on the Web page that it runs on a capacitor, and I still think it does. I'll see if I can find where I bought it.

It ran for about an hour and a quarter with all three lights on and the radio on after the 2-minute crank. The LEDs went out first, and the radio faded a short while later.

Wow, well over an hour with three lights (3LED's?) and the radio on? If that really is a capacitor, then it totally blows away something like the Nightstar shake light. That's pretty much the only quality-made, capacitor-powered shake light and it gets nowhere near that kind of performance.

Who knows, with gears, that little crank arm could create a lot of revolutions for a dynamo.

Sorry I wasn't clear - my hand cranker isn't the Sony.