the_linotypist
Olde North Columbus
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I saw a guy on the bus last week listening to a radio with a crank that he kept turning. The radio was about the size of a can opener. I Googled "hand-cranked radio" and saw order forms for them in weather preparedness catalogs, as well as the tinfoil-hat, survivalist-type sites.
What is the purpose of a hand-cranked radio? Wouldn't a pack of AA batteries be a lot less labor intensive?
rus
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the_linotypist said:
What is the purpose of a hand-cranked radio? Wouldn't a pack of AA batteries be a lot less labor intensive?
Yes, but one tends to run out of batteries before one runs out of hands.
Similarly, if you're running out of hands before running out of batteries, listening to the radio is likely the least of your concerns.
alexs
Limestone bluffs of the Scioto
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Batteries are OK but they run out, and when dead they contaminate the landfills.
A hand-crank rig pays off when the power is down for longer than the life of a set of batteries. When our power was out for three days after Ike, ~60 seconds of cranking time on the radio was good for ~45 minutes of air time, and that was our only connection to any news reports.
michaelcoyote
!seabus
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Out here in earthquake country they appear to be as common as dirt and about as cheap. Generally you toss them in a box with your sterno and candles and when you need it it's there. You don't need to worry if you remembered to replace the batteries this year.
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
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the_linotypist said:
What is the purpose of a hand-cranked radio? Wouldn't a pack of AA batteries be a lot less labor intensive?
Yes, but modern radio receivers use an amazingly small amount of power its almost overkill to use AA batteries. Its actually the amplifier and speakers that drain the batteries (headphones use trivial power). Usually those hand cranked ones have a small internal battery that will run the radio for a good long time after even a trivial effort of cranking. They usually accept AA batteries too, but with the small amount of effort required to wind them up it becomes a "why bother?" kind of choice. It's also possible this person's AA batteries simply died and he had not gotten around to replacing them.
I'm not sure why the person on the bus kept cranking it, depending on the state of the internal battery it most likely did not need anymore cranking if he had been at it even more than a few minutes. Perhaps he also just wanted something to do with his hands.
The one that I've tested required very little effort to charge enough to run the radio for an hour, and with somewhat more cranking could have charged my cell phone as well, as it also had a USB power outlet. Handy for those ice-storms when your power is out for a week and you can't find a place to charge your phone.
here's a few solid radios in the field (links go to a local store with good pricing and service, BTW):
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/spcialty/0505.html
also has a bottle opener... its for clearly for camping more than anything else.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/portable/4600.html
This is one I have tested. An excellent all around field use radio in general terms, but it also just happens to include the NOAA all-hazards alerts with SAME code filtering to set it to only alert for stuff in your immediate area. Also, surprisingly good shortwave reception for a whip antenna. I was rather impressed with this unit.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/portable/5656.html
This one looks interesting and provides a number of cool features for field use. I have not seen it, but Kaito makes some excellent radios.
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