Grundig FR200 Emergency Radio
by Eton
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Our Price: $99.95 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Speakers See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Grundig FR200 Emergency Radio
Customer Review: All Emergencies Great and Small
Summary: 5 Stars
My goal in buying this product was to put together an emergency package in case of blackout or hurricane. Some reviewers referred to the impending Rapture - my thought was somewhat less apocalyptic: the electricity has gone out twice in the last year in my condo building and it is alternately scary and boring to sit in the dark without cable, internet or other diversions. This Grundig model is a pure pleasure when you see the sturdy and elegant construction, the leatherette handle across the top for easy carrying, the nice fabric carrying case with outside pocket to store the booklet, batteries, etc.... and when you factor in the reasonable price this is a bargain that could warm your heart while it lights your living room. According to the booklet, the flashlight part is intended to enable you to find your lantern, candles or other supplies. It is bright enough to illuminate a good large portion of the room, or to read by, although it does eat up the power source as someone else noted. The radio is enhanced by a nice long antenna and a fine-tuning knob set into the larger tuning knob. This enables you to fine-tune the stations on the AM, FM or SW bands. The reception is superb: it actually pulls in several more FM stations than my audio system can! The AM band sounds good with little static, thanks to the fine-tuning. The two shortwave bands are new to me; it has been fun tuning across the bands picking up distant stations especially the BBC. For those of you used to digital tuning, you may find it primitive to have to turn the tuning knob, but it gives a nice physical sense of "sweeping" across the band.The real knockout for me is the crank that enables you to renew your power source if your 3 AA batteries run out: ninety seconds of cranking at two turns per second will keep you powered up for about an hour, then you can repeat the process. It is impossible to overcrank, according to Grundig customer service, and even a baby boomer like me can summon up enough vim to keep me listening 'til the lights come back on. Plus you don't have to store it with batteries in it, which as we know always turn out to be drained by the time the emergency occurs.
I recommend this radio/flashlight very highly. It is well-designed, practical and fun. You will not be sorry to have this little gem around even if you don't experience a blackout.
Customer Review: love that german engineering
Summary: 5 Stars
So i got a crappy gpx thing that was SAID to have comparable functionality, for a comparable price. Boy, was that a mistake. I'll never buy anything for more than $20 that i havent looked up on amazon.
Commentary aside, i got this. First off, it's big and ugly. It's bigger than it looks in the picture. Second off, it's sturdy as hell.
The handle's plastic, but i don't feel scared to handle it roughly.
The rechargable battery is 3.6v NIMH cordless phone battery. You can find these all over the place, and nickel metal hydride batteries are a lot more better behaved than NICAD. You can pull the battery out easily without any tools.
The LED light is bright to the point that its painful to look at directly. You can read by it if your eyes are good. The light sits in a small enclosure that you can pull out easily.
The speaker is loud as hell. The headphone jack is really really loud. Apparently, every bit of the power that goes to the speakers is routed to the headphones, because i just plugged in earbuds and they got as loud as the speaker. Uncomfortably loud, at an arm's length.
The bag is tough, well made, with magnetic snaps. It looks suspiciously like a purse when you carry it.
The reception is ok. I never cared for radio, but the crank and the shortwave somehow make it more interesting, even if most of the shortwave is in spanish, and half the stations on all four bands are jesus channels. When i looked for a german station, i found one. Deutschland über alles.
Crazyness update: A couple hours looking at hack of the day gave me the urge to make something do something it shouldn't. So i got in there and put the AA compartment and the rechargable battery on the same circuit, so i can theoretically unplug the built-in battery and recharge AA's. I don't know what i'm doing, but it seems to work well. This increases charging capacity 6x-9x.
In my adventures with electric induction, i unplugged all batteries, and cranked rapidly with the led on. DON'T DO THIS. I blew the led.
This thing has taken unbelievable falls. This thing just fell off a seven feet ledge and tumbled down into a culvert with running water. Still works.
Customer Review: A must have item for today
Summary: 5 Stars
I live in Long Island and work in NYC. I watched in horror the World Trade Center towers burning from my office window and I got stranded in Manhattan this past summer because of the blackout.I learned a valuable lesson: WE ARE VERY VULNERABLE IF WE DO NOT HAVE A SELF-SUFFICENT SOURCE OF ELECTRICITY FOR INFORMATION AND LIGHT (and I should throw in a clean water supply, although I haven't experienced that crisis yet). My advice is to 1) get a landline phone (a cheap $10 Trimline at Kmart will do); 2) get a crankup radio with a built-in flashlight; 3) get a gravity water filter (like British Imperial used by the Red Cross) that lets you extract clean water from just about any source (rain, toilet, you name it).
Some of this really hit home during the blackout. I ended up staying at a friend's apartment, but my friend (like many others New Yorkers) was woefully unprepared: no candles, no batteries for the flashlight or radio, and only a cordless phone which of course is useless during a blackout because it depends on electicity. We ended up having to roam the streets for information, depending on strangers for light, and groping in the dark in the August heat to make our way up the VERY long staircase because the elevators were knocked out.
I have since bought a landline phone, a gravity water filter that is much cleaner and cheaper than those endless Poland Spring Water bottles... AND I got a Grundig crankup radio. It's the neatest thing! Just crank it up and it works like a dream -- with a flashlight to boot. The reception here is terrific and I'm getting all kinds of radio stations I didn't know I could get. And best of all, I feel safer. If anything happens I know I'll be prepared.
I've given this radio as a gift and it's always a big hit. Our Radio Shacks here are on back order because it's one of their most popular items.
I hope more manufacturers begin making things with built-in generators. It's an untapped market.
Customer Review: Is your radio ready for "The Quickening"??
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a big fan of AM radio, and especially the late night "High Strangeness" talk show Coast to Coast AM. I've always wanted a hand-crank powered radio that will work no matter what is happening outside. The recent Mid West black out made that even more urgent. The Sangean Freeplay radio was my first choice, but when I saw this little Grundig for 1/3 the price, I was extremely curious.
As a kid growing up in the late 60's and early 70's, my parents always had a radio playing on the kitchen counter. They had the same analog dials and tuning as this little Grundig, and they ran for decades without a hitch. AM reception is superb! Better than on my Onkyo stereo receiver. I have the feeling that if the lights go out,this little world band radio will be worth its weight in gold.
But even if it doesn't, this little guy has a permanent place on my kitchen counter.
Addendum; four years later I cannot recommend this radio. The battery no longer holds a charge for more than a few minutes. You might think this is not bad, since rechargeable batteries have a limited life. However I have rarely used the rechargeable battery. It's just not very good! It works OK on AA batteries though. Wish this thing had come with a AC adaptor to plug in. Also, it's falling apart. The clear plastic over the station numbers popped off after a minor bump. The knobs are loose and the volume control now has only 2 settings; loud and barely audible. If this were an emergency radio I'd be done for! The one good thing I'll say is that it can pull in distant AM and Short Wave broadcasts. However the tuning dial is so sloppy that the minute adjustments needed to tune in are nearly impossible. If you're looking for a GOOD self powered radio check out the similarly priced Freeplay EyeMax.
Customer Review: A Nifty Little Radio and Quite a Conversation Piece
Summary: 5 Stars
My need was simple- I like to go to bed to the news on the radio every night. Sounds odd I know, but since I was younger something about hearing the news or talk radio as I try to drift off into slumber always was good for me.
To go to bed to say the BBC or Radio Netherlands is even better. There has always been one problem, though- my trusty old Sangean shortwave does not have a sleep timer, and most of the high-end digitals are awfully expensive. So, this radio made complete sense to me. I simply work the crank for a minute or so before bed, tune to the right station and slowly drift off into slumber. The reception is quite good and I like the fine-tuning option. I may not get some of the more hard-to-find stations, but for a basic shortwave radio that picks up all the big broadcasts (BBC, Radio Netherlands, Radio Habana, Radio Taipei, Radio Sweden, etc), this works wonderfully.
It's an interesting looking radio too! WIth its rugged, grey, army-esque design that has cool looking knobs, nice litle crank and a big, telescopic antenna, I feel like I should be taking it up the river with me in 'Nam and checking the trees for "Charlie." When people come over and see the radio, they always inquire as to exactly what it is. No matter how far-fetched the story is that I tell them, they buy it! That's a testament to how interesting this little machine is!
The radio comes in a great carrying case and the literature provided by Grundig is actually quite helpful.
So whether you are looking for a nice little portable shortwave, or something that is healthier than sleeping pills to help you sleep, the Grundig FR 200 is a solid investment.