Sony’s Hand-Crank Radio
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 05.15.06
Here’s another “personal power charger” to add to the list. New from Sony (but only available in Japan starting June 10th) is a hand-crank portable AM/FM radio. Like the Eton Crank Radio, the ICF-B01 also comes with a cell phone charger. An LED flashlight is included as well for those 911’s. We think this little gadget is great for emergencies, but we’re not sure it’s made to be used otherwise. One minute of cranking only provides up to one hour of AM reception, 40 minutes of FM and a cell phone charge that lasts for just 3 minutes. Nevertheless, it's nice to see a big company like Sony take a step in the right direction. Thanks for the tip, Shanti K.! Via ::Far East Gizmos
This gizmo seems interesting and handy. I wouldn't mind having one just for emergencies.
I have a hand crank LED flash light made by DuraPro that I got at Costco. It was a good buy as it was inexpensive and it came in a 2 pack. I do have to crank after a few minutes, but it's great for emergenices or when you need a light.
here's another option - radio + led + cell phone charger
http://shop.npr.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10051&storeId=10051&productId=19004&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=10331
I have been using a solar/dynamo flashlight/radio for my bedroom radio for years now. Had mine modified so that it can also charge AA batteries too.
You can see it at
http://solarray.blogspot.com/2006/03/solar-video.html
Does anyone know of one made with metal handles? Or, at least, handles that don't crack after only less than a minute of trying to hand-crank!?
These have been around for years. You can even buy one at your local big box store (the red one) that has a small detachable flashlight and shortwave bands. C Crane has lots of different kinds of these. I like to take them camping, since most will also receive SW.
http://www.ccrane.com/radios/wind-up-emergency-radios/index.aspx
I love my Freeplay solar/dynamo radio! Unfortunately, after several years of somewhat regualr use, the rechargable "permamant" batteries died and I haven't gotten around to getting new ones (and having my husband solder them). So the radio sits quietly awating my love and attention once again.
My husband just picked up a shortwave/am/fm one on clearance sale at the Vermont Country Store for much cheaper than retail. So now he can listen to BBC radio and be all green about it.
I still use my philips wind-up radio I got 6 years ago - for medium wave it lasts ages!!
I can't see a hand-powered DAB radio coming out soon though, has anyone seen how power hungry they are??! Something like 5x the power requirements of FM :( Once again our 'decision architecture' is being upgraded, and we end up needing more power to do the same job.
There should be a USB based charger for IPODS and the like. There never was a crank up version of that yet until the 100 dl computer spreads to the regular computer market.