PowerSwitch

Now available for only £7.99 from the dreaded Argos. Good reviews. Normally £16.99.



See: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... t%3ECD.htm

I wonder if the light actually works for more than ten seconds ? My tesco wind-up version is useless for the light, only lasts 10 - 15 seconds after about a minute of winding. The radio is very good though! It runs nicely off my Stirling generator though, which is a bonus

Is the torch LED?

And is the sound quality any good? A highly important post-PO consideration, I think.

Junkie wrote:I wonder if the light actually works for more than ten seconds ? My tesco wind-up version is useless for the light, only lasts 10 - 15 seconds after about a minute of winding. The radio is very good though! It runs nicely off my Stirling generator though, which is a bonus

I bought an Eton one from Maplin (got short-wave (but no LW- probably blame the Yanks), water resistance, incompatible mmoble phone charger and bleeping annoying siren)- the light seems to work fine, but I tend to cheat and run the thing off proper batteries anyway. On wind-up the radio works for only a few minutes for at least a minute or two of winding, which isn't really that good, but it works at least.

Suppose the best thing is to charge it up from mains- or generator, as you say- so it's topped up in case TSHTF and you don't have to wind the thing for ages to get any (important?) news.

Wonder how useful SW would be in a potential collapse, or at least if analogue radio is turned off? I wonder how long broadcasters are going to keep it up, and maybe if they do it might be the only way of finding out about world events? (Or where hasn't collapsed?)

(Not that I beleive a fast crash of that sort is inevitable).

I have a freeplay summit, it has LW and SW2, wind up and a solar panel. No torch, but I have loads of torches.

Wind up torches and radios MAY have their merits but IME reliability/durability is often very poor.
They contain many small, highly stressed plastic gears and other moving parts that tend to break after limited use.
Most contain a very small rechargeable battery of limited shelf life.

Whilst times are normal, grid power is very cheap for the minute amounts used by a radio, lithium batteries have a shelf life of 15 years, perhaps more, for use in an emergency.
Pv modules appear to have almost unlimited shelf life, and industrial type NiCd D cells keep very well.

adam2 wrote:Wind up torches and radios MAY have their merits but IME reliability/durability is often very poor.
They contain many small, highly stressed plastic gears and other moving parts that tend to break after limited use.
Most contain a very small rechargeable battery of limited shelf life.

Are there any examples that are less like you describe? Is it mainly true of the cheaper models (mine wasn't entirely cheap, though not hideously expensive)?

Whilst times are normal, grid power is very cheap for the minute amounts used by a radio, lithium batteries have a shelf life of 15 years, perhaps more, for use in an emergency.
Pv modules appear to have almost unlimited shelf life, and industrial type NiCd D cells keep very well.

What about NiMH (nickel metal hydride) batteries, which are what I'm currently using in my radio?

I think unless you really have to, it's best to stick with the regular rechargable cells (or mains) and only use the crank as a backup when those batteries die. I think the built-in battery is disconnectable (and hopefully replaceable?) as well.

Incidentally I am wondering if it is really a good idea to get a radio which has LW capability- have been considering a Roberts radio-cassette model which I has the obvious added advantage of playing (and recording!) tapes as well- whether that will be really useful in an emergency/crash-and-aftermath situation I don't know, and I realise tapes can degrade after a while so probably won't still be viable in 20 years time!

(LW is useful for getting Irish (RTE) Radio 1 on 252kHz if they turn off analogue, you see...)

....obvious added advantage of playing (and recording!) ....

Bloody hell, it's a miracle of modern technolgy, it records as well?!!!

Cassette? Which particular epoch do you live in?

Cassette tapes are no longer manufactured AFAIK

Mini Disc has been phased out.

We are now on memory sticks and cards.

[/quote]

maudibe wrote:....obvious added advantage of playing (and recording!) ....

Bloody hell, it's a miracle of modern technolgy, it records as well?!!!

Well, I just meant I would want to record stuff off the radio quite easily should I wish to (I can do that on the old hi-fi). It was a passing remark, not extolling the miracles of modern technology...

Cassette? Which particular epoch do you live in?

Cassette tapes are no longer manufactured AFAIK

Mini Disc has been phased out.

We are now on memory sticks and cards.

Cassettes are still being produced, though they are not always easy to find. Boyes does them for one thing, and there are plenty floating around in charity shops.

Last I checked you can still buy cassette recorders, Wlakmen and so on- Argos does a few, and the model I was after I've seen in an independant electrical store in Stokesley (small town just acorss the way into North Yorkshire.)

Yeah, I'm backward, you may think, but something that gives you music and more cheaply available (charity shops again) and doesn't have your player getting lost (the Walkmans I can still find, my MP3 players, being small, have a habit of going missing or left in trouser pockets to go in the wash) and have a certain retro appeal* isn't such a bad thing.

Mini Disc? A lame duck from the start. Dad had it, don't know if he still has his player and discs. I couldn't be bothered as it was a waste of money.

*I'm an unusually young (well, 25) retrohead. I am slightly crazy, in even trying to use an old wind-up gramophone to play 78s- and giving up as the thing was a nusiance and Too. Darned. Loud.

All I meant by he advantages of the tape recorder plus radio is killing two birds with one stone- I like to record and listen to tapes for various reasons. (Especially sermons at church, seriously! Though I did get rid of the old tape machine, went with an old Speccy plus church is recording stuff digitally and on video...)

the_lyniezian wrote:

adam2 wrote:Wind up torches and radios MAY have their merits but IME reliability/durability is often very poor.
They contain many small, highly stressed plastic gears and other moving parts that tend to break after limited use.
Most contain a very small rechargeable battery of limited shelf life.

Are there any examples that are less like you describe? Is it mainly true of the cheaper models (mine wasn't entirely cheap, though not hideously expensive)?

Whilst times are normal, grid power is very cheap for the minute amounts used by a radio, lithium batteries have a shelf life of 15 years, perhaps more, for use in an emergency.
Pv modules appear to have almost unlimited shelf life, and industrial type NiCd D cells keep very well.

What about NiMH (nickel metal hydride) batteries, which are what I'm currently using in my radio?

I think unless you really have to, it's best to stick with the regular rechargable cells (or mains) and only use the crank as a backup when those batteries die. I think the built-in battery is disconnectable (and hopefully replaceable?) as well.

The original "freeplay" radios are generally much better than the many imitations on the market. They were designed for overseas use in countries lacking power, and many have lasted some years.

Modern NiMh cells do not appear to keep well. Recent advances in small battery technology have been to increase capacity and reduce costs, cycle life and shelf life being secondary.
The longest lasting cells in my experience are the old type industrial NiCd D cells of 4 A/H. These are widely used in emergency lighting.

The battery in the radio refered to may well be user replaceable, but is it a standard readily available type ? or somthing obscure ?

plus church is recording stuff digitally and on video...)

Moving Pictures... work of the devil... they steal your soul.

maudibe wrote:

plus church is recording stuff digitally and on video...)

Moving Pictures... work of the devil... they steal your soul.

Maybe they do if you're sat in front of a telly watching them incessantly...

...and they're some of the garbage that gets put out these days (and that's just the 'Christian' channels! I would like to hope our church is better than certain televangelists...)