Parrothead Jeff

Grundig/Eton FR-200

I’ve mentioned Jimmy Buffett’s book, “A Salty Piece of Land” before, and I got to thinking about one of the things in that book the other night. Cleopatra Highbourne, one of the main characters, is always listening to her shortwave radio aboard her schooner. I’ve heard about shortwave before, and I got to thinking that I might just like to try it out for myself. I don’t have the money for a Hallicrafter like Cleopatra’s, but I figured I could get something that would work well enough.

I set to cruising the internet in search of a radio that would fit my needs and I came across this little gem. The FR-200 is advertised as an emergency radio and I’m certain it will fulfill that duty quite nicely. I plan on using mine more often, but so far all the reviews and my limited experience seem to show that won’t be a problem, either.

I’ve heard about the thunderstorms that hit the Las Vegas valley from time to time and that they can knock out power at inopportune times. When I saw this radio, I hoped to kill two birds with one stone. Here was a radio that didn’t need batteries, incorporated a built-in flashlight, and even picked up shortwave!!!

I picked mine up at Radio Shack. It’s the gray or bronze color and I think it’s the perfect color as it enhances the “rugged” look and any scratches on the outside will only add character and improve the impression that this radio won’t let you down.

I haven’t really tried the shortwave yet, but in the few minutes I’ve spent on it, I’ve managed to pick up the BBC and ABC (Australian radio). I was blown away! Here I was in a ground floor apartment in Las Vegas listening to a radio station in AUSTRALIA on a small portable radio (even if it did have a longwire attached to the telescoping antenna)!

The AM and FM bands work very well and I really don’t care if this particular set doesn’t do FM stereo as I really bought it for its emergency potential and AM is my favorite radio anyway. If I want music, I’ll put on a Buffett or James Taylor CD in the discman.

The reasons this radio is so well suited to emergency use are very simple. First, it doesn’t need to be plugged in to the wall. Second, you don’t even need batteries (other than the supplied NIMH rechargable). Last but not least, it includes a built-in white LED flashlight! Sockets for headphones and an AC adaptor are also built into the back. The headphone option is a great one, but an AC adaptor isn’t included, and I don’t plan on getting one anytime soon.

If you don’t feel like buying AA batteries or an AC adaptor, just crank the generator (I love how they call it a dynamo!) on the side for about two minutes at two revolutions per second to charge the NIMH and you’ve got about an hour of playing time! There are a couple of other things worth mentioning about this system. First, you can charge the NIMH pack with an AC adaptor if you don’t feel like cranking. Since the NIMH pack is the same type as the ones in many cordless phones, you might also be able to use one of thise to charge your pack overnight for (according to reviews I’ve read) many hours of play time! My radio’s NIMH pack is in one of my cordless phones charging up right now. Something else that I feel is very well thougt out is the fact that you can also power the radio solely with the generator, even if no batteries are in the radio whatsoever!

The light is apparently a battery hog, but that’s OK. I figure Grundig/Eton has it right when they say that the light’s useful for finding another light source in an emergency. After all, do you know exactly where your matches and candles or flashlight is right away and can you find them in complete darkness? At least with this light you’ll be able to find what you need for a long term illumination source.

But wait, there’s more! Grundig/Eton was also thoughtful enough to include one of the toughest feeling nylon carrying cases I’ve ever seen and a very well written instruction manual with some great tips for listening to shortwave. Aside from protecting the radio from scratches, the carrying case also has an adjustable shoulder strap and a pocket on the back for carrying small items. I bought a reel type longwire antenna for listening to shortwave and it fits very nicely to the back pocket of the carry case.

So far, I haven’t found many bad points yet. The switches for the radio and flashlight are both located on the front of the unit, so there’s the possibility that they could be turned on by accident. If Grundig/Eton ever refines this radio, they might consider either recessing these or adding plastic guards on the sides.

The only other improvements I would recommend would be the additions of WX (weather) and TV band reception, but the AM should take care of the weather bit in an emergency. Every time I’ve been in an emergency situation (such as last year’s wildfires in San Diego), the local AM stations have provided the information I’ve needed. I already have a couple of FRS/GMRS radios that also include weather band and run for quite a while on four AAA batteries each, so I’m pretty well covered there. I figure that in this area the thunderstorms shouldn’t last too long and I can just turn on the WX band to check for flood advisories and such from time to time, so battery life shouldn’t be an issue. If I ever move to someplace like Florida or Tornado Alley, I’ll probably pick up a crank radio that includes the TV and WX bands.

Overall, this seems to be a great little radio!