Free-Powered Radios, Part Two – Finally!

So here's that long-awaited follow-up: Free Powered Radios, Part Two.

The delay was simply a supply problem. I was waiting for Freeplay www.freeplay.net to release their new solar digital radio, the Summit. By the looks of this set, it was a new step in solar/windup radio technology: a truly digital receiver, as opposed to the analog/tuning dial sets covered in Part One.

Well, Freeplay eventually managed to get me a Summit. It is possibly the first one to be released in North America, although they are available in the UK for £79.99 at www.simplyradios.com. (My thanks got out to Neale May, Freeplay’s New York agency; who got the Summit into my hands fast.)

Since then, I’ve also had a chance to look over the US$129.99 Freeplay Plus: it’s a multiband analog radio engineered in consultation with C. Crane and Company. (Located at www.ccrane.com; this is another excellent firm that creates its own high performance radios with manufacturers like Freeplay and Sangean). I’ve also checked out the Sony ICF-B200 (£59.99 at www.simplyradios.com). This latter set is an AM/FM windup, with no solar attachments.

Okay: let’s talk radios!

The Freeplay Summit

Aesthetically, the Freeplay Summit is very cool. It’s a sleek, brick-sized brushed silver and black digital set with an LCD display, and chrome plated push buttons. These buttons access everything on the Summit: the AM/FM/LW/SW bands; the volume, the up-and-down slewing/scanning tuning (no direct entry; sorry), the 30 station presets – everything!

Power comes from the Summit’s top-mounted solar panel, the famous heavy-duty Freeplay handcranked generator, or an included AC adaptor (with attachable plug heads for use around the world.). According to Freeplay, 30 seconds’ worth of cranking will give you half an hour’s audio. One note: the set needs to be charged using the adaptor for 24 hours when you get it, to condition the NiMH batteries properly.

Although AM and FM coverage are good – with AM going up to 1710 kHz – SW is too small for my liking: from 5.95 to 15.6 MHz.

The performance: The power systems work fine, and the Freeplay Summit sounds good on FM. However, the set’s bandwidth filter is too wide, meaning that powerful local stations bleed onto other bands on both AM and SW. As well, some nights the Summit’s sensitivity wasn’t sufficient to pull in the most basic of SW stations, like BBC 5.975 MHz. I personally blame the whip antenna: about a foot long, its primary function seems to be to retract neatly within the Summit’s case. The 23' reel antenna that Freeplay includes with this radio helps, but I personally expect the whip to provide basic service at all times.

The Freeplay Plus

Visually, this radio is a tank: a big black boxed monster with a built-in handle, and a detachable LED flashlight head.

However, that’s okay by me, because the AM/FM/SW Freeplay Plus is built for service, not style. What this means is that it comes with a built-in solar panel and Freeplay cranked generator, plus a nice big speaker that provides decent audio. As well, the Freeplay Plus’ two SW bands give you continuous coverage from 3 to 18 MHz. That’s not al the SW spectrum has to offer, but it’s definitely the lion’s share of what matters.

What I really, really, really like about the Freeplay Plus is its ‘SW Fine Tuning’ knob. Mounted below the On/Off/Volume dial, the SW Fine Tuning Knob lets you home right in on whatever SW frequency you’re after. Granted, given the courseness of the main tuning dial – there’s a lot of stations packed into each SW band! – using this radio on SW is a truly two-handed operation. The trick is to leave the SW Fine Tuning set in the middle of its range, tune in with the main dial, then fine tune this signal for best clarity. Sounds daunting, but with a little practice I became quite adept at this method.

Overall, the Freeplay Plus provided good reception – close to my Panasonic RF2200, and often times with less static and better sound; even compared to the RF2200's narrow filter! Now if it only had a digital display, this set would be perfect. This said, the Freeplay Plus earns a Gold Star from this Radio Addict, and a permanent place in my collection.

The Sony ICF-B200

Since my copy of this radio is currently back in Singapore – there’s no photo of the Sony ICF-B200 with this review. (To see what it looks like, log onto www.simplyradios.com, and look under Windup Radios.) So I’ll describe it: the ICF-B200 is a Walkman-sized AM/FM windup – the handle’s mounted in the back, and it’s pretty solid – that can also be powered by conventional batteries.

The reason my ICF-B200 was sent back from whence it came is because the AM stage didn’t work. I don’t know why; there was background hiss, and the station indicator LED when I tuned past where my local AM stations are, but there wasn’t any sound. So any judgements I make on this radio are based solely on the FM stage, which worked fine.

The short and dirty: the ICF-B200 is a neat little windup that’s solidly built. The audio’s also reasonably good. However, for the price, it’s not the best deal on the market. This said, if you like Sonys, the ICF-B200 is a nice addition. Could use solar power, though.

Radio Addict’s Rankings

Okay, now that I’ve tried these three radios, and the five mentioned in Part One, what would I recommend?

Well, as usual, no one radio meets all criteria. But, with an eye to fairness, here’s my take on the situation.

As far as I’m concerned, the Best Overall Alternative Power Multiband Receiver that I’ve seen so far is the Freeplay Plus. Even with the hassles of analog tuning – which, being a Radio Addict, I secretly enjoy – this is a radio that doesn’t compromise on quality just because it’s got alternative power sources. For the money, the Freeplay Plus offers good performance – which comes first with me – plus alternative power sources (which satisfies my post-9/11 side).

However, the Best Value Alternative Power Multiband Radio, as far as I’ve seen to date, has to be the Grundig FR200 mentioned in Part One. For the price – C$49.99/US$39.99 at www.shortwavestore.com; also available at Radio Shack Canada www.radioshack.ca for $49.99 – the FR200 offers AM/FM/SW coverage with fine tuning, plus a built-in LED flashlight.

Granted, I can do without the “Desert Storm’ camouflaged-carrying kit: as someone pointed out to me recently, “if I was lost in the bush with the FR200, wouldn’t I want the case to be neon orange, so that people could find me?” As well, the FR200 lacks solar power, and its audio, although serviceable, can’t touch the Freeplay Plus. Still, if you’re looking for an economical alternative power radio with decent coverage and performance, the Grundig FR200 fills the bill. Kudos to Grundig for bringing out not only a alternative power set, but also a good basic SW receiver suitable for beginners at a fair price.

The Best AM/FM Alternative Crown still belongs to the Coleman Outrider/Freeplay Ranger described in Part One. However, I do like the Sony ICF-B200; however, lacking solar, it doesn’t have as much capability for the cash.

The Alternative Power Radio I’m Most Hoping to See Improved is the Freeplay Summit. Frankly, this radio needs a narrower bandwidth filter to reduce station slop, and better sensitivity on its whip antenna. Otherwise, I really like the Summit’s design, and the fact that it comes with full clock radio features. Still, first and foremost, a radio must operate well as a radio to win my approval. Bells and whistles, while appealing, are no substitute for good ol’ fashioned performance. Hopefully the problems I’ve found in the Summit will be rectified in future editions of this radio; stay tuned!

Finally, the radio that I think could most surprise is one I’m still trying to test; namely the Info-Mate solar/windup digital radio. That’s right: Sun-mate www.sun-mate.com, whose Info-Mate 837 I covered in Part One, have apparently made a digital version of this radio. I say ‘apparently’ because I have yet to be able to see one myself. However, judging from the online sources I’ve seen – the most detailed to date being at www.technoscout.com – the new Info-Mate digital set is the 837 in a silver case, and with its front-end analog access being replaced by digital controls and an LCD display. According to technoscout.com’s web site, the Info-Mate digital radio covers AM, FM, SW, TV, and parts of the Weather band. As with the 837, it’s powered using windup, solar, onboard Ni-Cad batteries, an AC adaptor, or a car lighter adaptor. Technoscout says that the Info-Mate digital radio offers ten presets per band, and comes with a variety of extras, including “supersonic earplugs”. They’re selling it for US$99.99.

Now, if you look at Part One of this story, you’ll note that I had several concerns with the Info-Mate 837; the biggest being the ruggedness of its construction. However, much of this weakness had to do with the 837's analog controls and its plastic tuning screen (which warps when exposed to sunlight). I’m curious to see if a digital version of this radio eliminates these problems, simply because these controls aren’t on the set? Stay tuned: I’ll do what I can to track down this radio, and to put it up against the Freeplay Summit.

One point worth considering: most of my concerns about the Info-Mate 837 had to do with its construction: functionally, this radio has reasonably good reception on all bands, including SW. (In fact, I can safely say that on SW, the Info-Mate 837 definitely outperforms the Freeplay Summit.) So can a digital verison of this radio surpass the Freeplay Summit as an alternative power digital receiver? From where I sit now, it’s plausible. However, until I can compare the two side-by-side – which is my goal for Part Three – I won’t now for sure.

Finally, For Something Completely Different

So far, in Parts One and Two of this column, I’ve been focussing on radios with built-in alternative power sources. But what about taking a conventional portable radio, and plugging in a solar panel? Isn’t that another approach to alternative power, that avoids the performance pitfalls of many of the radios I’ve tried to date?

That’s a point the people at www.shortwavestore.com made to me recently; specifically by loaning me their cheap-and-cheerful MT-300 multiband (US$19.99/C$29.00) receiver with a 3V/6V/9V/12V DC solar panel/2 AA battery charger thrown in (also US$19.95/C$29.00).

The MT-300 looks suspiciously like an updated version of the Sangean 789 I once owned; the receiver whose tuning plastic melted, so that I had to cut a hole in the set’s back to access the tuning capacitor. This said, when connected to the solar panel, the MT-300 worked just fine: you can power a conventional radio with an outboard alternative power source!

Which begs a question: how far can one go using outboard solar/windup power? I intend to find out!

In the meantime, I’ll chase down the Info-Mate digital, and any other new alternative power radios I can find. As I said before, stay tuned!

An addendum from a later date: Some of you have asked if I ever got to try the Sony windup radio. The answer is yes: I did manage to get one via Singapore. Unfortunately, the radio's AM stage didn't work, although the FM sounded fine. I sent the set back to Singapore for a replacement; once they had it, they informed me that it shouldn't have been sent to me in the first place, since I live in North America where it isn't distributed. That's the last I heard of it; my assessment is that this radio -- even without its AM problems -- was okay, but nothing to write home about. (As for the Philips? I'm still trying!)