Eton FR300 Emergency Crank Radio Metallic Silver Reviews

• Save your money

  
  By A114N74EW2K22L on 2005-02-17
  At first glance the FR 300 (sold under several names including Grundig and Eton) appears to be a modification of the very successful FR 200. It seems to use the same case and it has similar looking controls including a hand crank generator. However, with close inspection it really is quite a different radio. The FR 300 eliminates the 2 shortwave bands of the FR 200. It their place it adds the VHF TV reception (audio only) and the weather band. In addition it adds a number of gizmos.
  
  I love the older FR 200. No one would say that the FR 200 was the height of radio engineering and it certainly has a few electronic warts. With that said its pleasant sound, sensitive receiver and cool hand crank generator makes it a winner in my book (see my review in epinions). When the FR 300 came out I was anxious to give it a try so it was off to Circuit City to pick one up.
  
  The Box: The radio appears to be housed in a case very similar to the FR 200. The box is approximately 5.5 inches square and around 2 inches thick. Like the FR 200 it has a nice handle and it some with a nifty nylon case. One side of the radio has a hand crank to charge the rechargeable battery pack. This pack appears to be of the common cordless phone variety if you ever need to change it. The other side of the radio has a volume control and a ganged course/fine tuning control, which operates the analog slide rule dial. Instead of using the primary color theme of the FR 200, the ABS plastic is a classy silver and the speaker grill also has a more polished look. Because the FR 300 has more gizmos than the FR 200 it has a few more controls on the face of the radio. This may add a little more confusion to the technically challenged. With that said, the controls and operation are very simple. Instead of using the flush controls of the FR 200, The FR 300 has a number of raised controls. These may be easier to grasp but they also add some additional thickness to the radio. The addition of all of this spit and polish makes the radio look like a baby version of the popular Grundig S350 rather than a twin of the FR 200.
  
  Power Source: Like the FR 200, the FR 300 can be powered up in a number of ways. You can use 3 AA batteries, which should give you a very long playtime in this energy sipping radio. In addition you can charge the separate battery pack by vigorously turning the dynamo (generator) handle. 90 seconds at two turns per second should give you over an hour of playtime at low volume. You can also use an optional adaptor. Circuit City did not have the Grundig adaptor when I bought the radio. You can use a third party adaptor, but this must be done with caution. If the adaptor is under 200 milliamps it will power the radio and trickle change the battery pack. You can leave the adaptor permantetly connected. If the adaptor is over 200 mg , leaving it connected can overcharge the battery pack and damage the radio. You can remove or disconnect the battery pack and leave a larger adaptor plugged in, but this defeats the "emergency radio" concept.
  
  Gizmos: The FR 300 is decked out in a variety of cool sounding gizmos. Let's take a look at some them to see if they have merit.
  
  Flashlight: Like the FR 200 you have an LED flashlight built in. LEDs are great because they are very durable and use less power than a traditional flashlight bulb. The FR 300 has a 2 LED system providing somewhat better illumination than the FR 200. Think of it as a penlight. It would be OK to change a fuse or even read a newspaper. It won't light up a room. All in all, a useful feature.
  
  Strobe: There is also a bright, flashing red LED. It is very cool, but I was wondering what you would use it for. A warning for a disabled car? A cheap reflective banner would work better. A beacon to attract airplanes if you are stranded on a deserted island? Sorry no trips planed. How about an emergency signal to attract the Good Humor Man? Hmmm.... Anyways, I would rate the strobe as a gimmick.
  
  Siren: The FR 300 has a very loud siren. This seems to be a popular (cheap?) addition to a number of emergency radios. This is another feature that leaves me scratching my head. Let's say you were hiking and got lost. A simple whistle around your neck would do the job nicely. Let's say you were trapped under a building that collapsed. Well maybe, but you would have to have the radio at your side, which seems sort of unlikely. The Siren would preclude giving this radio to most pre-adolescent boys, unless, of course, his parents gave your kid a drum set for Christmas. Another gimmick.
  
  Cell Phone Charger: The FR 300 comes with a number of adaptors that could allow you the ability to charge your cell phone by turning the radios dynamo. Pretty cool. You could also use a AC power adaptor (not supplied) to charge you phone through the radio. Frankly, in the later case you should use the charging set up supplied with the phone. The question is, can you charge your phone using the dynamo? As mentioned above, The FR 300 is designed to sip at the energy bar. My LG cell phone has two separate LCD displays, one in color. It also has a keypad that lights up and (being a cell phone) a transmitter. The FR 300 manual wisely omits crank times for cell phones, but you can assume that it would be a bicep building experience. I can image that there may be very rare times when this feature could have some utility, but not often and probably a means of last resort. Likely a gimmick.
  
  All radio testing was done with fresh AA batteries.
  
  Sound: Like the FR 200 the FR 300 has a 2.5 inch speaker. There isn't much base but the sound is pleasant and clear. Plug in some headphones and you get wonderful sound out of both earpieces. The sound is mono, however. It is clear that the FR 300 amplifier section is of a higher quality then what you would find in a cheap pocket radio.
  
  AM (medium wave): Like the FR 200 the FR 300 has a very nice AM tuner. You can hear some weak images of stronger stations on the dial but they aren't too objectionable. Tuning accuracy is approximate, but it does the job. Sensitivity is very good and I was able to hear a number of out-of-state stations with ease. AGC was average. Reception was similar to the FR 200. All in all a nice little AM radio.
  
  Weather Band: The FR 300 picks up the 7 channel weather band which is used in the US and Canada. I was able to pick up 3 channels on the radio, two very clearly. My car radio was able to pick up 4 weather channels (as a comparison). As a bonus, a nice, big knob controls the channels. In addition you can use an alert function. You leave the radio turned on and this function keeps it mutes the audio until the radio picks up a special signal for the weather service. Sounds nice, but don't forget this radio does not come with an AC adaptor. Leaving the radio on and then cranking it or changing the batteries doesn't make a lot of sense. Overall, I would rate the weather band as very good.
  
  VHF TV Reception: Chicagoland has 5 VHF TV outlets (channels 2,5,7,9,11). The FR 300 allows VHF TV reception via two separate bands. One for channels 2-6 and the other for channels 7 and above. Using the FR 300 to pick up TV was a painful experience. As I would turn down the TV band I would encounter image after image of blaring distorted FM stations. On the lower VHF this garbage obliterated band channel 5. This problem was also present on the upper VHF band, but less so. Channel 9 was obliterated here. Changing rooms or reducing the length of the antenna did not help this problem. I also tried the radio at my office (further away from local FM broadcasters and more shielded from RF). It was still horrible. I exchanged the radio and the second one was slightly better, I now could get channel 9 but not channel 5. There was still tons of garbage from FM on these bands. TV performance was not acceptable.
  
  FM performance: The FR 200 had a flawed but quite useable FM section (see my epinion on the FR 200). I thought that the FR 300 would offer similar performance, but I was very wrong. First off, the FM section occupies only one part of the tuning dial with the low VHF TV channels occupying the rest. I was estimate that the FM portion is only about 1/3 of the dial making any tuning difficult. When I first tried FM I was shocked at the incredibly poor reception. Our two local FM broadcasters were imaged all over the dial, and I mean everywhere. Even a flea-powered local college station was imaged up and down the dial. Every once in a while I could tease another station out of the mess. It was truly horrible. Reducing the antenna length, etc did not help. I took the radio to my office, which is much farther from our local broadcasters. In addition, the building shields lot of RF. Here I still heard the local broadcaster smeared over the dial. The flea-powered college station was absent but now the local junior college's station was popping up everywhere. FM was unusable. I saw one user report on the FR 300 noting good FM reception (Circuit City web page) so I thought I might have a defective radio. I exchanged it hoping that radio #2 would redeem the Grundig name. This radio had it own set of problems on FM. The dial wasn't totally dominated by images from the local broadcasters, but they were present. The local college station at 89.1 obliterated the FM spectrum below and all the way up to 92 MHz. Similarly, the local oldies station at 95.9 smeared itself to WMFT at 98.7. It also smeared downward, but it was such a mess I couldn't tell what was what. It was clear that the way that this particular radio "fix" the multiple image problem was to turn down the sensitivity on FM, so even when I could get a Chicago station the reception was poor. Even more bizarre was what happened when I tuned around 100 MHz. There, I started to receive VHF aircraft traffic, I don't live near any commercial airport.
  
  I love radios, I collect them and play around with them. The FR 300 has, by far, the worst FM reception of any radio that I have ever used, including cheapo pocket radios. This appears to be partly due to poor quality control (two radios with two different problems) but I also suspect design flaws.
  
  As a radio collector I'm about to do something that I never do, I'm going to return this radio for a refund. All the bells and whistles and gizmos are useless if you can't use a major portion of a radio (the FM band). As more people review this radio I will be curious with the results. If lots of people like the FM portion of the radio it is likely that this is a QC issue that will eventually get resolved (and I just happened to get two bad radios). I addition, I have to wonder about the logic of including functions, like the weather alert option, but not including an AC adaptor as standard equipment. With the myriad of portable radios available, including the nice FR 200, I can't image why anyone would buy this radio. Definitely, not recommended.
  
  

• Works well - hope I never have to use it.

  
  By A5OAWF1PUIC93 on 2005-09-05
  I got this specifically for emergencies. In the big fires we had here a couple years ago, radio was pretty much useless on the first day - several stations were off the air due to power failures and the press conferences with the police and fire chief were all on TV. Eventually, the radio stations advised people to watch their TVs. This unit gets good audio reception on three local broadcast TV stations plus a whack of AM and FM stations. Another reviewer indicated that the FM tuning isn't great. They're right - it isn't. That's the missing star in my rating. The NOAA weather stations come in well too. Once there's no more free broadcast TV signals, I guess this will be an expensive hand-cranked AM radio.
  
  

• Okay, but lightweight plastic and doesn't recharge all cellphones.

  
  By AODZUJ2WYX8NC on 2005-11-17
  Product is a good emergency ideal that includes a cellphone rechargers. HOWEVER, it does NOT recharge many cellphones! Their tech support group (1-800-872-2228) confirms this. I reported that it won't recharge the Nokia 3595 (for example), and would they publish a list of non-compatible cellphones on their website. They said no, that they just wanted to sell as many products as possible and if the units didn't work, then consumers can return the units. This is a stupid and greedy product strategy. There's no reason that the company couldn't put a list on their website to confirm or advise to buyers if there are known incompatabilities.
  
  

• Perfect for emergencies, or the beach

  
  By A1LX9GSMN66L7E on 2005-02-06
  It's water-resistant and doesn't need batteries, runs on a hand crank, weighs nothing, and is much smaller than I expected - perfect for our in-case-of-evacuation bag (we live in fire and earthquake zones), but probably also great for the beach.
  
  The lack of AC adapter makes sense. You'll want to use something else if you're near a working AC outlet, anyway. It does charge my cell phone, so it'd be good for camping, too. And the NOAA-fired alert light makes it a good find for emergencies or being lost.
  
  

• Excellent in all areas but U.S. Customer Support!!!!

  
  By A3I02XJXPBNS4I on 2005-01-17
  When I first saw the picture here on Amazon I was not impressed although this was a perfect product for my needs. I ordered it expecting that there was no stock as indicated.. yet a few days later it arrived!
  
  I opened the box and was impressed with everything, it is a perfect companion to use. My only negative comment is that they do not have the AC Adapter/Charger available. When you call Eton/Grundig for support they just do not reply! I have called many times, emailed several times and no response. This is Eton/Grundig U.S. I ended up purchasing an Adapter at Radio Shack that works well and is within the specification that they state in the manual. The reason for the adapter is to quick charge the internal rechargeable batteries so that your radio is always ready. As for an extra/replacement Nihm pack again can't find it anywhere and of course no response from Eton/Grundig U.S.
  
  I am extremely happy with the radio for the price and for the features it offers. One last item.. if you have a newer Motorola Phone... the adapters included do not fit.. I am trying to source a supplier.
  
  When you look at my pictures at least you will have the details that you cannot see with the supplied pictures and I hope this helps everyone.
  
  I would give this a 4.5 Stars for the lack of support but I cannot, so it gets a five star rating anyways.
  
  
• A practical review...
  By A3L9ITICJRQWT9 on 2006-05-17
  Let me start by stating that I live in/on Miami Beach, Florida and, in addition to that, spend a great deal of time at my house in the Keys and in the tropics. Last hurricane season, when we blew through every letter of the alphabet, and became so very familiar with the Greek system of naming hurricanes, as well as had a few hurricanes do quite a number on us here in Miami-Dade, Monroe and even Broward counties (though I generally avoid Broward at all costs), this baby (and its forefathers) came in as God-sends. When power was out for days and weeks at a time, radio was all we had. And, since I had evacuated my house in the Keys in many instances, I could no longer rely on VHF very easily. So crank up this baby, and my wife and I knew what was going on. At the time, I did not have this one with a cell phone charger, though that would have been a blessing. For a while, even cell phone lines were down, but after they came up, my battery was effectively dead with the only remedy to attempt to go make sporadic calls from my vehicle with it plugged into the lighter. I only wish I had had the charger feature here.
  
  Bottom line, this radio was our peace of mind, our informant, our life-saver in many senses of the word. When we were in pitch black conditions, with freight-trains wind blowing out our windows and we were locked in a bathroom with a mattress over us, we had this with us. No lie. We then cranked it up (and a good crank provided well over 30 minutes of radio and light time) and we knew exactly what was going on and where we stood with regards to the monsters that were falling upon us. It was, as the commerical goes, priceless for us. So much so, that we bought one for each member of our family.
  
  You really can't go wrong with this baby. Get one and you will thank yourself should you ever need it. You will also simply enjoy its use should you never need it in an emergency, something I hope is the case for you. But, if not, you really cannot be out with this.
  
  
• Overall very good. Meets my needs.
  By A8HXFGUZZF5C7 on 2006-01-06
  I have read the other reviews (especially the long one) and agree to some extent. However, I have had no problems and actually like the radio.
  
  The main reason I purchased this radio was the cell phone dynamo charger. I tried it out and it does take a long time to charge the phone enough to use it. But it is an emegency radio. If you have nothing else (no power and cell phone dead), I don't think I would be complaining about how long it takes to charge my cell phone. Get it?
  
  On the other hand, before you buy, make sure it has a cord tip for YOUR cell phone.
  
  I like shortwave features of other radios, too. However, I use them more for entertainment while in an emergency I would be listening more to the local TV stations. I have a hand-held TV, but it is battery operated, not dynamo capable.
  
  The sound is clear, but has no real bass. I could not expect more from such a radio. It is not a boom-box. I did like the fact that you can hear the mono sound from both headphone speakers. Nothing is more irritating to me (with radios) than having to listen with one ear. It's like being dizzy. And who thinks of getting one of those mono headphones fro radio shack? So I was pleasantly surprised (maybe that reveals my lack of radio expertise).
  
  There is some garbage in tuning FM and AM. However, I was able to find all my local stations AND some stations 250 miles away (at night). This makes for a cluttered dial, but did not really bother me.
  
  The NOAA dial has several selections and several picked up clear channels.
  
  The alert function is nice. I would not leave it on all the time, but if I expect some weather problems, I can leave it in the 'alert' mode. If signaled by NOAA, it will set off the alarm, then start broadcasting the weather information. I tried this during a test broadcast. It worked. On the other hand, it went off on its own one night and alerted me to nice weather. I eventually got my eyes to shut again and fixed the body-shaped dent in the ceiling. Don't leave it on all the time, trust me.
  
  The knobs are a little cheap. I'd bet they will break under heavy use. I don't plan on using them that much, this radio is part of my emergency kit. However, they worked well.
  
  The siren and red flasher may be a bit gizmo-ish, but if you were trapped somewhere, they might be useful. The white LED lights have not only low battery drain, but VERY low battery drain. In my experience with other LED flashlights, I get 10x (or more) battery life on LEDs. I left a 2xAA single LED flashlight on accidentlly in my closet. It was still on after 3 days. Not all emergency radios have LED lights. A radio shack model I invesigated had an incandescent flashlight bulb. Now, two LEDS won't give you a tan, but it will get out out of a dark place. AND more would do little more than waste battery time.
  
  The radio comes with a nice carrying bag, which protects the radio while in storage. This is a very nice feature for a 'when you need it' radio.
  
  Overall, this is not an everyday radio or a home entertainment system, but that is not its intended purpose. As an emergency radio, I think it has made the right compromises and has the right features. I can't think of anything else I would need. Even so, if they worked on beefing up the externals to make them feel more substantial AND if they cleaned up the radio reception (without losing range) it would be nearly perfect, in my opinion.
  
  
  
• Crank doesn't work for very long
  By A2TT7V44SRKO8Q on 2005-07-24
  I purchased this, and used the crank steadily for 5 days, about 8 hours a day up at my cabin. On the 5th day, I had to crank for 2.5 minutes to get 45 minutes of playing. It's been getting less and less as I go along. I am really not happy w/ this product, since I bought it exclusively for the crank. If you're buying it for that reason, don't buy it.
  
  
• Best Emergency Radio - A Must Have for Your Home/Office
  By A3415JQACFQWZH on 2005-09-22
  This is the best investment I've made and I urge everyone to purchase this radio. It is top of the line and worth the investment. There are imitations out there but they cannot compare to the safety, security and peace of mind the Eton FR300 Emergency Radio provides. It works! Even in a high rise building, the sound is crisp and clear. And in these changing times, it offers 100 percent, around the clock, uninterrupted vital information. It not only provides weather, TV and radio but it also includes a mini light, an emergency siren and the capacity to charge your cell phone. So, if anything happens, you have security witin your reach. All without batteries. Don't think twice. Buy it! You won't regret it.
  
  
• JUNK - DO NOT BUY
  By AKRS5BMK82R8I on 2005-08-03
  THIS RADIO IS SO CHEAPLY MADE IT IS NOT WORTH HALF THE PRICE. THE KNOBS ARE SO CHEAP I ALMOST BROKE ONE THE FIRST TIME I USED IT . THE TV STATIONS DO NOT COME IN WELL. WORSE THEN THAT THE NOAA WEATHER STATIONS CAME IN ONCE AND NEVER AGAIN. YOU ALSO CANT TELL IF THE CRANK UP ELECTRICITY IS WORKING UNLESS YOU PUT DEAD BATTERIES IN IT( I THINK AS I HAVE NOT DONE THIS ). IF YOU WANT A QUALITY WEATHER RADIO BUY ONE FROM MIDLAND , THEY ALSO COME WITH EMERGENCY ALERT FEATURE ON SOME MODELS
  
  
• Eton FR300 Emer Radio - quit working
  By A1N18UBHIL4EEY on 2006-03-15
  I purchased this radio in March of 2005. It worked fine for about 6 months. Then it quit working. It no longer received the broadcast of the test emergency signals in my area every week. I found an internet site and contacted the company via email. They helpfully told me how to return the unit and gave me a return authorization number. I returned the unit at my own expense. After two months and no word I emailed again and asked the status. No one answered, but the radio was returned to me about 2 weeks later. It still does not receive the test alerts and the reception is now filled with static. Since I assume I have to pay to mail the unit back to the company each time, I do not believe this is a cost effective transaction. I would not recommend this unit.
  
  
• Exactly what I Wanted
  By A223WQ3KYW7DUC on 2006-03-26
  I don't see what the griping is about. I live in tornado ravaged SW Missouri, and I wanted a radio that could run on battteries and yet still be used if the batteries were old; would tune radio and our local TV stations and emergency weather stations, was small and didn't cost an arm and a leg, as it would only be used rarely. This radio really fits the bill. During tornado alerts, our local TV stations seem to have the best real time information on the tracks of approaching twisters, but we don't have a TV in our "hidey hole". So a radio that will tune in Channel 3 was a must. This unit gives crisp, clear reception of our stations, no static or "ghost" problems, and it's just as good below ground level as in the kitchen. FM reception was also excellent with stations fairly close to where they should be on the dial. The hand charger works well. The sound is what you would expect from a small speaker - pleasant, but not much bass. My only criticism, as others have mentioned, is that an external charger is not supplied. I would highly recomment this radio. Chris S.
  
  
• I NEEDED THIS DURING HURRICANE RITA!
  By A1OA2ZW406NQXM on 2006-02-02
  I survived Hurricane Rita, but barely (I evacuated 200 miles INLAND and ended up stranded there with relatives in miserable conditions.) I would've faired far better with this emergency unit!
  
  After going through hellish 100 degree heat and using my last batteries to operate a mini fan rather than being able to find out what the heck was going on for two weeks without electricity, I went in search of a radio with weatherband and a flashlight with a crank, instead of having to use up precious batteries during an emergency.
  
  I must say that my experience would have been greatly improved if only I'd had something like this. Now that I own it, I am more than pleased.
  
  We had no idea how long we'd be without electricity and I can tell you from experience, it is frightening at the speed in which batteries are used up and not knowing when the lights will come back on when your home and your whole geographic area for hundreds of miles, has no electricity. With this radio, you won't have to worry about losing electricity so much. So long as someone can crank it, you will have a trusty light, radio, siren, flashing beacon, and cell phone charger.
  
  A lot of people talk about this not being of heavy weight, but then again it probably shouldn't be. It is for emergencies like natural and man-made disasters. Hopefully, you don't live in an area that experiences those kinds of disasters every single day. It is meant for occasional use and to be reliable in an emergency and I believe it will be of great comfort to me the next time.
  
  Do not wait to put your family's physical and emotional well-being, first. Provide your family the comfort of knowing that no matter how long the electricity is cut off, you will have light and radio receiving capabilities---WITHOUT BATTERIES. Being cut off from the outside world becomes the worst part of any disaster and the stress inducing moments of having to continue to change out dead batteries for new ones (until you run out of batteries) is not something I care to relive anytime soon!
  
  
  
• Eton FR300 Emergency Radio
  By A2M2VUQ31DSGZ1 on 2005-09-03
  Great product. During the Florida hurricanes of 2004, we were cut off from the news for a few days. Now, with this radio, we're ready for the next power outages.
  
  
• Mostly Good: One Problem
  By A338W5IZ63GZK1 on 2006-03-16
  FR300 Eton Radio - I use it daily for the morning news and weather. I had occasion three nights ago to use the Weather Alert function; that worked very well.
  
  One disappointment - I find I must rely primarily upon batteries for power. The hand-crank feature does not perform nearly as well as advertised. It takes a close to a full minute of cranking to get 4-5 minutes of operation. This clearly is not sufficient to use the hand-crank power feature to depend upon weather alert broadcasts throughout a stormy night.
  
  
• One of the most useful things in my house
  By A424QYMK1FCUE on 2006-07-14
  Living in South Florida, I have been (as most South Floridians) relatively lucky until last year. Last year, most of us went for extended periods without power, some in excess of three weeks.
  
  The Eton radio is just what every single South Floridan needs, period. The device is compact, has a high-quality feel to it and the sound quality is surprisingly good considering it is a monaural single speaker unit. It does not sound tinny or weak, but rather has depth and volume. The controls are easily laid out and simple to operate. Having TV channels in South Florida is good during a hurricane (albeit depressing, as anyone who has watched or listened to TV during a hurricane down here can attest to). Television and FM/AM radio keeps you up up to date as well as the Weather Band channels. There are 7 of them to choose from, and if you have NOAA broadcasts in your locality (which we do here, and it is Channel 7 on the FR300), you will receive 24-hour broadcasts from the NOAA and even emergency alerts, if the radio is set to receive them via the "Alert" knob.
  
  The other options of the radio are very useful, such as the bright 2-LED lamp built in. They are VERY VERY useful for navigating the pitch black furniture-filled rooms of your house during a power outage. LED's are very bright and use an extremely small amount of power. Other features include a red strobe LED and a siren, for emergency use.
  
  
  The radio's most unique feature is a hand-crankable power generator. The radio itself will run on three AA batteries, but it has a 3.6V rechargeable battery (such as those used in most cordless telephone handsets) which is charged when you crank the generator crank on the side of the radio. Cranking it for a few minutes gives you a considerable amount of time to listen to the radio or use the flashlight feature. This is VERY useful if you haven't planned ahead and stocked up on AA batteries, OR if you have been without power for weeks and can't GET batteries. A true life-saver.
  
  On the back of the radio is a cellular phone charger connector, and the radio includes a cable and several adapters for the most common cellular phones out there. I connected my Motorola phone to the radio, and when you crank the radios power generator crank, it charges your cellular phone. You must continually crank the crank to charge your phone, but it's very handy when you have no other way to charge it.
  
  I can honestly say that after last year's hurricane season, this radio has been worth it's weight in gold. It is very reasonably priced, includes a comprehensive manual and a carrying case to protect it. If you live in a part of the country that is prone to power outages or natural disasters, for $50.00 you really cannot afford to be without one of these radios.
  
  
• Best present we ever received!
  By A1ETGB7DZ6SAAZ on 2006-12-07
  My father gave us this little radio a couple years ago for Christmas. That Spring, we really started to appreciate it when we had frequent tornado warnings in our rural Missouri area south of St. Louis. If we were under a tornado or severe storm watch at night, we could go to sleep, knowing the alert (siren and flashing light) would most definitely warn us, whereas before we would have to try to stay awake to watch broadcasts in case the warnings were in our area, or go to sleep and pray that if the nearest tornado alarm went off, we might possibly hear it. When we were holed up in the basement, we had a link with the outside, whether weather station, radio, or television broadcasts - and, of course, the light is invaluable.
  
  We never imagined it would come in handy in the Winter, but now, going on our sixth day without power after a record-breaking ice storm, we have come to absolutely depend on it. We have used it constantly and it has been worth its weight in gold - and still on the same set of batteries. We have to play a bit with the antenna and location of the radio, sometimes, but we are still able to pick up every broadcast we might want. And the light - well, did I mention that it is invaluable? An emergency radio is a must, and this one has served us very well.
  
  I think we tell my father at least once a month how much we use and appreciate the radio. So once again, thanks, Dad! (and hope we won't be using it much longer this time around . . .)
  
  
  
• FR300 performs as advertised
  By A3O97TXYLD64XA on 2005-08-30
  With its crank recharger, this radio is especially useful as an emergency unit. The unit we purchased performs as claimed. The construction is relatively cheap plastic, but seems usable provided it doesn't get too rough handling. Shortwave bands would be nice, but those are apparently only available on higher-priced models.
  
  
• FR300 review
  By A12DRYUK07R27X on 2006-03-02
  I am totally and absolutely happy with this radio. The quality of the sound compared to its size is pleasantly impressive. It is perfect for listening to arround the house and portable enough to take from room to room or where ever? The generator feature is simple and easy to use. I've used alkaline batteries in it as well and I've yet to use up the 1st pair after 3 months of heavy use. I originally bought it as an emergency radio but ended up it using every day for 3 to 4 hours. I highly reccomend this product.
  
  
• Reliable, easy to use, worth the money.
  By A104NBZOSZODEQ on 2006-06-16
  I first bought the FR200 with shortwave band. It worked great, but I realized that when the power was out, I wanted local TV. The FR300 is just what I needed. I got over 5 minutes out of a minute of cranking time when I tested it. Chances are, I will never use the crank as we have batteries around, but if it was an extended power outage, I would be thrilled to be able to access weather band, radio and TV without worry of running out of batteries. The phone charger also would be handy in certain situations. I get good reception on 3 of the 4 major local TV stations. This came in handy when our power went out during the season finale of Lost last month! I really like the fact that the FR300 can be set up as a weather alert radio. I have purchased one for my son to have in his new home, and also one for my father. These make great gifts, especially during the storm season.
  
  
• For "72 HOUR EMERGENCY KIT"
  By A2KBZFY37K8M8Y on 2006-09-10
  I am getting the "72 Hour Emergency Kit" together and this is one of the items.
  
  I have checked out all the features and they work very well.
  
  The TV stations came in clear, including a PBS station! It is good to have a radio that has the TV. Sometimes it is needed in an emergency. Radio stations might be down, TV stations might be down... Gives you more options.
  
  Radio stations are clear.
  
  Weather stations are clear.
  
  The reception will be different in your area.
  
  Even though the light, flashing red light, siren and alert setting may never be used... one never knows!
  
  I could see me sitting there unable to blow a whistle or... because I am busy building a fire or looking for shelter -or something...
  with the siren doing the "flagging someone down" work for me.
  
  I am planning to use this for emergencies only, though if I wanted to I could use it at the beach. So, I checked out all
  the features and now it is going into the Emergency Kit.
  It is a small and powerful radio, perfect for the kit.
  
  You have to remove the piece of paper in the battery compartment the first time you use the radio. It is there for shipping.
  To open the battery compartment you put your thumb on the round indentation that says OPEN and has traction on it (I use my thumb nail on the traction bits) pull with your thumb towards the bottom of the radio, that releases the "lock" like cover. Then you plug in the rechargeable battery.
  
  I am buying more of these for other family members.
  I think it is a good idea to have more than one and AT THIS PRICE
  you can.
  
  I got red for the brightness, in an emergency or camping,
  having a bright color can help Emergency Crews find you.
  Also, if you are looking for your radio... you can find it.
  I would not want Emergency Equipment in camouflage colors!
  
  This radio does not come with the AC adapter. That is all right for the emergency (or at the beach) use. I prefer not to have it, it would be yet another adapter to store...
  I really like the internal power only idea!
  
  It seems that every color of the FR300 radio has it's own review
  and number of review stars.
  Funny. Same radio different colors -different ratings for each color. Here is one for Metallic RED!
  
  
• Crank gear stripped out in two weeks time
  By A2RTLCX8GK4IJT on 2007-02-04
  The tuner sections on this radio are terrible on all bands. You tune in a station and the same exact station can be heard again, a little further down the dial. The mark of a poor tuner. The LED flashlight is nice and the blinking red emergency light works perfectly. For a small speaker, the sound is superb. That is, in my opinion, the one shining quality of this radio. Now for the really bad part: While cranking the dynamo on the radio one night, the crank suddenly had no resistance, like it broke off internally or something. Since I'm pretty handy, I decided to take the back off and have a peek inside to see if I could do something about it. There's about 4 gears inside that go from the crank to the metal pinion gear on the dynamo motor. They're all plastic! The plastic teeth on one of the gears had worn right down to form a rounded surface. Why have a metal gear connected by 4 plastic gears? Can you say "designed for failure"? We have a strong weather radio station in our area and this radio did a good job of picking it up. There is also a second weaker weather radio station in our area that I have picked up on other weather radios but not this one. Really disapointed in this radio and am thankful it was a gift and not my purchase.
  
  
• Eton fr300 Hand Crank Emergency Radio
  By A1KHACRC54POHG on 2006-08-13
  This Eton FR300 is a very good product, especially in metallic silver. I purhased it as a gift for a 16 year old grandson. The night of his birthday, there was an extended loss of power due to the west coast heatwave in late July. My grandson, his mother & father and young brother made great use of that hand crank emergency radio during the two days of power outage in the Rosemead, Calif area. They used every feature including recharging of cell phones, listening to favorite TV programs and tuning into local weather channels.......as well as a much needed flashlight. Of course, the siren and blinking emergency lamp was entertainment for the 7 year old brother. I would recomment this product as a necessity for all households to have available along with other emergency supplies such as water, dry foods, etc.........and the price and service by Amazon was excellant......Richard M. Alenbaugh
  
  
• Good Quality for $$
  By ASP4UA564KP36 on 2006-11-27
  This is a good radio for 50 dollars, my radio arrived in excellent working order. I get two weather stations Newport and Astoria. Great AM tuner and FM tuner. I really like the light function for when the power gets knocked out, its great for finding your way around the house. I have used it for 3 weeks now and have yet to change the 3 AA batteries. The rechargeable battery pack lasted about an hour after cranking or several hours after I recharged with the adapter. Also if you shine a flashlight on the tuner dial it glows in the dark for an hour. It doesn't have all the adapters for all cell phones which is kind of impossible considering cell phone manufactures change all the time so you have to buy new. If your in a desperate emergency situation cut the charger cord off your phone and hard wire it to the charging cable for the radio. The siren and red light are cute and may come in handy in the event of a large scale disaster. The handle on this radio is also a good feature, it helps hold it stable while charging with the dynamo. I bought three more for Christmas gifts. I found nothing else I liked better.
  
  
• Not much for $50
  By A2GH59NSBNNS8A on 2005-12-11
  I looked around at what was on the market. This unit looked good. I went with it over the Oregon Scientific products because I wanted to have a regular radio as well. First the unit is much poorer quality they you would expect by the brand name and pictures. It works OK but the design of the front panel controls is poor. I am always bumping on the light or some other function or bumping off some function. The front selection knobs stick out and move easily. I can not recommend another unit that has both weather and regular so I bought this one. Think carefully before you buy this unit.
  
  
• Poor quality construction - not reliable in an emergency
  By A2EBT03DMBBXSR on 2006-01-05
  This radio is poorly constructed. The knobs are loose and flimsy. The tuning accuracy is poor. The reception is inadequate. The general concept of the radio, broadcast television and weather stations is good but the execution of this device is poor. Don't waste your money. Look for a sturdier radio. It is not easy to find - I'm still looking.
  
  
• Everything but shortwave
  By APUA1JI2DPN1G on 2006-02-25
  I have long been a fan of Grundig/Eton radios, but had to carry a separate weather radio when traveling, and while I like shortwave, it's just not practical to string a longwire antenna from your tent to get a stronger signal while out camping with the FR-200 I already own. I find the AM/FM/TV/WB choices to be pretty much what I want in a travel radio when I am mainly seeking quick news and local weather, and I am once again impressed with the sound quality Eton puts in a non-audiophile radio. The generator works well, the battery can be replaced with a generic phone rechargeable when it dies (about 6 years in my FR-200), and the flashlight shines much brighter than in the older models while eating much less battery.
  
  Thanks to Consumers Energy, I have had several opportunities to use this radio during recent power outages, and it worked like a champ, with runtime depending largely on how loud it is played and how much you use the flashlight. The only reason I don't give it a fifth star is the requirement to use a hard-to-find very low-powered wall wart (standard ones can ruin the battery) to recharge the battery from the wall socket, and their steadfast refusal over the years to offer one with their radios, making the charger a rare special-order item.
  
  
• THE CELL PHONE CORD AND TIPS DO NOT!!! COME IN BOX!
  By A3OGBBK869R7TU on 2007-08-17
  I purchased this for the potential of being hit by Hurricane Dean and the major purchase consideration behind it being the ability to power my cell phone(s.) Come to find out they ONLY mail the tips now after registering the product. Their customer service was good - they're sending the cord and tip out expedited mail. Would I have purchased this again - yes. BUT if you're expecting to use it immediately after opening the box, be forewarned.
  
  
• So far, this radio seems fine
  By AUWIUTF0ZG01M on 2006-09-06
  I bought this radio for my hurricane kit. We've had the power go out for a week or more, so the crank power was appealing. I also like the TV tuner (the TV stations have bigger news teams) and the weather radio.
  
  The TV tuner picks up the three networks fine in Raleigh. Down at the NC coast (where the stations are farther away) I could pick up the station 20 miles away, but could not get the stations 90 miles away.
  
  The weather band picks up fine (both stations less than 20 miles).
  
  I would buy this radio again.
  
  
• Works well
  By A2HNA75RWO2DOH on 2006-02-22
  Everything works as advertised except for the cell phone charger. None of the adapters fit any of my phones. Being able to charge my cell phone during a power outage was the main reason I purchased this model. I should have bought the less expensive one. At least I can still listen to the news and weather.
  
  

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