Eton FR400 Hand Crank Radio and Power Generator (Red)

• Hand crank power generator is ideal for emergencies
• Provides you with an emergency siren, water resistant radio, LED lights, and a cell phone charger so you can contact help
• Built-in rechargeable Ni-MH battery that takes charge from the dynamo crank and an AC adapter; 3 "AA" batteries
• Gives you access to NOAA weather channels so you can check the weather or hear important news updates
• Dimensions: 8.6 x 4.5 x 2.0 inches (WxHxD); weighs 1.5 pounds

After noting some less than satisfactory reviews by others on similar Eaton products , I decided to go ahead and buy this product. I found that the FR400 meets all my criteria in a weather radio. First, the crank system covers our communications need should we have an extended power outage.This past week, over 100,000 people were without power in our area. The crank generating system works excellent. It actually works easier than I thought that it would. I also find the Alert function very important. You simple turn a Selector Knob to Alert, and when the National Weather Service issues an alert, the radio comes on automatically. This alert gives you advance warning of dangerous weather, and can save your life in case a tornado is about to happen near you.It also warns you of other bad weather conditions such as extreme straight line winds and hail. Flood Warnings are also covered in these alerts.

Yes we have tornado sirens for impending tornados. Since we have satellite TV reception, we usually lose our TV signal just as the bad storms get close to us. With the FR400, we easily can slide the selection bar and tune in any of several TV stations, and pick up the sound portion of the broadcast. We can also access our local FM and AM radio channels.The reception is excellent on both AM and FM bands. I have mine set to Channel ll the CBS TV affiliate in Dallas/Fort Worth. The tuning bar reads TV2. Channel 5, a lower number would be set on TV1. We consider this product an excellent value, and recommend this model due to the included AC Adapter. The included cell phone adapters fit both my wife's cell phone and my own. Hers is an ancient Motorola and mine is a recent LG. There are excellent set up instructions should you need them from the Eton website. It's actually very simple to set up. Lights, Sirens, Radio, Crank and Auto settings are clearly marked. Dialing is no problem, and the TV and Weather Service reception is excellent. This product has it all, and is a must for having a dependable weather warning or disaster communication radio.

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This radio is reviewed on Amazon several times, but most are under the Red Cross version's listing, even though this is exactly the same radio. I read several negative reviews prior to buying this item. Well, as it turns out I think this is a nice little unit. I would describe the sound overall as good. Maybe I'll amend this review in the future, but I'm happy with the features, design & performance.

Opening the battery cover and connecting the battery was just that simple, and it has remained securely closed. Maybe the design has been modified because that procedure has gotten a lot of negative feedback, but I can't see any reason there would be a problem. The cellphone charging cord & several connectors (let's be honest...we're never going to use this) were included, and my Sanyo phone is covered.

This is a light, inexpensive case. The tuner seems fine. Here in NYC I've had no trouble tuning in the various AM & FM stations that I like. This is not a high-end indestructable radio. I think this is a good, relatively solidly built & designed radio that can be used every day. I charged it over night with the included adapter. It's brought me a few ballgames over the past few days without needing a charge (I'm just going to let it drain completely once to complete a battery cycle). I like this little radio very much.

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I needed more info on this radio and others so I called Amazon tech support. I was given the Eton customer service number: 1-800-872-2228.

The Eton FR400 has TV capabilities that will become obsolete in 2009 as the signals will all be switched to digital for the TV portion of this radio. All other functions will work. The updated model, Eton FR405, is the same as this radio only without the TV signal capability. The FR405 is only available at Best Buy at this time. For my money, the FR400 with TV capabilities, while the TV signals last, is a better buy.

This radio is water resistant. A waterproof model would be perfect. We've lost a couple of cell phones in the river and water kills them fast. Sun dried cell phones are never the same if they even flicker with life at all. So, now I look for waterproof when buying anything that might get wet or fall overboard. An emergency radio is in that class.

Another newer model coming on the scene soon will be the Eton FR1000--no TV capability, but it will come with a walkie talkie. This is being tested now and should be the next model you will see on the market.

Eton does not make a GPS system combined with NOAA radio capabilities. They also do not have a unit with both shortwave and NOAA combined--apparently the circuitry on the two things are not compatable. No one has this.

I want something that will be equally useful on land, at sea or in a vehicle. I want an "emergency" unit that packages many of the things I may need for "survival" communication. Okay, I really meant everything I might need. :) I haven't found the perfect NOAA radio yet.

The other thing that is not available is an NOAA radio with digital TV. Apparently, the digital components are too expensive at this time to add this feature to these radios and maintain a decent price point. So, companies are simply deleting TV from the mix.

This model, Eton FR400, will charge a cell phone battery. None of the connections come with the unit. You send in for them. The first cell phone adapter connector is free, additional ones cost $5 each. Eton tries to keep a number of cell phone battery charger adaptors in stock, but you may want to see if they have your specific adaptor before making a purchase because they don't carry them all.

Amazon has inflated the retail price on this unit. It sells for $60 directly from Eton, plus $10 shipping.

The unit is larger than I expected. This is okay, but wouldn't a cell phone sized unit be wonderful! Waterproof of course.

UPDATE 2-7-2008: The Eton FR1000 has been released this month. I haven't seen it on Amazon yet, but it is available at some other retailers. Check online. The retail price is $150.

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The radio has one very annoying feature. When set to receive NOAA Weather alerts it will receive them but then continue playing NOAA weather reports for a wide area. When I purchased this radio I did not know about SAME technology which limits the alerts to a much smaller area in your vacinity. If you live in an area with a lot of alerts as I do in Florida then getting a radio with SAME technology will keep you from being unnecessarily awakened in the night. Go to the NOAA web site for a description of SAME. All other functions of the radio seem to work as advertised.

The inexpensive Eton FR400 is a nice little radio as well as a potential lifesaver. For its size it has a surprisingly good balanced tone (not adjustable), and very clear reception on NOAA, AM, FM, and TV bands alike. The power crank/dynamo doubles as an exercise machine...not the easiest thing to crank (especially if you follow the recommendation to crank at 2 revolutions per second for 90 seconds to acheive maximum power charge), but you get up to an hour and a half to rest up before you need to recharge. I wish the case had a compartment for the power and cell phone adapters though, to keep all parts in one place. I gave mine to my electronically picky and critical sattelite-TV field manager brother-in-law (to keep at his home in the US Virgin Islands for hurricane use), and immediately bought another for our own tornado, thunderstorm, icestorm and power vagary usage here in beautiful rural West Michigan. I'll take it camping and its light weight and weather resistant design may even cause it to join me in my treestands this deer season (I wish an earphone was included as well, but as I seem to be the last living man without an iPod I can't blame Eton for my not having my own headphones, I suppose...). By the way, the available metallic colors offered on these are "way cool"! You won't regret buying the FR400, regardless of the weather in your part of the world. BTW: after sending in the registration info I received cell phone power charger adapters for two (2) different phones within 10 days' time. Murphy's law being immutable, our cell plan replaced our phones with a new model in the interim. One call to the eton toll-free customer service line sent another adapter out the same day to accomodate our upgrade...free of charge!