Eton FR250 Weather/TV Radio
- Display: LED
- Tuning: Analog
- Type: Portable
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Well planned design!
Pros
This radio was well thought out! Read the review for all the Pros.
Cons
Not waterproof. Speaker distorts at high volume. Uses an odd number of batteries
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
This is well designed for portability and easy-of-use. This will work well in a prolonged power outage.
The Manual:
First let me say that I pulled to radio out of the box and began using it within 60 seconds (while still in the car at the post office) before I even knew WHERE the Operation Manual was. THAT is how user-friendly this radio is. BONUS! I found the Operation Manual to be very well laid out and well written. It contains all the information that you need to use this radio to the max for a long time, but not really any silly or useless information (like those silly notices we often get with electronics that tell us NOT to submerse it in water--DUH!).
The Bag:
Speaking of the Operation Manual, when I did find it, it was resting in a side pocket of the radio carrying case. Yes, this radio comes with a black cordura carrying case. The case features (an uncomfortable) shoulder strap, a side pocket (6-1/2" x 4-1/4") for holding the cell phone adapters and the manual, and a top flap held in place with magnets (like a woman's purse)--no noisy Velcro! This radio bag also has a small pocket on each end roughly the right size (roughly 2-1/4" x 3-3/4") to carry a cell phone, small flashlight, some earbuds, or other similar devices. If you fold it right, you could easily fit a map (and a compass too!) in the side pocket. The larger side pocket would also easily hold a small shortwave antenna such as the Kaito AN-03L which is only around 3 inches across.
Top to bottom:
The top of the radio features a carry handle made of nylon webbing covered with leather-like vinyl. The handle is secured to the radio with square, metal rings. This radio is so light (and small) that I seldom find myself using the handle. I just grab the radio in my hand and carry it. Eton thought of this and included a shallow recess in the back with small traction bumps to improve your grip.
Left side: On the left side of the radio is the power crank. Nothing else is on the left side.
Right side: On the right side is a large, black Tuning dial for analog tuning. Also on the left is the power switch allowing you to select between AA battery power, dynamo (crank) or AC/DC adapter (not included), and OFF. The bottom of the right side houses the volume control knob.
The Back:
Also on the back is the telescopic antenna that folds neatly out of the way and into it's own place. It stays safe and out of the way--good design. below the antenna, is the radio label with Make/Model (Eton FR-250), and brief listing of the bands/frequencies covered by the radio. Next to the label are 3 jacks for plugs--Ear, AC adapter (with labeling "DC IN 5V" and polarity), and cell phone charger (labeled polarity). At the bottom of the back side is the battery compartment. The battery compartment door is attached and hinged--another good design. Unless you manage to break the door off, you can't loose the battery compartment door. The compartment has places for 3 AA batteries and a place for a rechargeable battery pack and a socket to plug in the pack.
The Front:
This radio is analog. There is no clock, no memory presets, no digital read out of which frequency you have tuned in.
Light: On the front left, next to the tuning scale, you'll find the flashlight. It is a built-in 2 white LED lamp that is NOT removable. To use the light, you have to pick up the radio and aim the light at what you want to see. Still, the placement of the light is great because you can use the built-in light to illuminate the tuning scale in the dark so you can tune the radio easily. It can also be easily used to charge the glow-in-the-dark characters on the tuning scale. During a recent heavy snowfall we had a power outage. The LED light provided plenty of light for me to fill a couple oil lamps with oil and get them going. Along with the 2 white LEDs is a single red LED that flashes like a strobe. I find the red strobe to be a bit of a gimmick but it could be useful in some instances.
Switches: Below the light and tuner you find a 3 position band select switch for FM/AM/SW. Below to the switch to the left is the light switch; you can select either the Light (2 LED) or the Flash (red strobe) but not both simultaneously. To the right of the light switch is another gimmick. A Siren switch that turns ON/OFF a "woo-woo" siren. The siren is always at full volume (and a little distorted) and cannot be turned down. A gimmick but it could have a use if you are trapped and someone is trying to locate you, for example.
Below the gimmick switches, is a large dial that selects which shortwave band you want to tune on. They are numbered 1 through 7.
The Face:
Dial face is black with white lettering. To my pleasant surprise, I discovered that the alphanumeric characters on the dial face glow in the dark! In the dark, I cupped my hand to reflect the light from the LED lamp on the front of the radio onto the dial face. When turned the light off, the characters on the dial face glowed...and for more than 30 minutes! The I decided to charge the face with a high-powered Maglite. The characters glowed so brightly than they almost looked back lit. Again, they glowed LONG past what I expected...close to an hour (give or take a few minutes)!
Power:
The powering options for this radio are what set this radio apart from many others and what makes this an emergency radio as opposed to simply a portable radio. For starters, I had a pleasant surprise when I pulled it out of the box. A removable tag hangs out of the battery compartment informing you that rechargeable batteries are included but are not connected during shipping. You must open the battery compartment and plug in the wire on the battery pack. The great surprise for me was to discover that the rechargeable batteries included come to us FULLY CHARGED! This radio is literally ready to go out of the box. An emergency radio indeed! In addition to the rechargeable battery pack, this radio can run off an AC/DC adapter (not included) or a set of 3 AA batteries. Only because batteries are routinely sold in sets of 2, 4, or 8; I will gripe about needing 3 batteries. The radio does have a crank handle to charge it up. While the crank dynamo does work if the rechargeable batteries are not plugged in, it is extremely inefficient. The crank must be turned continuously while the radio plays. As soon as you stop cranking; the radio dies. It is MUCH more efficient to use the rechargeable battery pack. If your battery pack becomes lost or damaged, replacements can be purchased. Specifications on replacement battery pack you'll need are in the operations manual.
Volume:
Total volume dial travel is around 3/4 of a dial rotation. There is roughly 1/4 rotation where you are turning the knob but not getting ANY sound. The first 1/4 of the dial is "dead air"...silence. I find the wasted travel disappointing. Even so, between silence and distortion, there is good volume range and fairly sensitive control. I was able to find comfortable listening in a variety of situation from low-level nighttime pillow listening to room filling volume. By "room filling" I mean I was able to hear this radio CLEARLY--from 11 feet away--over the dishwasher AND the microwave oven--and the kitchen sink water running occasionally. In the last 1/8 turn (or so) I have reached distortion on certain broadcasts. Generally, the distortion depends on the volume level of what the radio station is coming out, i.e. DJ chatter and commercials tend to distort more readily than the music or talk show. A small inconvenience on the volume dial is that the placement is good but not great. I find it too easy to accidentally bump the dial and change the volume level.
Speaker:
This radio is MONO. The built-in speaker seems to be an appropriate fit for the radio. It's very clear and gets much louder than I expected without distortion. Don't misunderstand, this radio DOES distort when you turn it up around full volume. However, full volume is very loud (much louder than you would expect from such a small radio and small 2-1/2 inch speaker)! To be more specific, this radio gets louder than you will probably normally need unless you are using it in a noisy environment (such as around power tools in a shop or garage). The grille appears to be a genuine metal grille (maybe aluminum) instead of a cheap, plastic speaker grille--the body of the radio is plastic. Headphone audio is MONO but it does play in BOTH earphones. There is no DBBS bass boost feature on this radio (you didn't really expect that on an emergency/survival radio did you?).
Tuning:
Tuning on the radio turned out to be yet ANOTHER pleasant surprise!
AM- I am stunned at the sensitivity of this radio! I have been able to tune in AM stations that I didn't even know existed! Seriously! As far as the AM band is concerned, I regularly listen to about 5 different AM stations and I'm aware of another 2. However, I have found 3 more AM stations that I didn't even know were on the air around here. At least one of the stations that I tuned in comes out of a city approximately 200 miles away!
FM- FM is just as clear and sensitive as AM. Again, I found a few FM stations that I hadn't heard before. All of the FM stations that I "discovered" were broadcast from other cities 60 to 100 miles away.
SW- This radio has 7 shortwave bands from SW1 to SW7 the range runs from 5.85MHz to 18.10MHz. I am not very experienced with shortwave listening. I haven't yet purchased a guide book (e.g. Passport to World Radio) nor have I bought an external SW antenna (e.g. the Kaito AN-03L). Even so, during daytime hours, just using the built-in telescopic antenna, I was able to pull in an Eastern music station (around 9.35 to 9.40MHz), some Asian news (around 9.8MHz), and a Russian speaking station, and roughly 20 other stations that gave me the impression that I could have pulled them in using an external antenna.
Color options:
The Eton FR-250 is available in several colors: Silver, Black, Red, Blue, and Orange. A special edition is available in White with the American Red Cross logo on the shortwave band selector dial.
Compared to the BayGen FreePlay Plus, the Eton FR-250 is 1/3 the price of the BayGen and about 1/3 the size also. Based on my experience with other brands of radios, I would recommend the Eton over a BayGen FreePlay or a Sangean.
First let me say that I pulled to radio out of the box and began using it within 60 seconds (while still in the car at the post office) before I even knew WHERE the Operation Manual was. THAT is how user-friendly this radio is. BONUS! I found the Operation Manual to be very well laid out and well written. It contains all the information that you need to use this radio to the max for a long time, but not really any silly or useless information (like those silly notices we often get with electronics that tell us NOT to submerse it in water--DUH!).
The Bag:
Speaking of the Operation Manual, when I did find it, it was resting in a side pocket of the radio carrying case. Yes, this radio comes with a black cordura carrying case. The case features (an uncomfortable) shoulder strap, a side pocket (6-1/2" x 4-1/4") for holding the cell phone adapters and the manual, and a top flap held in place with magnets (like a woman's purse)--no noisy Velcro! This radio bag also has a small pocket on each end roughly the right size (roughly 2-1/4" x 3-3/4") to carry a cell phone, small flashlight, some earbuds, or other similar devices. If you fold it right, you could easily fit a map (and a compass too!) in the side pocket. The larger side pocket would also easily hold a small shortwave antenna such as the Kaito AN-03L which is only around 3 inches across.
Top to bottom:
The top of the radio features a carry handle made of nylon webbing covered with leather-like vinyl. The handle is secured to the radio with square, metal rings. This radio is so light (and small) that I seldom find myself using the handle. I just grab the radio in my hand and carry it. Eton thought of this and included a shallow recess in the back with small traction bumps to improve your grip.
Left side: On the left side of the radio is the power crank. Nothing else is on the left side.
Right side: On the right side is a large, black Tuning dial for analog tuning. Also on the left is the power switch allowing you to select between AA battery power, dynamo (crank) or AC/DC adapter (not included), and OFF. The bottom of the right side houses the volume control knob.
The Back:
Also on the back is the telescopic antenna that folds neatly out of the way and into it's own place. It stays safe and out of the way--good design. below the antenna, is the radio label with Make/Model (Eton FR-250), and brief listing of the bands/frequencies covered by the radio. Next to the label are 3 jacks for plugs--Ear, AC adapter (with labeling "DC IN 5V" and polarity), and cell phone charger (labeled polarity). At the bottom of the back side is the battery compartment. The battery compartment door is attached and hinged--another good design. Unless you manage to break the door off, you can't loose the battery compartment door. The compartment has places for 3 AA batteries and a place for a rechargeable battery pack and a socket to plug in the pack.
The Front:
This radio is analog. There is no clock, no memory presets, no digital read out of which frequency you have tuned in.
Light: On the front left, next to the tuning scale, you'll find the flashlight. It is a built-in 2 white LED lamp that is NOT removable. To use the light, you have to pick up the radio and aim the light at what you want to see. Still, the placement of the light is great because you can use the built-in light to illuminate the tuning scale in the dark so you can tune the radio easily. It can also be easily used to charge the glow-in-the-dark characters on the tuning scale. During a recent heavy snowfall we had a power outage. The LED light provided plenty of light for me to fill a couple oil lamps with oil and get them going. Along with the 2 white LEDs is a single red LED that flashes like a strobe. I find the red strobe to be a bit of a gimmick but it could be useful in some instances.
Switches: Below the light and tuner you find a 3 position band select switch for FM/AM/SW. Below to the switch to the left is the light switch; you can select either the Light (2 LED) or the Flash (red strobe) but not both simultaneously. To the right of the light switch is another gimmick. A Siren switch that turns ON/OFF a "woo-woo" siren. The siren is always at full volume (and a little distorted) and cannot be turned down. A gimmick but it could have a use if you are trapped and someone is trying to locate you, for example.
Below the gimmick switches, is a large dial that selects which shortwave band you want to tune on. They are numbered 1 through 7.
The Face:
Dial face is black with white lettering. To my pleasant surprise, I discovered that the alphanumeric characters on the dial face glow in the dark! In the dark, I cupped my hand to reflect the light from the LED lamp on the front of the radio onto the dial face. When turned the light off, the characters on the dial face glowed...and for more than 30 minutes! The I decided to charge the face with a high-powered Maglite. The characters glowed so brightly than they almost looked back lit. Again, they glowed LONG past what I expected...close to an hour (give or take a few minutes)!
Power:
The powering options for this radio are what set this radio apart from many others and what makes this an emergency radio as opposed to simply a portable radio. For starters, I had a pleasant surprise when I pulled it out of the box. A removable tag hangs out of the battery compartment informing you that rechargeable batteries are included but are not connected during shipping. You must open the battery compartment and plug in the wire on the battery pack. The great surprise for me was to discover that the rechargeable batteries included come to us FULLY CHARGED! This radio is literally ready to go out of the box. An emergency radio indeed! In addition to the rechargeable battery pack, this radio can run off an AC/DC adapter (not included) or a set of 3 AA batteries. Only because batteries are routinely sold in sets of 2, 4, or 8; I will gripe about needing 3 batteries. The radio does have a crank handle to charge it up. While the crank dynamo does work if the rechargeable batteries are not plugged in, it is extremely inefficient. The crank must be turned continuously while the radio plays. As soon as you stop cranking; the radio dies. It is MUCH more efficient to use the rechargeable battery pack. If your battery pack becomes lost or damaged, replacements can be purchased. Specifications on replacement battery pack you'll need are in the operations manual.
Volume:
Total volume dial travel is around 3/4 of a dial rotation. There is roughly 1/4 rotation where you are turning the knob but not getting ANY sound. The first 1/4 of the dial is "dead air"...silence. I find the wasted travel disappointing. Even so, between silence and distortion, there is good volume range and fairly sensitive control. I was able to find comfortable listening in a variety of situation from low-level nighttime pillow listening to room filling volume. By "room filling" I mean I was able to hear this radio CLEARLY--from 11 feet away--over the dishwasher AND the microwave oven--and the kitchen sink water running occasionally. In the last 1/8 turn (or so) I have reached distortion on certain broadcasts. Generally, the distortion depends on the volume level of what the radio station is coming out, i.e. DJ chatter and commercials tend to distort more readily than the music or talk show. A small inconvenience on the volume dial is that the placement is good but not great. I find it too easy to accidentally bump the dial and change the volume level.
Speaker:
This radio is MONO. The built-in speaker seems to be an appropriate fit for the radio. It's very clear and gets much louder than I expected without distortion. Don't misunderstand, this radio DOES distort when you turn it up around full volume. However, full volume is very loud (much louder than you would expect from such a small radio and small 2-1/2 inch speaker)! To be more specific, this radio gets louder than you will probably normally need unless you are using it in a noisy environment (such as around power tools in a shop or garage). The grille appears to be a genuine metal grille (maybe aluminum) instead of a cheap, plastic speaker grille--the body of the radio is plastic. Headphone audio is MONO but it does play in BOTH earphones. There is no DBBS bass boost feature on this radio (you didn't really expect that on an emergency/survival radio did you?).
Tuning:
Tuning on the radio turned out to be yet ANOTHER pleasant surprise!
AM- I am stunned at the sensitivity of this radio! I have been able to tune in AM stations that I didn't even know existed! Seriously! As far as the AM band is concerned, I regularly listen to about 5 different AM stations and I'm aware of another 2. However, I have found 3 more AM stations that I didn't even know were on the air around here. At least one of the stations that I tuned in comes out of a city approximately 200 miles away!
FM- FM is just as clear and sensitive as AM. Again, I found a few FM stations that I hadn't heard before. All of the FM stations that I "discovered" were broadcast from other cities 60 to 100 miles away.
SW- This radio has 7 shortwave bands from SW1 to SW7 the range runs from 5.85MHz to 18.10MHz. I am not very experienced with shortwave listening. I haven't yet purchased a guide book (e.g. Passport to World Radio) nor have I bought an external SW antenna (e.g. the Kaito AN-03L). Even so, during daytime hours, just using the built-in telescopic antenna, I was able to pull in an Eastern music station (around 9.35 to 9.40MHz), some Asian news (around 9.8MHz), and a Russian speaking station, and roughly 20 other stations that gave me the impression that I could have pulled them in using an external antenna.
Color options:
The Eton FR-250 is available in several colors: Silver, Black, Red, Blue, and Orange. A special edition is available in White with the American Red Cross logo on the shortwave band selector dial.
Compared to the BayGen FreePlay Plus, the Eton FR-250 is 1/3 the price of the BayGen and about 1/3 the size also. Based on my experience with other brands of radios, I would recommend the Eton over a BayGen FreePlay or a Sangean.
