Friday, July 05, 2019

Wanted: emergency radio with long shelf life

Today I had a power outage for the first time in years, so it occurred to me that I should test my emergency radio.

And it turns out the battery doesn't hold a charge.  I keep the radio in a place where it gets direct sun every day, but when I turn it on the battery light blinks out after a second, before I can even tune it to a radio station.  The same thing happens when I crank it up - the battery appears to charge, but it doesn't hold the charge long enough to pick up a radio station, which, of course, defeats the purpose.

This happened with my previous emergency radio too. After a few years, the battery simply stopped holding a charge, rendering it useless.

Can anyone recommend an emergency radio that will retain functionality after years of neglect?

I'm willing and able to keep it somewhere where it gets direct sunlight every day for solar charging.  I'm also willing and able to keep it in the dark if constant charging is bad for battery life, but in that case I'd need it to charge fairly quickly (e.g. under 15 minutes) in normal indoor ambient light levels

Ideally, I'd also like to be able to charge devices with it. Alternatively, I'd be interested in any other gizmos that let me charge devices from solar and crank power - or even from the ordinary Duracell batteries I have sitting around in a desk drawer! - regardless of whether they have a radio.  A flashlight feature would also be a plus. (I already have multiple flashlights, but I wouldn't mind one that could charge by solar.)  But, again, these devices would need long shelf life, so I can neglect them for years and then they'll be ready for me in an emergency.

Interestingly, during this adventure, I discovered that the radio on my old middle-school Walkman still works beautifully if I just pop in a couple of the ordinary Duracell batteries that I have sitting around in my desk drawer.  So for an emergency device, I'd need better.

3 comments:

laura k said...

I wonder if anyone has an emergency radio that works when it's needed -- anyone who isn't a fulltime survivalist.

impudent strumpet said...

I wonder if someone who is literally a full-time survivalist would have need for a radio, or would they not have need for contact with civilization?

laura k said...

Ha! Good point.