|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
| Reviews Summary for Lextronix FR-250/Eton FR250 |
|
Reviews: 1
|
Average rating: 4.0/5
|
MSRP: $49.95
|
Description: * AM/FM and 7 Shortwave bands (16, 19, 22, 25, 31, 41, 49 meter)
* Incorporates a unique fine-tuning control knob superimposed on the main tuning control knob
* Built-in 2 white LED light source and an alert flashlight
* Emergency siren
* Cell phone charger/input for cell phone adapter tips (included)
* All antennas built-in: telescopic antenna for FM and SW
* Can be powered from four different sources:
o Built-in rechargeable Ni-MH battery
o Dynamo crank alone
o 3 AA batteries
o AC Adapter (not included)
|
|
Product is in production.
|
|
More info: http://www.etoncorp.com/product_card/?p_ProductDbId=6173
|
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this review.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
|
You can
write your own review of the Lextronix FR-250/Eton FR250.
|
AC4GJ
|
Rating: 4/5
|
May 14, 2009 16:15
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Better than I expected
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
After looking at the Eton FR250 at Radio $hack I decided that $50 was too much for one of the American Red Cross branded radios. (Unfortunately, nobody else locally carries portable AM/FM/SW radios any more; everything is an i-something accessory or a clock radio). However, I visited a store that handles overstocked/closeout items (you visit it on Tuesday mornings...) and found the Lextronix FR-250 for $20. I read the reviews here on the FR200, which is a similar radio, and went back and bought one. After taking it home and cranking the handle to charge the battery pack, I was pleased to find out it worked pretty well. Lextronix=Eton=Grundig North America, so it is the same radio as the Eton FR250.
I found on this particular one that 90 seconds of vigorous cranking (two stokes/second) gave me about 25 minutes of play on FM. However, the 3x3AA rechargable battery pack did a whole lot better when I hooked up my own 5VDC charger and charged the pack for about 8 hours. After that charge, it lasted for several hours. So if the power is down, I will need to crank a while to charge the pack completely. No wall wart is included with this one, but you can order one from Eton for nearly what I paid for the radio itself, or you can use a cheapie universal like I did. I put in 3 AA alkaline batteries as well (I don't want to have to charge it every time I want to listen). It has a bunch of adapters for charging cell phone batteries, and I was very pleased to see a mini-USB adapter that will fit my Blackberry. However, I haven't tried that yet. I imagine it would take a lot of cranking to force enough milliamps into a lithium cellphone battery do any good.
The build is fairly decent, at least on the outside; I have not opened it yet. A little cleaner, sharper lines, better finish, than your typical Chinese product.
The tuner knob has a fast outer ring and a "vernier" inside knob for finer adjustment; I found it easier to tune it by resting my thumb on the case next to the slide tuning scale and using the fleshy part of the index finger curled over the top of the knob to rotate the inner knob.
I guess you never get all the SW bands you want, but it tunes 5.85-18.10 Mhz over 7 bands, with a few jumps in between.
At night I can hear a good number of stations on SW, especially on the lower bands, with just the whip; better reception of course with a long wire clipped onto the end of the whip. So far I can only hear WWV on 10 Mhz, not on 15, day or night. Typical problem with images from strong stations, but better than what I expected. Can hear some CW on 40 meters as long as a strong AM station is nearby; I need to try the old trick of running another AM radio nearby to provide a beat frequency. However, the frequency drifts all over the place, so you need to constantly adjust. Drift is not too bad on SW AM, but you'll still play with it.
FM sounds good; not stereo. AM is really good compared to some other portable radios I have tried, and outstanding compared to my bed-side clock radio. Headphones improve everything.
The tuning scale has glow-in-the-dark numbers and letters, but as usual you have to hold it in bright light to get them to be visible in the dark, and only for a little while. No tritium here!
White LED lights are good. The siren and blinking red LED are a novelty and a bit goofy, but who knows what the future might hold? May come in handy one day for scaring away the cat? ;-)
Definitely worth the $20 I paid for it.
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
