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Reviews For: Kaito KA008

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : Kaito KA008
Reviews: 2MSRP: $56
Description:
A small "emergency radio". AM/FM/SW-4bands. White LED light. Digital Clock(alarm). Power: 3xAA, NiMH, Solar, Dynamo.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.kaitousa.com/KA007D.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0022
KE4JSX Rating: 2011-04-26
KA009 not good Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The KA009 is the analog version of the the 008. It would not hold a charge or allow solar charge at all. I sent it back to the preparedness store and they gladly sent me another. Same problem. I tried to see if a wire was not connected or cold soldered and ended up not getting around to returning it. It works okay with the wall wart. Not much of an "emergency" radio in my opinion... I'm still looking for a radio with similar features but does what it looks like it should do ; )
KA5ZCB Rating: 2006-04-14
An "OK" radio that tries to do too much Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had my KA008 a little over a week.
It is "loaded with features", I paid $43+s/h.
It comes with the A/C "wall wart" charger and a short external 'wire antenna' that plugs into the EarPhone-jack-ground (it's NOT a mini-plug, just the stub to make a contact).
The whip-antenna extends to about 30" or so.
It includes stereo-ear-buds, but I suspect it is only Mono... I could not "hear" stereo on known strong-stero stations.

Light: a bright-white LED and switch are on the Left side. a "nice" feature to have a modest light that is not a pen-light rolling on a table or that you have to hold when camping or in an emergency.

Clock: 12-hour digital clock with an alarm-setting. When the radio is ON, the same digital-screen is your frequency, so the clock shows only when the radio is OFF. The Alarm can be set and will play the station that has been dialed-in. **BUT** this is an analog-tune-vol radio and when the alarm comes ON, it is FULL-Vol!

Bands: FM, AM, SW 4-26Mhz in 4-bands.
analog-tuning knob with the digital-display.
My unit was "as accurate as expected/needed".

Speaker: volume control/amp can produce a loud volume for an outside activity, it may distort if turned too loud, but it'll try.

Indicator LEDs: 'Low-Pwr' lets you know when your batteries are getting weak. 'Battery' is bright RED for adequate power. A third Tuner/Charge LED brightens-as-RED as a tuning-strength indicator and doubles as a "NiMH chg LED", too.

Power: 3xAA-alkalines provide several hours of use.
NiMH-pack will charge from the Dynamo, Sol-Cells or AC.
Sol-Cells: radio will play directly from Solar-SunLight
Dynamo: radio will play directly as you crank.
A/C adapter: yep, quad-power.

OverAll: a lot of "features" for the $$, actually, a little TOO-MUCH. It does not seem to be particularly impressive in anything it does, just kinda-"OK" in each... I'd recommend it as a nice-affordable gift for the Cub/Boy-Scout in your family.

Alternatives:
I also have the Grundig-FR200 for the same $$ and it is a much better unit, in my opinion.
The KA009 may be better suited to some, it has TV&Wea bands.

Trouble: my unit has trouble charging the NiMH from A/C or solar... I'm trying to return it and maybe switch to another model.