Some reviews at Amazon
Eton ARC Emergency Radio Eton official site
http://www.etoncorp.com/product_card/?p_ProductDbId=518333
These are great, but i really want a Eton Mini AM FM and Shortwave Radio
This does not appear to have S.A.M.E. technology (localized alerts), which is recommended in an emergency radio.
If you don’t have one, buy it! The NOAA radio is worth it’s weight in gold.
Amazon currently has this model for $28.88 with free shipping for Amazon Prime.
Better deal there.
Cheaper by about a buck at Amazon, reviews are not so great.
eta: posted too slow, lol.
How much does the Red Cross receive if I purchase one?
Correct, no S.A.M.E. in these, but the weather radio is better than many in similar units. The AM and SW on this one though are really poor. The tuning knob has terrible backlash and the selectivity (ability to separate stations) is poor, as is the calibration of the digital frequency readout. The solar charger is very good but if you want to charge the batteries from an external source, get a 1000 mA USB charger that plugs in the wall. Takes forever to charge from a USB port on a PC. The hand crank generator also works well. This product is a curious blend of excellence and dross.
//EDIT// Like many woots.
Any clue about the average cost of a product without those drawbacks? Is this still a deal, even considering its disadvantages? (Perhaps as a backup.)
Once again, Eton makes a hand crank that requires 100% cranking. What ever happened to good design? When I was a kid we had spring steel that would turn 10 seconds of hand cranking into 3 minutes of generator spinnig. Bring back the intelligent design!..or the Flying Spaghetti Monster will rain down disasters from which no radio will save you!
$28.88 at amazon and eligible for free shipping.
I have one.
Good: Decent fm reception indoors and out. Can charge from solar, usb, or hand crank.
Bad: Mine won’t solar charge. It also won’t charge my Nokia E65.
Did the digitizing of television broadcast make it impossible to receive television frequencies on a portable radio. In a disaster the TV stations have the best coverage. What happened to am/fm/TV and noaa?
Did Woot just lower their price to beat Amazon by a buck? I was almost gonna jump in, but the mixed reviews are scaring me. I want one for camping, but it sounds like these have poor reception.
Yes, it would seem so. Though on deals.woot.com it still shows 24.99 + 5.
Sellout.Woot: Best bargains, last chance deals, & more
to get the audio from a digital tv signal requires a digital tv tuner. i’ve seen small 5" or 7" portable digital tv units. i’ve not seen a digital tv tuner in an audio radio.
with analog tv the audio was a fm radio signal and tv audio was available in some fm radios by making its tuner get those frequencies.
noaa radio is good as a stand alone radio or in an am/fm unit.
You talk; Woot listens. Ain’t it great?