The Grundig FR200 May Be The Only Radio You Need

From an energy usage standpoint, a small portable radio has to qualify as pretty "green" entertainment: With a power draw of just a few watts, you could plug one in and power it all month for pennies' worth of electricity.

Yet, when you run that portable radio on batteries, it's a lot less environmentally friendly. How many times have you unknowingly left a portable radio or other battery-operated device turned on, and wound up running the batteries dry? Probably more than once. Not only can you spend a lot of money replacing disposable batteries, but they contain toxic chemicals that eventually find their way into the environment.

The Grundig FR200 saves you the expense and hassle of buying and replacing batteries, and in so doing cuts down on poisonous waste being put into the environment. It's a great radio, too, and it even includes a built-in flashlight.

I bought my FR200 for $39.95 at a local Radio Shack store when I was shopping for something else. I saw a small child playing with the radio's crank, which caused me to notice the radio and take a closer look. Immediately I was impressed with the radio's reception and clear sound. Of course, normally inside any store the reception is weaker than when you get the set home or use it outdoors, but the FR200 worked remarkably well even in the store.

You may have seen other crank-up radios, but one thing that makes the FR200 different from most is that the crank turns a generator, and the generator in turn charges a battery pack which runs the radio. Many other crank-up radios use a system where the crank winds up a spring, which then turns a generator which powers the radio directly -- using no batteries at all, not even rechargeables.

While there is appeal to the radios that generate their power directly and need no battery, for day-to-day use a rechargeable battery is probably better, at least for me. For one thing, with this radio, you can crank it just about as long as you want, and your playing time just increases the longer you crank it. I spoke with one of Grundig's excellent technical support people after I purchased the radio, and when I asked him how long I could crank it without overcharging the battery, he just laughed and said, "Longer than humanly possible."

He was right. I've cranked it two turns per second for as long as five minutes, which gives several hours' playing time. Ninety seconds of cranking will keep the radio playing at normal volume levels for about an hour. One excellent point about the radio: If you ever do wear out the rechargeable battery pack, which would take years under normal daily use, the replacement is a commonly available cordless phone battery pack. No high-priced special batteries to buy.

Of course, how you power the radio is important, but its performance as a radio itself is what really makes you want to own it. Because I love listening to the radio, I've owned a variety of radios over the years, but the performance of this one stands out as the unquestionable best in its general price range, and noticeably as good or better than many other radios costing far more.

The FR200 receives the standard AM broadcast band (530-1710 kHz), FM (88-108 mHz), and two different shortwave ranges (3.2 - 7.6 mHz, and 9.2 - 22 mHz). Tuning on all bands is via a familiar analog radio tuning scale, operated by rotating a knob on the side of the radio. The radio also includes a "fine tuning" knob which is inside the regular tuning knob. This fine tuning knob is "geared down" to make it easier to zero in on a particular signal.

As a longtime radio listener, I have certain "benchmark" stations that I like, and that can help to judge how a radio performs. One is WGN (AM 720) from Chicago. One of my favorite stations, WGN is one of the last true "full service" stations that actually has locally originated programs worth listening to. WGN is located about 200 air miles from where I live. I compared this radio's reception of WGN to a more expensive Grundig shortwave set I have, the YB-400 PE, and also to a GE SuperRadio, which is noted for excellent AM reception.

The FR200 received WGN clearly and cleanly, with an obviously strong signal that was virtually indistinguishable from the venerable GE SuperRadio in terms of freedom from interference and general signal strength. I found this performance on WGN to be typical of this radio, pulling in distant signals clearly, and turning in very interference-free performance on distant AM stations.

FM performance on the FR200 is very good, although slightly less outstanding than on AM. I would place this radio in the top 20 percent of radios regarding FM performance, with only a slight tendency to "overload" on strong signals. (Overloading can cause the same FM signal to appear at multiple places on the dial, overtaking the signals of other stations.) FM sensitivity, which is the ability to pull in weak signals and make them listenable, I would say is excellent. FM selectivity, which is the ability to keep signals separated and confined to the right place on the dial, I would say is above average.

Shortwave performance on this radio is surprisingly good for a radio in this price range. If you have not listened much to shortwave, you may not be familiar with how it works. With shortwave radio, the same station does not broadcast on the same frequency 24 hours a day, as on AM or FM. Instead, the signals move around the dial. This is because higher frequencies offer better reception during daylight hours, and lower frequencies are better at night.

One other characteristic of shortwave is that signals are packed close together on the dial, and finding just the one you want can be a challenge.

I compared the shortwave performance of this radio to the Grundig YB-400 PE, a radio acclaimed as an excellent shortwave performer, and an older Sony ICF-2002, a shortwave portable that was popular about 15 years ago.

I was surprised to find that the $39.95 FR200 offered shortwave performance in many ways comparable to the YB-400 PE, and better than the Sony ICF-2002. Obviously the Sony and the more expensive Grundig YB were better in terms of convenience, since they are digitally tuned. But in terms of signal strength and number of signals received, the FR200 was as good as any shortwave radio I've ever heard -- at any price.

The only major problem with using the FR200 as a shortwave radio is that the analog tuning dial is somewhat inaccurate, so it's hard to pick out a particular station. (Having digitally-tuned radios for years spoils a person, and it gets easy just to "punch in" the desired frequency.) However, one nice thing about analog tuning is that you are forced to scan the dial more, so you find more interesting things to listen to.

The only other observation I have about the FR200's shortwave performance is that it tends to drift a little as times goes by. So, a station that you tuned in perfectly 30 minutes ago may now sound like it needs to be tuned in again. This was a common characteristic of older analog radios, and it's a very minor annoyance. All that's necessary is to re-tune the radio by very slightly moving the fine tuning knob if a station starts to sound like it's not tuned in quite right.

Regardless of which band you're listening to, the FR200's sound quality is excellent for a radio of this size and type. No, it does not have room-filling bass, but it does have clear, full sound that's easy to listen to for long periods of time.

The FR200 comes with a protective nylon case which has a convenient carrying strap as well as a pocket which can hold small items. There's also a vinyl and nylon handle on top of the radio itself which makes it easy to carry. The power generator crank handle folds away so that it is basically flush with the side of the radio when not in use. This keeps it from getting broken accidentally.

The radio will accept three standard AA batteries if you should wish to power it that way rather than by the hand crank and rechargeables. (You do not ever have to install these AA batteries, however, if you use the generator and rechargeable batteries.) It also has a DC input jack to allow you to use an AC power supply with a 4.5 volt output.

All controls are clear and easy to use, and both the rechargeable battery pack and the flashlight bulb are easy to replace if that ever becomes necessary. Seeing that the manufacturer has made part replacement easy is always nice to see, since it indicates that the radio has been built to be used and enjoyed for years, rather than simply treated as a disposable item, as so many products today are regarded.

The Grundig FR200 is an attractively-designed radio, with a rugged looking appearance. It appears to be quite sturdily built. It's hard to imagine getting a radio as pleasing and enjoyable as the FR200 for just $40, but Grundig has pulled together a collection of features and capabilities in this little radio that indeed make that the case. I can't imagine someone not being pleased with it.