So the other day I received an email from KaitoUSA with a special offer to buy one of their new radios at an introductory price, with free shipping.
Even though I have plenty of receivers (just ask my wife!), I figured for $60 and free shipping, what did I have to lose?
The newest addition here is the Kaito KA600 "Voyager Pro", and man, does this thing have features!
It covers the AM radio band, the FM radio band (stereo with the included ear buds), all of the NOAA Weather Radio channels, with a "Severe Weather Alert" function, and it covers the shortwave bands from 2.3MHz to 23.0MHz, all nicely divided up, and available as "Meter Bands" for those that don't speak frequency.
It has both a hand-crank dynamo for charging it's own NiMH battery pack (included), and a solar cell that will run the radio without any batteries at all. AND...it takes 3 "AA" batteries to run the radio with, something that an awful lot of these "Solar/Hand Crank" radios won't.
It has a very bright 3-LED flashlight in one side, and the back of the fold-out solar panel has a reading light.
And it has a standard clock/alarm/calendar function with multiple timers, a snooze button, and a temperature/humidity display.
The neat thing about this one is that it has USB jack on the back panel that you can use to charge your cellphone using the built-in hand-crank, -OR- you can charge the radio the radio's internal battery by plugging it into your PC.
So far I've just checked out the AM, FM, and NOAA Weather Radio functions, and it seems to do the job very well, even with the telescopic antenna all the way down.
The only downside to this little guy, at least to me, is that it doesn't have a BFO, so you can't listen to Amateur Radio operators, or any other group that uses Single Sideband.
Considering all the other things it does, and the fact that you can get it for $80 on Amazon, I think it's money well spent, and if you've had an "Emergency Radio" on your list, then get this one.
I highly recommend it!
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I bought one also.
ReplyDeleteCool!
ReplyDeleteDid you just buy it, or have you had it for a while?
I think that's the one I've ordered... :-)
ReplyDeleteMy husband just received his KA600, and the crank on it will not turn at all. As you know, you're supposed to turn it for one minute to charge it up. Any ideas? The toll free number for Kaito Cust. Service just keeps saying "All circuits are busy."
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Hmmmm....does the swing out "handle" part swing out? Is it totally jammed, or just VERY hard to turn?
ReplyDeleteCan you see any cracks in the knob, or is it pressed onto the shaft too far, maybe jamming it on the case?
Try DISCONNECTING the internal battery and see if it turns. If the internal battery is shorted, it can make the generator almost impossible to turn.
I've never had to call them, but you can email customer support here: kaitosales@earthlink.net
I had a problem with one of their radios some time back, and emailed them. I got a new radio and a prepaid UPS label to send the defective one back in a few days.