Post by malewithatail on Feb 24, 2022 8:32:31 GMT 10
Picked up a Jaycar multi band small portable radio at the tip last week. Missing its battery cover, but a strip of gorilla tape fixed that. I already have one in my bug home bag, but a spare certainly doesn't hurt. Included a rechargeable battery, and usb/sd card sockets to play mp3's. Model no AR 1721. Pretty good radio, has a clock. alarm and nice blue backlit display.
Solid feel to the case.
Performance wise, its quite hot and can pick up any of the international broadcasters at good strength. Not a radio for the shack as connecting it to an external aerial caused all sorts of issues, but to have as a bug out, or bug home radio, its almost ideal. The auto scan function was a pain, but in walking around the farm with it, the scan can be a useful feature, especially as it seems to stop on quite weak signals and does leave your mind and hands free for other tasks, especially if you were bugging out and needed to be aware of your surroundings whilst walking. The scan function allows continuous coverage of short waves, but the preset band switching doesn't.
FM reception seems to be in stereo via the headphones though.
The internal battery is charged by he USB socket on the side and lasts for a couple of days of intermittent use, more than enough time to bug home, and being charged by usb, a small solar usb charger will keep it operating almost for ever.
Tone is surprisingly good for a small speaker, and the MP3 player does what it says on the box, although the interface to search and play songs is a bit clunky, it works.
Size is not an issue at just over 110 mm long, 70 mm wide and 30mm thick, and it weighs almost nothing, you certainly wouldn't notice it in your pocket.
The current price is $34.95 and they have a model without the sd and usb sockets for $24.95, but I don't know how well it performs.