Crank Radio, African style

Ah yes wind up radio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Baylis


The newest type .... http://www.lifelineenergy.org/lifeline_radio.html?gclid=COey5a-_lqUCFUM24wodNk6vPQ

Hey spacecannon.

My memory must be fading... I had in my mind the C.Crane crank radios worked as described, but documentation online does not support my fuzzy memory.

Maybe dig around their site to see if I missed something. American company.

Thx guys,

I did more investigating and found that Baylis made the original, but they have all gone to battery type, and C.crane has quality but still battery based. I find the battery type dont hold a charge after a year or so and this really needs to be able to handle long term storage be reliable and to me that means using a "clockwork mechanism like the original Baylis.

Any more suggestions or ideas?

Thx Spacecannon

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7747173/

"C Crane also sells Freeplay's Lifeline Wind-up radio. It's designed to withstand harsh conditions and climates, be easy to use, and work without batteries or AC power. Lifeline is powered by winding it up or by solar power. "

Free play's lifeline radio is also a crank turns dynamo=charges battery system, thier old design was a crank winds spring=turns clockwork mechanism=turns dynamo. the clockwork style is what Im looking for.

Thx anyway

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=baygen&_sacat=0&_odkw=%22freeplay+radio%22&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

Thx, my search didn tfind these. GA

Hi, if the battery is the weak point of the currently available in the US, I would buy one of those, look for the best available batts and replace the immediately.....

I've got a wind up LED torch at home which only lights up now when you're winding. I don't think that there is anything wrong with rechargeable battery technology, but, it seems as though most of these finished designs are implemented very badly.

If the batteries are the problem, why not replace them with a capacitor bank? You would have to crank it more often, because capacitors (even ultra/super) don't have the energy storage density that batteries do. But it would eliminate the problem of the batteries going bad too quickly.

Just a thought.

GA Kilowatt, but electricity is not my speciality. I would rather use a clockwork mechanism cause Randal made my point, the batteries no long hold the charge.

The other reason I want to get away from batteries is that in an emergency Im not going to be able to replace the battery, and this item is ment for long term storage, battery wont last, clockwork will.

Thx anyway.

I understand and agree completely with with your motivation.

As well, Randall's comment underscores the need/desire you express: You are looking to assemble a 'No Fail' equipment cache. I would be curious about the torch: Randall, did you use/crank it often, and how old is it?

Now, if we could just find some rifle and pistol ammunition that would recharge with a few cranks, then we would really have something!

Randall, did you use/crank it often, and how old is it?

Oh! the torch. It certainly did not get a lot of use, but, I probably was a bit over enthusiastic with winding it up when I did use it. It's probably about 3 years old.

If I find the time I will take it apart and find out what the "re-chargeable" parts are.

Hi Spacecannon

These radios are not made here in South Africa anymore, but in China. There was quite a hoo-ha at the time as quite a number of jobs were lost. If my memory serves me correctly, many in the workforce were disabled or being rehabilitated.

Thank you and i am sorry to hear that.

Spacecannon