Today I am sitting here listening to my emergency radio. After trying several, the one I own is the Kaito Voyager KA500.
This a perfect radio for everyday use, emergencies and disasters, it comes with all the features that you need in any emergency situation.
Right now the radio is running on solar power. The radio has several alternate power sources: solar, hand crank, batteries, USB cable, a built-in rechargeable battery pack and an AC adapter. I have never put batteries in the radio. I have had it for years and have always ran it off solar.
The solar works well during the day and it charges the built-in battery for nights. I have tried the hand crank on a few occasions and found it easy to use.
Other features include an adjustable solar panel. The solar panel tilts so that it can get the most energy during the day. The bottom of the solar panel is a 5 LED reading lamp that you can use in poorly lit conditions.
On the end of the radio there is a LED that can be used as a flashlight or can be a red flashing emergency signal.
The radio bands include AM, FM, two shortwave bands and seven weather bands. The radio is NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) equipped.
This means that the radio can be set to the weather band for your area and when set on NOAA alert will remain on standby. If a weather warning is given for storms or tornados the radio will come off standby and sound an alert. This can save your lives by giving you the earliest possible warning.
The radio comes with a bag of adapters so that you can use it to charge your cell phone, which can be incredibly important in a major emergency.
The following are the specifications from the Kaito Electronics website.
6 Ways of Power
- Dynamo Cranking Power: 120 turns per minute of cranking will power the built in Ni-MH battery pack with strong current and voltage.
- Solar Panel Power: Under the direct sunlight, the solar panel will power the radio without a problem.
- AA Batteries: You can use 3 normal AA batteries to run the radio for maximum reception.
- A built-in Rechargeable battery pack.
- AC adapter charge from the 3.5 mm jack. (Optional)
- Charge from a computer via USB port.
Lighting
- 5 LED reading lamp for camping and emergency use.
- White LED flashlight
- Red LED blinking for emergency alert.
Radio Reception
- AM: 520-1710 KHz
- FM: 87.00- 108.00 MHz
- SW1: 3.20-9.00MHz
- SW2: 9.00- 22.00MHz
- Weather Band: 7 standard bands for all stations, PLL crystal control circuit for stable reception
- Weather Alert: To be activated by weather alert signals.
I have had this radio for several years and have been very happy with it. The alternate power features and the NOAA weather alerts could save your life. I recommend it.
If you’re looking to buy one like this, I found a good price on Amazon.
Thanks for the review, I’ll check it out. I have a tiny LL Bean weather radio that has a hand crank and solar panel but I’ve not been thrilled with it, the first one lasted about a year (antenna broke and crank fell off) and the second one feels like it will have about the same life span…when it dies I’ll replace it with something better. (Thank goodness for their wonderful return policy!) I have loved the solar feature, it lives in my kitchen window soaking up the morning sun. The idea of a weather radio with an automatic alert is very appealing to me, I don’t often have the radio or tv on and the alert would be invaluable to have.
Do you have a particular place to order them from?
Emergency Essentials at https://beprepared.com/ carries the radios.
Hi Howard,
You mention at the beginning of the article that you tried several different radios before settling on the Kaito Voyager.
Perhaps you could write an article about the radios that didn’t make cut and why. I have an Eton Solarlink FR-360 and I’m unhappy with it. The solar panel has never done anything, and 50+ cranks only yields about two or three minutes listening time on a weather band. I want to be careful criticizing, however, because I might be doing something wrong with the solar panel and my expectations might be too high for the crank.
Take care,
Robert