Editorial Review:Product Description:When your outdoor adventures take you off the grid, you need a device that can fill multiple needs. The American Red Cross FR500 is a compact unit that you can toss in your rucksack and take anywhere. It functions as an AM, FM, and shortwave radio with NOAA weatherband. It also has a flashlight, an emergency beacon, and an emergency siren. Plus, you can use it to charge your cell phone or MP3 player.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
-
Design is a little strange
Our radio arrived non-functioning. The indicator lights turned on, and all features except the radio worked. After about an hour of trying to get it to work, we banged on it and that fixed it. I have no idea how that helped. I find the design of the multifunction knob and the band selecting knob to be quite strange...they are the silver tubes in the cutouts in the picture. Not very intuitive. The solar panel is built into the top of the handle...where you would be holding it if you were carrying it on a walk. That doesn't make much sense to me either because your hand is blocking quite a bit of the panel so the unit won't be receiving much light for charging. I think the smaller unit like the American Red Cross FR150 Microlink by Eton is at least as good as this unit unless you need a feature that this unit has. One such feature is that this radio takes batteries while the other doesn't. I haven't had the need to use this during an actual emergency yet, so I'm not able to report on the features' use for emergencies.
Rating: 
-
not satisfied
I was not satisfied with this product. I had great difficulty in getting any of the functions to work. After charging in the sun via the solar panel, functioning didn't last long. Charging via electrical outlet didn't work either.
Rating: 
-
Emergency necessity
THe FR500 is exactly what you need during a power outage and/or bad weather conditions. I registered with Eton and received my phone adapter within 2 weeks. it picks up all local weather reports and is so light that I carry when I take the kids out for a walk in the stroller.
Rating: 
-
Best of its Kind
I've spent the whole day and late into the night testing the Eton FR500 Solarlink and I am impressed. No, it is not comparable to my Grundig Sattelit 800 Millennium that now sells USED for over $600.00 - and weighs 14lbs without the batteries.
Grundig/Eton has united their minds to produce (or reinvent) a really decent quality emergency radio - the FR500 Solarlink. Housed in a sturdy, mar-resistant and water resistant case, this radio is well protected and easy to operate. Getting a weather report is as simple as turning the radio on and moving a knob a few clicks to find the closest emergency weather broadcast. It can also be setup to automatically turn on and play emergency weather broadcasts.
AM and FM reception, and local weather broadcast bands, are strong and clear as I would hope for. However, the shortwave setting does not meet my standards. However, reception can be improved by stringing a long insulated wire from the telescoping antenna to an insulated and properly positioned object - like a tree or a strong shrub. A signal boosting antenna improves all radio reception. Anyway, this is an emergency radio and owners will be primarily interested in local weather alerts, local AM, FM, and all local emergency broadcasts. For these purposes, the Solarlink is more than adequate without adding improvements to the antenna.
Also of importance is that the radio can be powered four different ways. The solar panel (built into the handle) will power the radio from sunshine only, and will even charge the Ni-MH battery while playing the radio. The crank-able electric generator (dynamo) also charges the Ni-MH batteries. However, unless the radio is plugged in via a 5-volt transformer, the radio should should have 3 AA Alkaline batteries installed. This is a good idea because rechargeable batteries go flat when not regularly recharged. Without the alkaline batteries, or sunshine during an emergency, you might be reduced to using the dynamo crank. The dynamo works, but is kind of tedious to use. However, a 5-Volt AC adapter (not included) will power the radio while it charges the NiMH battery so you will not need alkaline batteries. I know this works because I happened to have a 5-Volt transformer in my junk drawer. For the price of this radio, I do not understand why an AC adapter is not supplied. One can just leave it plugged-in and you would have all power requirements needed to immediately use when an emergency occurs - even without sunshine or alkaline batteries.
The digital clock appears to keep reasonably good time. I set it with my Atomic Clock, and 24 hours later it was correct within a few seconds.
It is also a full featured alarm clock with a five minute snooze. And it includes a time adjustable shutoff timer so that the radio can lull you to sleep and then turn itself off.
To set the clock, you hold down the time button on the face of the radio while you press hour and minute buttons just below the solar panel that doubles as a handle. A third button, under the handle, is for lighting up the display - handy when trying to check the time in the dark.
I don't use a cell phone, but the Solarlink is able to charge them with only power from the sun. To accomplish this, it is necessary to write, telephone, or contact Eton on the Web, and ask for the type of connection that is appropriate for your cell phone. Instruction on how to do this is enclosed with the unit. The appropriate adapter will be sent without charge. I use a PDA and an MP3 player. The FR500 is supposed to be able to charge these too. I haven't tested these features because I have other means of protection and use.
The LED flashlight works and is sufficient to find your way in the dark.
The siren is awful sounding and very loud. It should attract attention if you need to be rescued.
The emergency blinking red light (LED's) certainly could be useful, especially if your car is stalled or you are walking on a road or highway at night. Even if the batteries have even half power, the FR500 LCD's will blink for many hours.
One could plug in an MP3 player to the FR500, but the radio plays in mono only - even when using stereo headphones. Yet, the speaker on the radio is pretty good and will allow a group to share both the emergency information and all the other features.
The rubber seals are supposed to make the radio resistant to water. I think I would walk in the rain with it, but I would try to keep it covered as much as possible. It should never be submerged. If you are worried about a little rain, you could enclose the whole radio into a zip lock bag.
I've had other emergency type radios, but they didn't come near matching the quality and functions of the FR500 Solarlink. Although it has shortcomings, I would confidently recommend this radio even to my best friends. In fact, I think it would make a great gift to anybody you really care about.
Just one more thing: This radio is also available with the American Red Cross logo. . . as if they manufactured it. Anyway, it is the same radio, selling at the same price. And since the American Red Cross endorses this radio, it suggests that they agree with my evaluation. I'm buying and making gifts of this radio to as many poverty stricken fiends as I can afford. Everyone in the world should own an FR500 Solarlink radio. "The times, they r a change-in."
Rating: -
Pretty Good Radio
I bought this because it was featured on Good Morning America. Gotta trust Sam Champion!
The first radio had a broken solar panel when received. Communication with Amazon.com, returning the broken radio and obtaining the replacement was fast and easy.
The radio sounds just fine and the features seem to work.
I think the instruction booklet is hard to use because of the size of the illustrations and some of the explanations are minimal.
I am trying to determine if the solar panel is actually charging the ni-cad battery. There is an indicator light, but it does not seem to change. I have not yet used the toll free number. That will be my next step.