Great Little Radio Radio Shack AM/FM/SW Dynamo Radio 20-238

[DanTana]

I just bought a Radio Shack AM/FM/SW Dynamo Radio with Light, part number 20-238. I think it is made by Grundig, since it shares many features with it. It was only $29.99 on sale right now and after testing it against many other radios there, it outperformed them all. I didn't get to test it against the more expensive models like the S350 or G6 Eton, but did against the G1000, FR-350, FR-200 and one other more expensive little radio which I found very unintuitive to use. The Grundig G1000 was probably the next best and I found it very easy to use, but just didn't seem to pull in stations as well. I did all testing while inside the Radio Shack store, one clerk said I wouldn't pick up anything on shortwave inside the store, well the Radio Shack radio did. I was really impressed how long it would play with just a few cranks of the magneto. The FR-200 barely lasted a few minutes with a few cranks, maybe defective? I opened and tested several examples, and did find some variation between them, one kept ticking on AM band, another seemed to be way off on the dial calibration, not that you can really tell what station your on because the dial is so small and a the dial is really course, good thing they provided a fine tuning knob, I found I used it more than the bigger dial. I found I would try to catch a signal with the big dial, turn the fine tuning knob and be able to pick up 2-3 more stations. Last night I was picking up San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, New Jersey (Nassau), Colorado and many others I didn't spend long enough to hear the call signs on AM. On shortwave I picked up Taiwan, Japan, China, India, Russia (I think?), Cuba, Canada, many Spanish speaking stations, Sweden and others I wasn't patient enough to sit and wait to hear their call signs. I wish this thing had an external antenna connection, it would probably be even more impressive. The cell phone charger wasn't even that big of consideration, I was just looking for a decent DX'er radio for portable use. I been contemplating the Degen DE1103 but this was local and $29.99, how can you beat it? The light is pretty bright, there is no AC adapter but you can go hours with a few cranks. Sound quality isn't bad either and sounds even better with headphones. I was also picking up staions on FM my best tuners have trouble bringing in. It is pure analog tuning, no digital readout, no backlight, no external antenna connection, only thing it comes with is cell phone adapters for charging your phone with, of course mine isn't included. I woke this morning gave the radio a few cranks about 7:00 am and now it's about 9:20 am and it's still going strong. I'm really amazed such an inexpensive radio can perform this well, plus I thought it would be handy to have if the power ever goes out. The sale is on until Sept. 16th and there is a black version with a nice non-slip coating on it for $39.99, same radio but $10.00 more. If your looking for a little portable for camping or to keep around for an emergency or just want to play with, go check it out and make sure you try a few models before you get one, quality control seems to vary.