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As a side note, this is the first item I have ever had to return to Amazon in several years with many purchases. Pros:Good concept - solar, crank, AC and AA battery powered.Radio looks good and feels substantial.Radio works OK on AC and AA battery.Cons:NIMh battery would not charge to a level sufficient to play radio. Kudos to Amazon. I found the process simple and efficient. Cranked it for several minutes; left it in sun for several days and also left it plugged to AC for several days and it still did not charge (yes I did plug the NiMh battery in as per instuctions). Not sure whether this is a bad battery or bad charging circuit.There was static on AM radio when running on AC: AA battery power generated no static.Since I felt that the quality control was poor, I returned it today and will seek another brand.
The speaker sounds better than my Grudig radio YB-400PE.7.8.You have many reason to buy it ,worth it for the money. Super clear shortwave that many radios do not com up with.3.All the Cellphone tips that I just need.4.The battery lasts long.5.The USB charging part is easy to access via my computer, so I do not need adapter to charge it.6. This radio came to me with surprises:1. Reading Lamp, no other radios have.2.
We did not test the solar panel or the AC adapter (an AC adapter does not come with the radio and needs to be ordered from the company).We are still trying to decide whether to keep or return the radio. The hand crank, reading light and flash light all worked, and my husband was able to locate the NOAA weather station for our area on the radio.Here's a list of what didn't work on our radio:1) The USB port on the back of the radio: to verify that it was the USB port and not the cable that came with the radio, I took the cable and connected the USB end to the USB port on our laptop and was able to recharge my Ipod using the cable. 2) The power tip for recharging my cellphone: my cellphone recognized that it was connected to the power tip but would not recharge--a docking problem.3) SOS emergency light: instead of flashing a continuous sequence of three short followed by three long bursts of light, the international Morse code distress signal, the SOS emergency light on the radio flashed short bursts of red light only.
If You need a radio with all features that needed in an emergency situation, KA500 isd the One.The quality is great and feel like a real quality item in your hand, the finishing is perfect that makes it a high quality gift, I like it, no other radios can compare with one.Highly recommend it to all buyers.
The C. i wish the tuning mechanism were more stable.2. The radio seems sensitive on all bands, and the sound is crisp not hi fi. Crane solar panel I have is discontinued, but I like it a lot with this radio because the large panel really charges the batteries quickly and is more able to provide power when the sun goes behind a cloud. i like the broad shortwave coverage.so you'd be able to tune the most busy shortwave bands in an emergency.I used it to charge my cell phone and it worked great.My only concerns are:1. Overall a good radio.
Crane solar panel and it charged the batteries really fast and kept the radio going as the sun came in and out. the radio is not super rugged-- would wish for a more solid robust package and as i mentioned above, a better analog tuning system (not digital because it draws more power). If the solar panel were larger, it would work better in the sun. there is considerable tuning mechanism backlash on my unit--its easy to 'tune past' a shortwave station, and then its hard to reverse to tune it again--the tuning is not mechanically precise enough. I hooked up a large C.
The GE super radio has better sensitivity on AM/FM of course, but Kaito would be fine in emergencies for local radio reception.
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