Home > Consumer Reviews > American Red Cross FR500 Solarlink, White

Great overall emergency radio. Read many reviews that indicated poor reception which almost prevented me from buying. Once purchased I tried the radio and was disappointed with the poor reception. Almost seemed like it was running low on batteries even though new ones were just put in. I learned that the multi-function knob (see manual) was set on "Alert". This seems to be a low power savings mode. Once I selected any other setting including "Off" the radio's reception was excellent (the radio is turned on via a different knob / see manual). I bought it at Radio Shack since it was on sale for $69. Radio Shack's site forgot to add that this radio also has Short Wave which is a plus in emergencies.

The FR500 radio is as much or more than I expected, will be used for weather conditions as well as very good AM/FM news, and some SW as conditions allow.
Seems like would play forever out in the sun or with bright sky what with the very good Solar cell.
Lester Davis

I'll give this radio 2 stars for some good features, however I'm returning it since it will not charge my iPhone, the main reason for which I ordered this item. I listed below other flaws I found:
On the PLUS side:
*good looks and appears durable.
*solar and crank recharging, an internal rechargeable Lithium battery (included); accepts 3 AA batteries (not included).
*nice bright LED flashlight.
*loud alarm and red flasher for emergencies (however both cannot be on at the same time)
*full digital clock with alarm, snooze, and back lighting.
On the NEGATIVE side:
*will not charge an iPhone; I tested other phones and they charged OK; I assume this problem applies to the iPod as well(?); Eton customer service says the iPhone USB charging is a known issue.
*radio reception is extremely substandard; I've had similar crank radios which were much cheaper and had excellent radio reception.
*radio tuning knob sensitivity is very poor and terribly clumsy.
*will only charge a phone while the radio is sitting directly under sun or while being cranked - not very practical.
*AC/DC charger not included though sold separately.
*must have a phone which charges via USB using its own cable, otherwise need to request an adapter from Eton (for free) and wait for it to be delivered; not sure if Eton will offer more than one adapter per customer - you likely have more than one type of phone in your household, requiring different adapters.

I have had no problems with reception, even in the sticks. I really like the added solar feature which compliments the crank function nicely. Mostly robust, though some of the knobs feel weak, particularly the "mode" knob. Excellent backlight for the frequency/clock LCD display, easy tuning, plenty of bands to select from, and the built-in USB charger is a GIANT bonus. I now own six quality Eton products, and this one is *easily* my favorite. A directional antenna vs. the current vertical-only telescopic antenna would have been a nice touch.

Great Radio... wrong adapter. Amazon links the two but if you read carefully this adapter is for the FR up to 400 series and I got it for the Solarlink FR *500*. This is a 4.5 volt adapter and the FR 500 requires a 5 volt adapter. Customer service at the "store" that shipped it to me was EXCELLENT, full refund no questions asked. Amazon screwed the pooch on this one by linking two incompatible products. (Insert Jeff Bezos laugh!) :)