Home > Consumer Reviews > American Red Cross FR150 Microlink Solar-Powered, Self-Powered AM/FM/Weatherband Portable Radio with Flashlight and Cell Phone Charger (White)

First thing that should be mentioned is that this full-featured emergency radio is amazingly small. Reading its approximate dimensions of 5" wide x 2-3/8" high x 1-13/16" deep can be misleading, so imagine it placed on its side on top of a dollar bill: it's actually smaller than US paper currency, and that's just one of the things that make this small radio so appealing!

You can charge the FR150 in less than two minutes using its hand crank. You can also place it in sunlight (even on an overcast day, as I found out) and its built-in solar panel handily powers the radio and recharges its battery pack.

The radio's tuner pulls in both AM and FM stations, and with surprisingly clear reception. It receives all seven NOAA bands using a separate slide selector, so you can monitor changing weather conditions, along with tuning in to the FCC and EAS public alert systems.

It has a flashlight with three LEDs on the its side, providing surprisingly bright illumination, and for comparison it's about on the same level as my Garrity Power Lite 3 LED Crank Light. This is also brighter than some of the predecessors from Eton.

If you're looking for audio attributes on the level of Bose, JBL or Polk Audio speakers, this radio isn't for you... but the sound quality of this small radio is quite remarkable. Listened to a favorite "smooth jazz" station for awhile, switched to classical then to '80s rock, and was quite pleased all around.

A number of places list this radio as having the option of an optional AC adapter, but couldn't find anything definitive on this, so made email contact with Eton's Customer Support. Received a reply within hours, where they stated that at this time, they do not have AC adapters available for the FR150 Microlink or the FR500 Solarlink, but are expecting these items to be available in about 60 days. The support rep suggested:

1. Charge by using the USB port on the computer (this requires a cable that converts USB to mini-USB, available at your local electronics retailer). I did this with the same USB cable used for my digital camera.

2. Solar power: leave the FR150 Microlink in direct sunlight for about 6 hours.

3. Use the Dynamo Hand Crank of the side of your radio (crank time: 2 minutes = radio play time: 20-30 minutes).

Should also note that there is a registration card with the instructions inside the box, and you can mail the card in for a free cell phone adapter tip. I found it faster to do the same thing online with Eton.

This is one of those products that is reasonable enough to want to have more than one for household and family emergencies. And speaking of emergencies, there's a simple but straightforward American Red Cross disaster preparedness tips booklet that's well worth the read.

Must admit to liking Eton's emergency radio products. Part of this is due to happy prior ownership of a Eton FR400 Hand Crank Radio and Power Generator, which has proven itself. Should also say that this little radio, which is smaller and more practical than I originally thought, has quickly become a favorite. It's about 60% of the size of its predecessor, and small enough to fit in a jacket pocket for those outdoor excursions. It's also available in white if you prefer:
American Red Cross FR150 Microlink Solar-Powered, Self-Powered AM/FM/Weatherband Portable Radio with Flashlight and Cell Phone Charger (White)

This one's a 5-star choice, without a doubt.

UPDATE: Already received the free cell phone adapter tip from Eton, just days after registering the ARC FR150 Microlink. Plugged the tip into the cord that came with the phone, then plugged the phone in and started cranking... and the phone indicated that it's being charged as I crank!

I received one for Christmas this year, and I'm favorably impressed. It's small enough to fit in a field jacket pocket, yet retains functionality. I went on a lot of disaster recovery teams, so I'm always looking out for good, compact field gear. One aspect that never changes is smaller is better, all other factors equal. Another point is replaceability. If it goes in the field, there's a fair chance it won't come home with you. Low cost and ease of replacement is a major plus with gear selection. Well worth the money if all the features function properly.

Being a recalcitrant engineer, I took it apart and tested the power components.

Radio
Works nicely. I come from the old AM radio & sideband days, so I'm not picky about sound quality. The AM & FM tuner movement needs gear reduction, badly. While tuning, I always overshoot the station, and tune over it back & forth until I get a feel for the station's location. This amount of knob movement is barely perceptible. Also, the tuning scale is analog and short. That means it gives an approximate idea of where you're tuning, not a direct input like today's digital tuning displays. A plus is the radio has a tuner pilot lamp, alerting you that you're parked right on the station. NOTE: like most consumer AM radios today, the AM radio uses an internal ferrite rod antenna, so it won't work as well inside cars and metal structures. AM radios "fade" more than FM radios due to the longer wavelength, so make sure the radio's in a clear open spot for best AM radio reception. The external stalk antenna is for broadcast FM (88-108 MHz) and possibly weather radio (162 MHz). This should be fully extended, and temporarily adding a few feet of scrap wire might improve it more if need be.

Power management
To simulate a dead or inoperative battery, I removed the battery and tried to operate the radio. The generator easily powers the radio with plenty of power left over, almost overpowered (this is *not* a problem). The generator has a large power surplus relative to the radio, it continued to play until I almost stopped cranking. It seems like the generator was almost loafing around, like it didn't even see the radio. Sort of analogous to taking an eighteen wheel tractor-trailer to the store to buy milk and bread for the weekend. Even cranking *very* slowly was enough to completely power the radio direct off the generator. Again, a plus for the generator. The explanation for this became apparent when I tested the generator.

Generator
The generator is power in, power out format. It does not store mechanical energy, so unlike the Bayliss generator models (AKA "Freeplay") when you stop cranking, it stops producing power. Power output jack is a standard 3/32" monaural jack (meaning not stereo, AKA "mono"), and since we replace cell phones often I didn't bother ordering the cell phone adapter Eton offers. Another factor is cell phone networks. Some networks have battery backup in their cell sites, others have dedicated generator sets. Cell site batteries typically last 4-8 hours and generators run out of fuel in about a day. In a major disaster, by day 2 the cell phone will be a moot point, and you'll be wishing you hadn't thrown that old citizens band transceiver out about 15 years ago. This is exactly what happened when we were in New Orleans, Aug-Sept 2005.

I made my own power adapter with a radio shack 3/32" mono plug, wire and a couple of alligator clips. With this, I can power or charge anything that runs off of low voltage.

Another plus I discovered is the generator is self-rectifying. This means it produces the same polarity irrespective of the direction we crank the handle. This prevents us from accidently reverse-charging batteries when we think we're charging them. Reverse charging nickel metal hydride batteries often destroys them. I was blown away by the generator performance, and I'm amazed no one else commented on this. I didn't believe the initial readings at first, so I used another meter. For those of you familiar with the load line concept, my example produced about 5.25 volts open circuit and 500 milliamps (one half ampere) shorted. NOTE: I do *not* recommend cranking the generator shorted for any length of time! The theoretical peak power point is somewhere around 690 milliwatts at 2.6v @ 0.26 amps. It will make short work of charging batteries with terminals voltages under 3-4 volts. I made a quick Excel chart of the load curve, email me at richardavis2000@yahoo.com if you're interested in a copy.

Solar Cell
The solar cell is best suited for trickle charging the battery, with an emphasis on the term "trickle". The cell requires ideal conditions to power the radio. In direct sunlight exposure (about noontime, 40 degrees latitude, mid-January) it will power the radio but output isn't adequate if it's behind glass. Behind glass, the solar cell output hovers right on the lower limit of the radio minimum operating voltage. This means if your battery wears out, you'll be using the generator indoors or the solar cell outdoors in *full* sunlight. The radio case has a clear panel over the solar cell, apparently to protect it, yet allows sunlight in. This is a drawback from my experiences with solar cells. When sunlight passes through a transparent medium, it loses some energy as the medium acts as a filter. In this application, the solar cell can't afford to have its output attenuated. In the future I will look into replacing this with a hinged cover. To use the cell, the cover is opened giving the cell better exposure to sunlight. On the plus side, the cell charges even if not in direct sunlight, and it has an LED to report current flow. Nice touch. I would have preferred a bigger solar cell, as the existing cell barely has enough power to run the radio by itself in direct sunlight.

Battery
The battery is a 3.6v rechargeable nickel hydride (NiMH) battery, an obvious weakness. At least it's a nickel hydride battery, making it resistant to forming a memory from partial discharges. They appear to be roughly 2/3 the height of regular AAA batteries, and sealed in green shrink-wrap. As another reviewer pointed out it would have been a nice addition to have a AAA battery solution as an alternative. The battery appears to be available from battery supply houses, a google search for 3.6v NiMH battery 3x1 2/3aaa turned up numerous online sources. This radio is very similar to the Freeplay Companion, so it may be possible to use the Freeplay Companion USB wall charger when purchased separately (about $12). It appears the radio charges externally through the USB port, even if from an AC source. So, it should charge equally well from a computer.

It charges easily through a USB cable, I bought a cheap self-retracting USB cable at the local dollar store that serves this purpose with a very small footprint. Obviously this implies a powered computer will be frequently available, which would be unlikely in a severe disaster. This hints that the person that designed this probably hasn't been through a long-term outage a la Katrina style. For chronic outages, we have a few large output solar cells that produce 10-15 watts each. The best measure is having a propane, gasoline or diesel standby generator and lots of fuel.

Notes, Observations, Miscellany:
* If you're planning on using this radio in a serious disaster environment, make sure the battery is in good shape, and replace the battery when the performance drops off. Don't wait until it goes dead. This means you'll need to inspect your emergency gear regularly, which you should be doing anyway.

* Have several different types of radios, since they'll have different features that will extend your operating capabilities. This will also give you redundancy in case one radio drops offline. Same with other critical gear (flashlights, power, fire starting, what have you). Remember, if it's critical, it should also be redundant.

* Remember, this radio only receives. You can't call for help with it. To call out without cell phone or landline telephone service, you'll need a radio transceiver. The two most common examples of this are family radio service (FRS) and citizens band (CB).

* If you're in a mobile deployment team, this radio will require packaging in a hard sided waterproof container with protective padding. It won't take much in the way of rough handling.

Good:
* Multiple power sources reduces dependency on external power
* Small footprint, light, very portable.
* Flashlight works well. Light emitting diode lamps will last much longer than incandescent lamps
* Generator provides plenty of power, self-rectifying and uses an industry-standard connector
* Radio works well on all bands as advertised.

Bad:
* Small tuner knob requires patience. Easy to overshoot station during tuning. One half turn of the tuning knob spans the entire tuning range!
* AM station drifts...a lot. It requires frequent retuning.
* Too finely finished. My radio will get quite a few field scuffs.
* Solar cell has mediocre performance, and a transparent cover that attenuates already marginal performance
* A lot of water entry points that could have been prevented in the design phase.
* No means of accepting common consumer batteries (size AAA, AA, etc).
* USB charging port is nice, but unrealistic for chronic outages.

Improvements I'd like to see:
* Extended AM frequency range, into shortwave and single sideband. See my review on the Sony ICF-SW07 for more info on this type of radio.
* Gear reduction or other step-down on the tuning dial
* Digital LCD frequency display.
* Switch the location of the solar cell and the crank handle. This would put the crank handle on the top, allowing the user to crank with the radio standing upright on a table. It would also allow a larger solar cell on the side, or better yet a detachable solar cell that snaps on & off with lead wires. And a larger solar cell, substantially higher output cell, or better yet, both.
* Hinged protective cover over solar cell if left in it's present location (on top of the radio).
* Commercial battery option, even if the battery holder is external. Maybe I'll make one...hmmm.
* Bayliss generator option (wind-up clockwork style)
* Better water resistance. Making the case from clear plastic would eliminate the need for a separate cover over the solar cell. Using a ceramic piezoelectric speaker element glued to the inside of the case would make the case a functional speaker without the need for speaker holes. These two modifications would reduce several water entry points.

We purchased this emergency radio/flashlight a week before Hurricane Ike hit us in Houston. We tested it as soon as we got it and were able to receive 3 FM stations, 2 AM radio stations and the weather band. The flashlight worked well. We could not locate a cell phone charging cable for the unit, rendering that function null. When Ike hit Friday night, the weather band went to 100% static, and only one FM station was clear enough to understand. The flashlight still worked fine. By Saturday morning we could get no radio signals at all no matter how much we cranked. In contrast, our four battery-operated radios picked up several stations. But, we really didn't want to use up the batteries - the very reason we purchased the hand crank in the first place. The flashlight switch stopped operating Saturday night, remaining stuck on low beam with no way to turn it off. This morning we were fortunate to find a commercial building with a generator, A/C and wi-fi - hence the ability to write this review. The only reason it gets one star is because the flashlight broke in the ON position. Otherwise, it was extremely disappointing. I certainly will never buy another Eton product.

The Eton 160 is an incredible upgrade on exterior design. It seems slicker and better designed than the 150, but not necessarily a huge technological advance. Being able to charge on the go and use the solar to passively charge the device is a great backup.

The three-led light is extremely bright and runs on extremely low battery power. The weatherbands tune in perfectly, with AM/FM stations sometimes requiring the antenna pulled completely out.

The dynamo crank seems relatively strong, but slightly oversized when needing to crank it for a while--as in charging a phone.

One thing has been added, a cell switch on the front of the radio, which designates all power to charging an added device. But one thing has been removed, the AC power adaptor option has been removed since the 150--it was unnecessary anyways.

I haven't worried about breaking the device and I've dropped the radio before--no problem resulted. I've already found it useful in a storm we had today in Colorado! Great device!

This is a fabulous radio for only $30.00! I live 12 miles from a NOAA transmitter in a house with 9 inch thick stone walls and this little set pulls in a strong, clear signal at all times! I previously owned a Midland WR10 which under exactly the same conditions could barely recieve with two antennas sometimes. I threw it away the minute I turned on the Red Cross(Eton) radio.