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Kaito KA500 5-way Powered Emergency AM/FM/SW Weather Alert Radio, Black

by Kaito

List Price:

$79.99

Publisher:

Kaito

Color:

BLACK

Model:

KA500BK W/AD500

Sales Rank:

1,884st

FEATURES

11 Bands: AM/FM, Shortwave 1 & 2 and weather 1-7 Bands
NOAA weather Alert sends an emergency wireless signal to the radio for local weather disasters
LED flashlight plus 5-LED reading lamp and SOS emergency light.
Self-powered hand crank charging system.4-way power:Built-in NIMH rechargeable batteries, Solar power, 3"AA" Batteries, AC adapter
Adjustable solar panel captures energy from the sun or natural light. Dimensions:8" x5" x2.6"

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Product Description
A perfect radio for emergency and disaster, it comes with all the features that you need in an emergency situation, it comes with a High quality AC type brushless generator, the solar panel powers the radio by itself and charges the built-in batteries as well, to maximize the sunlight, the solar panel is tiltable with any angels to face the sunlight to receive the energy during the day time, on the other side of the solar panel, it is a 5 LED reading lamp that you can use it to read books. The radio is built with a multi-function LED flashlight, the super bright LED side flashlight can be Bright Color or Red Color for normal or emergency use. The radio is designed to charge out for many electronic items, it is built with a USB jack that can connect with many standard USB enabled gadgets like iPod, cellphones. It comes with 6 cellphone tips that you can charge many models of cellphone s with Cranking or solar power.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 8 reviews)

A Very Special Product by George Alefantes (Los Angeles, CA USA)

5 Stars
September 21, 2009
Though many buy it to keep handy in the trunk of their cars, the Kaito Voyager KA500 is not really just an emergency radio. It makes a great all around radio companion. If you listen to a lot of radio for talk and/or music, take it throughout your house. Use it at your desk, use it beside your bed, take it to the restroom when you shower or when you are just resting, take it outside in the yard, take it to work, and take it on outings. BANDS: It comes with AM and FM, both providing excellent reception (though the FM is not in stereo), has all seven NOAA weather bands, and has two short wave bands covering most of the spectrum. POWER: It can be powered elegantly by 1) An optional AC adapter; 2) Three AA Batteries; 3) a connection to a USB port on a computer; 4) a solar panel which powers the radio when on, or charges it when off. Just keep by a window when not in use (the manual even claims that it responds to indoor light); and 5) its internal, replaceable, rechargeable battery pack. CHARGING OF THE INTERNAL BATTERIES: The internal batteries (as distinct from the three AA batteries) can be charged by 1) the AC adapter; 2) the USB cable; 3)the solar panel; 4) probably by a DC car cigarette lighter adapter from a third party; and 5) by a concealable crank on the left side. One minute yields about an hour of radio play. And though it turns very easily, I would still always recommend caution with such devices. ** The fully charged internal batteries will easily yield a few days of on and off play. OTHER FEATURES: It has a single-LED flashlight and a single-LED flashing red light on the right side which others here have claimed is visible for a mile. It has a highly functional five-LED reading light located on the underside of the solar panel which can swivel 180 degrees up and down or lay flush against the back of the radio. The positional flexibility significantly optimizes both reading and charging by sunlight. All light systems are charged and powered by all the same methods used for the radio. It has the ability to charge cell phones and comes with an appropriate cable and five connectors to support a wide range, with other ones supposedly being available. A common 2.5mm connector for my Nokia 5310 was unfortunately not included. COMPARED TO THE LAST MODEL, KAITO 007: The pair of Kaito 007s I have had for more than five years are still for sale at Amazon and still garner a price only $10 less then the Kaito Voyager KA500. The older model lacked the weather channels, but had TV audio instead (would have been nice to have had again). It had none of the lights, cell phone charging, or USB powering and charging. The new one has a far superior solar power system, a cool rubberized coating, and is water resistant. The antenna now telescopes into the radio housing instead of folding and just sitting visible across the top of the radio. The integrated handle of the older model has been replaced by a combination rubber and canvas strap, which is just fine. And, most important, the rechargeable batteries are now replaceable, making the potential lifespan of the product unlimited. The batteries on my last one gave out after about five years and it became an AC-only radio thereafter. CONCLUSION: Sure, a couple of the reviews complained about one or another feature not working properly. But that shouldn't matter either. The personnel at Kaito's facility here in Southern California are exceptionally kind, professional, and responsive, and the unit comes with a full one-year warranty. I've bought over five radios from Kaito, mostly from their own warehouse site, including a great pocket radio powered strictly by the sun, and there's no other company I trust more for the quality of their products and the decency of their staff. OTHER: If you asked me to register any complaints about the Kaito Voyager KA500, I would probably have to say that it does not stand as securely as it could. When you bump it, it rocks a bit, then quickly resumes its position, like those weighted punching bag toys that always roll back up into a standing position after being punched. But that's really being picky. But you asked. I agree with those reviewers who marvel that it is not just one of the best emergency radios, that it is not just one of the best radios period, but that, for about $50, it is even one of the best products of any kind for the money. Remember that the AC power cord is not included, but is $9.99 extra and also available from them or from Amazon, and the USB charging cable is neither included or available from Kaito. Certainly Amazon carries one. But be sure to get one with standard male USB connectors on both ends. Great product. I've got two. Can't say enough.

Poor Reception & Confused USB Implementation by MS (Mississippi Gulf Coast, USA)

2 Stars
August 03, 2009
I returned this radio because it gave me very poor AM and FM reception -- especially for [...] bucks! I could only pick up 2 stations on each band, compared to 2 other (cheaper) radios that I brought in the same room to compare, which had no trouble getting good reception on all local stations. Reception on other bands was fine, but AM & FM are so fundamental in an emergency where I am, the gulf coast hurricane zone, that this radio is useless... Maybe mine just had a bad tuner (although I've never heard that one before). The other thing: USB cables have different connectors on each end because they are meant to be one-way: there's the more square end (called an B-connector) and the more flattened end (called A)... This radio only has an A connector, making it impossible to charge via USB connection to your computer as is described in the manual. You could do it with a special male A-A cable, but that can potentially damage the radio and/or computer -- that's why they make the cables one-way! Other than these 2 points (the first being a deal-breaker), the radio seemed quality.

Lacking Quality by Nicholas Ruggiero

1 Stars
June 29, 2009
The Good: -Features: This radio had all the features I was looking for. AM/FM, Shortwave, weather, NOAA, Crank charge, and even solar charger. -Form Factor: Perfect size and shape, nice tuning meter. -LED Lighting: Great LED Light, nice and bright in the short time it lasts. The Bad: -Performance: Radio only operates for 3 - 5 min at a time. I let the batter charge in the sun all day, even crank charged it for 5 min. The radio lasts about 3 min then dies out. The light however will continue to shine for quite some time, although is only bright for a few min. -Lack of Quality: The Crank, Knobs, and switches seem cheaply made and easily breakable. The solar panel, while a nice design, also appears to be easily breakable. I would expect an emergency radio to be built more durable.

Please read this review by S. price

3 Stars
June 15, 2009
The following is my experiences with this radio : NEGATIVES I live in a rural area of America with a elevation of about 200 ft above sea level . My location has extremely poor radio station transmitions and this Kaito radio does not pull in stations to well. VERY POOR RECPETION IN MY AREA. I keep my radio in a window where it is always in the sunlight, but the included rechargeable battery pack would not charge up by solar power. I decided to get out my multimeter and test the d.c voltage output of the flip up solar panel . Heres the problem ; In the brightest sunlight possible, my solar panel was only putting out about 3 volts . In normal sunlight , sitting in my window, it was putting out about 1.5 volts. This will not charge the 3.6 volt batter pack. Luckily I had a extra small solar panel from another solar radio. I took the solar panel compartment on the Kaito apart, and then soldered the other solar panel in parallel and then hot glues that solar panel to the flip out lid, so both solar panels would get sunlight. Now I get 3.8 volts in full sunlight, which is perfect for charging the 3.6 volt rechargeable battery pack. I dont know if other Kaito radios have this problem, but mine did. Positives ; the radio has a great flip up LED lamp , which throws out significant light, enough to read by in pitch dark. It also has a 1 LED light to use as a flashlight feature. The NOAA weather alert is a nice feature. The single speaker sounds fine and at night I have gotten a few shortwave stations.

Good sound and reception by Bruce (Philladelphia, Pa)

5 Stars
March 16, 2009
I've had this radio for about a week. I wanted to test the hand-cranking feature. I cranked it pretty hard for 2 minutes, 300 turns. It ran for 22 minutes before the "battery low" light came on. After the battery low light came on, it continued to be audible for another 40 minutes, for a total of 1 hour on a charge. At the end, the radio was very quiet, but I could still hear it. I was using the external speaker; it may have lasted even longer had I been using the ear buds. I was rather impressed. Of course the battery performance is sure to go down with use. The reading light looks like it would be barely adequate to read by. The flashlight is like the coin size led lights that are worn on key chains. Since it has the reading light, with 5 LEDs, the flashlight really seems useless, although it does have the flashing red mode, which is kind of cool. I was quite impressed with the sound and general performance. I was able to bring in some SW stations and receive a lot of AM stations. I don't really listen to FM. The weather band works well. One of the reviews mentions an auxillary antenna that helps short wave reception. My radio doesn't have any such feature. I did try the solar cells in bright sunlight and it seemed to work. I bought a similar radio from Radio Shack about 8 years ago, a Grundig FR200, and I used the hand crank a lot. It did seem to wear, and stopped turning smoothly, but it still works. I suspect this radio will be the same. The crank seems to squeak when its being turned hard, and I wonder if a shot of WD40 would help. I listen to the radio quite a bit, and this is the radio I'm using now. I have NiCad batteries in it. I'm sure they'll work for many hours before needing recharging. Its pretty unlikely that a set of 3 AA batteries will go dead before an emergency has resolved itself, but I like the crank and solar cells anyway. I'm a Ham radio operator, and this radio is not real high quality. But for the price, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it is made. The tuning knob is smooth; the speaker is only 2 inches but seems bigger. None of the cell phone charging plugs works in my cell phone, so I won't be using that feature. I doubt if it would work very well for that purpose, given how hard it is to charge the tiny internal battery. All in all, a nice little radio!

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