Radios for power outages.(Home front)

How do you get essential news when a blackout, storm, or tornado pulls the plug on power for more than a few hours? There are a number of AM/FM radios available that draw power not only from batteries but also from hand-cranking and solar cells.

We recently tested four, which performed capably: the Coleman Outrider, Freeplay Plus, GPX Y0070RSYEL, and Grundig FR200.

Hand-cranking to charge bulk-in batteries according to the instructions typically gave at least a half-hour of play. We've rated them in order of radio-play time from the recommended amount of crank time. (Turning on the flashlight or emergency flashers in some will use up the charge faster.) The Coleman needed the least cranking (30 seconds) and played the longest (69 minutes). The Freeplay crank was hardest to turn; the crank winds a spring, which slowly unwinds to generate the electricity needed to charge the batteries.

Five hours of sunlight on those with solar cells gave the batteries at least eight hours of life. (Only the Grundig has no solar-power option.)

All have sound quality like that of an inexpensive clock radio, which is fine for listening to newscasts. The GPX has an FM tuner that's slightly better at bringing in a ...