Ultralight Radios

Do you bring a radio with you whenever you go on a hike?

No, never.

:)

Nope.

I enjoy not having technology. …So I just stream Pandora off my Android phone.

I've been using a very light-weight Sangean AM/FM/WX/TV radio for about five years and have found it to be good here in Southeast Alaska for WX and AM reception. My model is no longer sold, but there are others. This link will take you to an earlier thread ( one of a few ) that addresses this issue.
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=3050

I second the Sangean and the Android! Both are good but service will vary of course.

Everything I carry on backpacking trips is pretty much technology so I never hike without it.

Sony SRF-S84 for AM/FM broadcasts. Incredible sensitivity for a small radio. 2.1oz

County Comm GP4L for am/fm/sw with a speaker and an LED flashlight to boot.

http://www.countycomm.com/GP4LGALLERY.htm

No radio. It's either playing a commercial or a song I wish I never heard or worse. Use a mp3 player in the car all the time. Then I am in control. I too try to reduce technology on the trail as well as getting away from noise.

Ken, I couldn't agree with you more. I haven't voluntarily listened to the radio in about 10 years. And I'm only 28.

I generally agree that radios as a means of entertainment are not a particularly desirable part of the "wilderness experience" however on long trips they can be useful to obtain weather forecasts.

Dale has always been the radio man. I picked up the GP-4L and I find it to work great. I hike alone most of the time and it's nice to find a news channel to listen to before going to bed.

It's an FM/AM/TV (audio)/Weather combo.

The TV doesn't work anymore, of course, now that them there commies in Washington have made TV digital. ;-)

I really only take it if the weather is looking like it might be really bad or if I'm on a long-distant hike in a place where the weather might turn bad without warning.

4 oz, but it's nice to have that weather band.

Stargazer

As far as weather I keep an eye skyward and check the forecast before I leave. Very predictable weather patterns here in CA.

>As far as weather I keep an eye skyward and check the forecast before I leave. Very predictable weather patterns here in CA.

Ha! I wish we could say the same in Ohio. Can you say, "Lake effect"? ;-)

The meteorologists are always bailing out here because of an "unexpected upper-air disturbance" whatever the h#ll that be, matey.

Stargazer

Sony has made few "jogger" radios with AM/FM/TV/Weather bands, like the SRF-M37V, and my favorite, the SRF-M80V. You can find them used for a few dollars. The SRF-M80V orignally sold for $50+. I never tried the weather band in the hills. It is loaded with presets, distance/local switch, bass boost, etc. No speakers on these models– headphones only. They are in the 3oz range with batteries.

Of course the TV function is passe. There were several times I got TV news reports while commuting on the bus, notably during the WTO riots in Seattle. Saved me time and a snootfull of tear gas.

Guys,

Thanks for the replies, and thanks for the link to the other ultralight radio thread–all very informative.

It seems that there are 3 models popular among the ultralight crowd:

1. Sony SRF-S84

2. Sangean DT-300VW

3. County Comm GP4L

How does reception compare? For the models that use the headphone wire as an antenna, do you find that you have to "futz" with the headphones to get good reception? Would hate to think that I would have to freeze my neck in a certain position for a long period of time to hear a broadcast. Ouch…

Also, what do you think of the Sony SRF-M97? Is it just an updated version of the SRF-S84 (analogue–>digital dial)?

I disagree wholeheartedly that radio sucks! Mind you, I've never taken one hiking but for the drive to the trailhead it can be ENORMOUSLY entertaining.

I'm not talking about radio near the population centers (which probably means almost anywhere in California). I'm just saying that it's fun to find those little local stations when you're in the middle of nowhere, y'know? There's a little student-run station in Alamosa, I think, in the San Luis Valley in Colorado that plays the funkiest stuff you can imagine- they had a heavy metal tribute day once when I was there, with all of these college bands covering songs, usually mutating them into other genres.

Of course, you also get local announcements that can be entertaining in itself. I was driving through a small town in Idaho when I heard an announcement that went something like "Mrs Jones wants the miscreant who keeps doing donuts on her lawn to know that if she ever catches him she's going to use her shotgun to blow some daylight through him."

You can't get this stuff in Denver…

I guess my perfect hiking radio would be strap-on size AM/FM/SW/WX waterproof and use AAA batteries. Does THAT exist? Or, less ideally, is there a way to boost WX reception on the tiny units like the Sony SRF-M37W that have bad reception in that band? I know you can rig an AM antenna that wraps around the headphone jack, but is there a WX equivalent?

I've been able to improve WX radio reception by attaching a length of wire to the headphone input using an old headphone jack and then clipping the wire to a tree. It takes some adjustments, but works.

Chris wrote:

>>It seems that there are 3 models popular among the ultralight crowd:

1. Sony SRF-S84

2. Sangean DT-300VW

3. County Comm GP4L

How does reception compare?<<

I don't have the Sony, but I do have the Sangean and the County Comm GP4L. They're both excellent radios for backpacking. The Sangean DT-300VW is discontinued and very difficult to find used. Sangean replaced it with the DT-400W, which is similar in size and has gotten good reviews. I would expect it to be as good as the 300, just without the TV band. As far as which is better, GP4L vs Sangean, that depends on what you want to listen to. For AM/FM they're both fine. Beyond that, the GP4L has shortwave but not weather. The Sangean has weather but not SW. For me the weather is more important on long trips, so I always take the Sangean. It's Wx reception is very good. I've always been able to pull in a NOAA station from somewhere, even in the heart of the Wind River range. Often in the mountains the Wx signals are very weak though, and I have to walk around camp a bit to find a sweet spot, but eventually I can get a good forecast. That isn't the fault of the radio though.

Link to DT-400W:

http://www.sangean.com/products/products_main.asp?pid=35&pan=5&um=3

Hope that helps.

Gordon

On FM band, how is the selectivity?

That is the ability to tune into a weak station on 90.1 MHz without a stronger one on 90.3 blasting over it.

–B.G.–

Looks like the Sangean DT-400W is a very sophisticated radio with the seek and presets.

As far as the FM selectivity, the Sony is very good IMHO. Any of the small analog tuning radios suffer a bit from the gearing on the tuning wheel– sometimes it takes some fiddling and tuning back and forth a few times to get a weak station. The Sony locks on well– you know when you have the station.

FYI, the County Comm GP4L is analog tuning with a digital readout. The calibration on mine is pretty good.

Bob wrote:
>>On FM band, how is the selectivity?<<

This is somewhat subjective, since the actual specs aren't published for either radio. All I can really tell you is that both the Sangean and the County Comm are very competent little radios in the city, on both AM and FM. They both seem fine to me with regards to FM selectivity. I haven't used the County Comm in the backcountry, but selectivity wouldn't be much of an issue there. I would expect it to be a good performer though. I know the Sangean works well on all bands in the backcountry because I've used it there many times. Its AM reception is especially good. At night you can listen to AM stations a thousand or more miles away as they skip off the ionosphere. It's a great way to relax in the tent in the evening.

Gordon

Automatically alerts 24/7 for emergencies

FM autoscan button for easy station tuning

Reset button resets to 88 MHz to begin scanning

Receives all 7 NOAA weather band channels

Ultra bright LED light

Runs on 3 AAA batteries (not included)

14” retractable antenna

Compact, lightweight RADIO (3.15oz)/BTRY – 3ea AAA (1.26oz) -(4.4oz)

Ken, do you own that radio? It looks like weather band only to me, no FM broadcast band. I know it says FM, but NOAA weather is broadcast with an FM signal.

G

I receives broadcast FM and weather. The FM is autoscan. It's a $15 item.