How Does a Hand Crank Emergency Radio Work?
Hand crank power generation has been around in one form or another for decades, so it hardly surprising that this relatively simple technology would eventually become so mainstream that it would become a main feature of all the best emergency weather radios.
Power outages are common in hurricanes and during powerful storms, so having a weather radio at hand that doesn’t need to be powered by the grid or disposible batteries can be an absolute life saver, literally!
But how do these radios work, and why are they truly so valuable?
The Principles of Hand Powered Generators
Hand crank radios, also known as windup radios and emergency radios, use hand powered generators to function. This means that, while the radio still requires a flow of electricity through all of its components to be capable of capturing and decoding radio signals sent by transmission stations, the energy converted to electricity is actually the kinetic energy generated by the user’s own hands.
The basic principle is the following: by creating a certain movement, you move around a magnet or a coil inside the radio or generator. This movement creates a changing magnetic field which generates an electric current between the two connectors of the coil, leading to power generation similar to what you’d find in a battery. That electrical energy is then used to power the radio’s circuits and speaker.
This principle is the same as the one used in power plants, except instead of using the energy derived from burning coal, moving rivers or nuclear reactors, the relatively small generator used to power a hand crank radio just uses your hand’s movements.
The mechanical makeup of a hand crank generator ensures that, as long as it’s cranked up, it will keep working for as long as its components can function. However, to add additional measures to ensure that the generator keeps working under any condition, many manufacturers also add solar panels and rechargeable batteries that keep everything going for a longer time, even if you can’t crank up the radio as frequently as you’d like.
Storing Energy for Hand Crank Radios
The surest way to ensure that a hand crank emergency weather radio keeps working is to add more than one means of providing it with energy or storing electrical energy. A few of these methods can include the following:
· Some hand crank radios use complicated mechanical systems to prolong the movement and keep the magnetic field fluctuating for as long as possible. So the radio literally winds up and slowly unwinds, like a mechanical alarm clock.
· Solar panels can be used to top off the energy once the radio runs out of kinetic energy. If you have to leave it in the other room and you don’t crank it for a while, using a solar panel as a backup can be really handy.
· Rechargeable lithium ion batteries and large capacitors that can store electrical power in a similar fashion to a battery can also be used to keep storing the electricity for a while longer.
These principles and ideas are behind the functionality of all the emergency radios you see on the market.
So, whether you need a cheap radio or the most advanced one you can get your hands on, make sure that it uses the best means of power generation, before you consider buying it.
Author Bio: Danny Major is the owner of Alpha Survivalist, a relatively new website about survival and emergency preparedness. He is a former reconnaisance soldier in HM Armed forces so he knows a thing or two about concealment.
