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I was prompted to look at my solar radio again and I was mistaken it does use AA batteries. I was just thinking of my frustration with solar flashlights and lamps rendered useless owing to the hard to replace batteries. But the radio only has nominal amount of pv cells. Looks like it does have a 6 volt input. So to recharge the rechargeable batteries with solar can get fold out pv panel with usb outlet and get a usb adapter to plug into the radio.
I found plans for a battery charger but can't figure out where you clip in the batteries.
http://www.backwoodshome.com/build-your-...g-station/
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If you are talking about receiving radio, I would recommend a nice Sony multi-band radio. FM/AM are nice but in a SHTF scenario you might want to be able to pull in radio from elsewhere on the planet. I have a few AM/FM/SW/MW/etc radios and my Sony (Japanese manufacture) outperforms the Chinese ones.
I wouldn't worry about finding a radio with built in cranks or solar panels. Those are just cheap gimmicks to add perceived value to cheap products. Buy something that can use AA batteries, and buy some high quality rechargeable batteries (like Eneloop) and some means to charge them. At the very least you can probably buy a half dozen AA-powered solar patio lights at Walmart for $9.99 that make decent solar chargers. And of course they make light too.
They also sell adapters that let you use AA batteries in devices that take C or D-cells. Eneloop makes them but I found some on eBay for a fraction of the price that actually are a lot better because they let you put 1-3 AA batteries in them (D) instead of Eneloop's single battery (D). So they last up to 3x longer. It's a lot easier to try to stick to emergency supplies that use only one type of rechargeable battery (AA) and use them with adapters rather than trying to come up with ways to charge multiple sizes of batteries.
ETA:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl...-alias=aps&field-keywords=AA+d+cell+adapter&rh=i:aps,k:AA+d+cell+adapter&linkCode=ll2&tag=pw016-20&linkId=f7228b338ac762d8fc6a9005fc4e69c7&language=en_US
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I have a Windows 10 Tablet with an FM receiver and a USB dongle to receive over-the-air TV. A second dongle is a software-defined radio, which allows for reception of shortwave, AM broadcast, and pretty much any frequency. All runs off of 5 volts and about 1 amp.
That's if you're feeling creative.
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Tell us more about these dongles?
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Sure!
The tablet runs Windows 10. You can choose mobile or desktop version. Choose desktop version (you can run more software). The dongles are about the size of a USB drive and use no external power.
The dongle for OTA TV is any ATSC dongle that works with Windows. It has a coaxial connector that you can connect to your rooftop antenna or to an indoor antenna. There are a bunch of free software options that you can use to decode the signals-- some software even acts as a DVR. (VLC can even decode OTA TV).
The dongle for SDR needs to also be one that works for windows, and has a similar appearance. It's a not as user friendly, but you can slide the center frequency to just about anywhere in the radio spectrum.
A quick search shows that you can get ATSC dongles for Android too-- just make sure it can use more than a built-in antenna, otherwise you won't get much in Puna.
I think dongles are going to become more common, with 5G/NextGen delivery of content on the way.
