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HD Radios sold thanks to the hurricane

N

nd2023

Banned
I was at Best Buy today and noticed that all the portable HD radios were gone. I had never seen them all sold out at that store, there always used to be 3-5 units available.
I'm guessing that since most people don't have battery powered radios, they might have bought the portable HD radio if there were no other battery powered radios available.

So there, HD radio gets a few sales!
 
Nick said:
I was at Best Buy today and noticed that all the portable HD radios were gone. I had never seen them all sold out at that store, there always used to be 3-5 units available.
I'm guessing that since most people don't have battery powered radios, they might have bought the portable HD radio if there were no other battery powered radios available.

So there, HD radio gets a few sales!
Click to expand...

Ironic, then, that one of the things considered non-essential when running on generator power during a blackout is the HD box.
 
I wonder if many of these sales are due to an HD 2 or 3 being the only "clean" link to an AM station/service which was giving out important info.

Anyway, that's *one* "plus" for HD.

cd
 
The Insignia is just about the WORST "power outage" radio to keep on hand. Even if you don't use it, the battery will go dead in about a week, because it doesn't have a true hardware on/off switch. And if you DO use it, the battery will only last a few hours at best. OTOH, the D-cell batteries in my GE Superadio III have lasted for years, and have been running for the past several days to keep me entertained in the dark.
 
satech said:
The Insignia is just about the WORST "power outage" radio to keep on hand. Even if you don't use it, the battery will go dead in about a week, because it doesn't have a true hardware on/off switch. And if you DO use it, the battery will only last a few hours at best. OTOH, the D-cell batteries in my GE Superadio III have lasted for years, and have been running for the past several days to keep me entertained in the dark.
Click to expand...

I don't hear the people charging their iPhone in the car while the power's out complaining.
 
satech said:
The Insignia is just about the WORST "power outage" radio to keep on hand. Even if you don't use it, the battery will go dead in about a week, because it doesn't have a true hardware on/off switch. And if you DO use it, the battery will only last a few hours at best. OTOH, the D-cell batteries in my GE Superadio III have lasted for years, and have been running for the past several days to keep me entertained in the dark.
Click to expand...

Granted it doesn't have the extended battery life of a Superadio but your experiences are totally different from mine and I own two of the little junkers.

The batteries stay charged for weeks and I get probably 15 hours out of a charge in the newer one and a little less in the older, defective one. And I can charge it from any USB cable instead of waiting for the store to reopen so I can buy more landfill-choking alkalines.
 
It lasts for 10 hours of continuous use and is sensitive and selective like a car radio. People would expect to get all the stations they get on their car radio on any radio, and they get all that and more (the HD2/3 stations) on the Insignia.

But AM reception is needed. Let's say the hurricane hit NJ as a category 2 like it was originally predicted. Many more local stations would be off the air. The advantage of AM is that you can hear stations from far away at night. When a hurricane hit the Carolina coast, it took out a lot of the local stations. WBT from Charlotte did continuous coverage even though Charlotte was too far inland to be affected. Same thing could have happened with Irene. KDKA from Pittsburgh could have served the East Coast with continuous coverage the night the storm hit.
 
Zach said:
Granted it doesn't have the extended battery life of a Superadio but your experiences are totally different from mine and I own two of the little junkers.

The batteries stay charged for weeks and I get probably 15 hours out of a charge in the newer one and a little less in the older, defective one. And I can charge it from any USB cable instead of waiting for the store to reopen so I can buy more landfill-choking alkalines.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I think that there's some inconsistency with these little radios. Yes, the Insignia HD001's offer the best FM reception of anything in it's size that uses the headphone cord as an antenna. Other radios that I have may outperform it (i.e. Tecsun PL606), but those all have a whip antenna. For that reason, I like having the Insignia around - it's convenient and with its excellent selectivity, it offers good reception.

That said, the battery life is very inconsistent. I have a couple of these (for the reasons stated above) and in both cases the batteries will die out if left unused for a certain period of time. This will happen faster in my older unit (1-2 weeks) than in my newer unit that is about a year old (~3 weeks). Furthermore, useage time varies in both. But the older unit gets only about 8 hours; the newer one more like 12. It seems that the longer you're tuned into HD signals, the faster your battery drains.

And in both cases, I charge it from the mains using a Blackberry charger which fits the Insignia's USB port. Charging from the computer results in a (much) slower recharge and in diminished battery performance.

In other words Zach, my experience has not matched yours when it comes to battery life; it's been more like Nick's description.
 
One additional observation, unrelated to my post above, I intend to buy another Insignia NS-HD001 one of these days. Though I already have a couple of them, something about the way that they're stocked and marketed gives me the feeling that they may not be around much longer.

Not trying to start a rumor here, nor have I heard anything. It's just a feeling I have, based on past experience with this sort of thing. They do not seem to sell that well and are an afterthought as far as Best Buy is concerned. I've seen BB drop other lines of Insignia radios with no fanfare whatsoever. So, it does have me wondering.

As they're great little dxers, I might just hoard a couple of extra ones.
 
Sony discontinued the XDR-F1HD because no one was buying them except the DXers who hate HD radio.

The Insignia is still being advertised on radio stations so it'll be around. Plus they got a huge sales boost when people were panic-buying battery powered radios.
 
Nick said:
But AM reception is needed. Let's say the hurricane hit NJ as a category 2 like it was originally predicted. Many more local stations would be off the air. The advantage of AM is that you can hear stations from far away at night. When a hurricane hit the Carolina coast, it took out a lot of the local stations. WBT from Charlotte did continuous coverage even though Charlotte was too far inland to be affected. Same thing could have happened with Irene. KDKA from Pittsburgh could have served the East Coast with continuous coverage the night the storm hit.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but this is a perfect example of how people *don't* use radio these days. AM band usage moved beyond the DXing model decades ago. And trying to hear KDKA at a distance over the foul stench of HD carriers from its first-adjacent neighbors is an exercise in futility.
 
Nick said:
KDKA from Pittsburgh could have served the East Coast with continuous coverage the night the storm hit.
Click to expand...

Assuming that an inland 50 kw station is going to be useful on the coast where 50 kw or 100 kw stations from the Carribean basin are easy and regular catches is disingenuous.
 
Zach said:
The batteries stay charged for weeks and I get probably 15 hours out of a charge in the newer one and a little less in the older, defective one. And I can charge it from any USB cable instead of waiting for the store to reopen so I can buy more landfill-choking alkalines.
Click to expand...

The last major hurricane I went through (a category 3) left my house without electrical for 9 days. The real need for information is not during the storm (what can they say besides "stay indoors?") but in the aftermath when flooding, logistics, potable water, medical emergencies are the big concern.

A 15 hour battery life is not going to be adequate for anything.

Disposable battery powered devices are essential. If you are concerned enough, put a battery box in the garage, and take them to a recycling / disposal center every year.
 
Nick said:
But AM reception is needed. Let's say the hurricane hit NJ as a category 2 like it was originally predicted. Many more local stations would be off the air. The advantage of AM is that you can hear stations from far away at night. When a hurricane hit the Carolina coast, it took out a lot of the local stations. WBT from Charlotte did continuous coverage even though Charlotte was too far inland to be affected. Same thing could have happened with Irene. KDKA from Pittsburgh could have served the East Coast with continuous coverage the night the storm hit.
Click to expand...

What would be the use of AM HD in a hurricane? The lightning strikes alone would render that transmission mode useless and cut-off alternating words in analog.
 
I have a Super Radio, either the first one or the II model that I threw in my car last year. I put the batteries in it so long ago I can't remember when I put them in (several years ago at least). I turned it on the other day to check it, yup it still works great.
 
KB1OKL said:
I have a Super Radio, either the first one or the II model that I threw in my car last year. I put the batteries in it so long ago I can't remember when I put them in (several years ago at least). I turned it on the other day to check it, yup it still works great.
Click to expand...

How do you guys get such good life out of batteries? Seems like every set I leave in a device for more than a year burst and leak.
 
Zach said:
KB1OKL said:
I have a Super Radio, either the first one or the II model that I threw in my car last year. I put the batteries in it so long ago I can't remember when I put them in (several years ago at least). I turned it on the other day to check it, yup it still works great.
Click to expand...

How do you guys get such good life out of batteries? Seems like every set I leave in a device for more than a year burst and leak.
Click to expand...
Keep them in the refrigerator.
 
Wouldn't even consider buying one of those pocket HD radios again! I have a couple of those nice ICF-38 units, at least one is loaded and ready to go in an emergency (suckers go for a long time on 4 AA batteries).
 
What can radio stations say during a hurricane other than "stay indoors??"

Well, let's see. We could tell them about where the eye is and where it's headed. That's kinda important to know. We can remind them about safe hurricane behavior - staying away from windows and close to load-bearing walls, as examples. We could take live calls on the air from listeners with eyewitness accounts - people are comforted hearing from those in like circumstances. We could get interviews from meteorologists including storm stats. We could inform people about emergency shelter locations if their homes are seriously flooded or damaged. We could update the status of the water supply and other utilities. I could go on...

You know. That kind of thing. The same role radio has played in natural disasters for about 80 years now.
 
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