Freeplay/Baygen FPR2 Clockwork/Solar AM/FM radio
Manufacturer: Freeplay/Baygen
Model: FPR2
Description: Clockwork/Solar powered radio
Power: Hand crank clockwork system/Solar panel
Run time: Full wind = 35mins playback
Year: 1998-1999
Sold As: 'For spares or not working'
True Condition: requires a little attention. Winding mechanism uneven, Noisy gearbox. Reasonable condition
Price: 12p (part of a 99p radio joblot)
Vendor: private seller via ebay
Shipped from: Collected in person
First impressions
Another radio from my 8 piece radio joblot. The whole lot cost me 99p which is frankly outrageous. This unit cost me around 12p When I worked it out! I'm still slapping myself around the face in disbelief.
So what's wrong with it?
Well this unit had a noisy gearbox, the winder would jump half a turn on the coil spring and the antenna was iffy.
Luckily for me I got two of these clockwork radios in the lot so I could at least make one good one out of the two.
The Freeplay/Baygen FPR2 Reciever is a true free power clockwork radio.
It operates by winding a metal coil spring which releases energy to drive the radio via a belt driven gearbox. Simple old fashioned gramophone technology.
Powering the radio can be achieved by either winding up the handle, placing the radio in direct sunlight (solar panel) or plugging in a DC power cord.
The inner working of the unit look good quality, the alternator/dynamo looks to be heavy duty and likely to withstand years of winding.
The crank handle itself is made from a tough ABS style plastic and doesn't seem likely to snap off like some cheaper imitations.
The outer casing is crap in comparison. The clear colour plastic shell seems a little bit brittle although both of my FPR2's have only sustained minor cracks over the past 20years or so.
I can imagine the cases splitting should this heavy radio be dropped on the floor.
Trevor Baylis and the clockwork radio
Meet old Trevor, the London inventor of the clockwork radio.
Some will remember him from channel 4's Big Breakfast morning TV show back in the late 1990's? He had a regular slot called "In me shed son!" where he would showcase inventions.
Check out the short video below....
Trevor Baylis mad inventor
Repair
To get this Reciever back to full working order was quite a simple operation.
The case was split by removing four self tapping screws,
To sort the noise problem out I removed both the fly wheel and belt pully wheel.
The metal shafts which these gears sat on had become dry over the years causing the plastic gears to judder when the radio was running. A quick dab of grease was all it needed.
The antenna was easy to repair, a simple resolder of the wire to the antenna base was enough to make a good connection.
The radio was thoroughly checked over before popping the covers back on - nothing else to report.
Testing
Once I had given the radio a good clean and polish up it was time to crank it up so to speak.
It takes a good minute or so to fully wind the spring before it stops. I don't think it's possible to over-wind the set judging by the way it has been designed.
The clockwork handle at the rear of the set is always running/unwinding once you release the handle.
The speed at which the radio power runs out depends on how many turns you give it and how loud you have the speaker.
This device appears to unwind directly in response to how much current is being drawn.
Blast some music through the set and see the handle whizz round.
Even if the set is switched off the spring will slowly continue to unwind.
No energy can be stored for later then, a fresh chank of the handle is needed every time the radio is used.
A full wind of the spring allows the radio to operate for around 35mins before fading away. The radio volume was set somewhere in the middle during this test, expect less time with the speaker turned right up.
35 minutes isn't bad though. Having to wind it every half an hour isn't going to annoy me too much.
I can't see the benefits of this radio for survivalists or people living with limited electricity.
The sound quality of the 5W internal speaker is great. It's rich sounding with good bass tones.
This speaker can be driven quite loud with only small traces of distortion at the highest level.
A really impressive sound it has to be said.
The tuner on both AM and FM is sensitive enough to pick up all of the local stations with some much further stations coming through as well.
The AM antenna is located inside the unit and consists of a standard ferrite bar with tuning strings attached.
The FM antenna is a long stainless telescopic which is multi-directional.
Adjusting the frequency dial or volume control is done via the two black plastic knobs on the front.
These are far from loose, infact they are very stiff to turn which isn't always a bad thing.
Tuning in particular can be difficult on these radios if the knob is flapping about everywhere. A station can't always be finely tuned with a slack selector.
The stiffness of this dial makes it much easier to lock on to a station.
Overall I'm really impressed with this contraption.
It's a great thing to have in the house or for taking camping
It cost me nothing basically.
Next job is to get the other identical one going again...
