Even with all the advancement in information technology, the radio still remains the major source of information and entertainment for many people around the world. Radio waves are transmitted through the air and these electromagnetic waves cover the whole planet. This makes radio the most reliable device to receive transmission over huge distances. Radio has played a very important role in many emergency situations where lives and property have been saved by timely information.

After the invention of the transistor, the radio became a very convenient device which could be easily carried around and worked on very little power. Many models were developed which worked on batteries and also on rechargeable batteries. Although this was the case the device could not be totally relied upon in severe emergency situations as the power source could run out, when you needed it the most. If you are outdoors in a remote place it is highly unlikely to be able to find batteries or an electricity source to recharge them. In such situations the only device you can depend upon is an emergency crank radio.

The emergency crank radio is able to produce its own power when you turn the cranking mechanism in a clockwise direction. So practically speaking this radio can never run out of power and you can run it even when you are totally cut off from all contact over a long period. So how does a emergency crank radio differ from the ordinary radio which runs on batteries? Well, the striking outside feature is a small turning handle which is the cranking mechanism. Inside the radio this mechanism is connected to the cranking motor which will produce the electricity. Actually this mechanism is based on a very basic principle of the dynamo which converts the mechanical energy of the turning of the handle in to electrical energy. The cranking motor has a magnet and wire coils which generate the electricity. This cranking motor is of a particular size so that the right amount of electrical energy is produced which will work the radio.

The electricity generated by the cranking motor has to be stored somewhere otherwise you will have to keep turning the handle for the radio to work anytime. For this reason there is a rechargeable battery pack connected to the cranking motor which stores the electrical energy produced. The capacitor in the radio is a device which is made of two plates which are conductive and has an insulator in the middle. The charges of electricity get stored in these two plates.

The rest of the emergency crank radio is the same as any other radio. It will have the Integrated Circuit consisting of many tiny transistors which are interconnected. This IC helps in reducing the overall size of the radio and make it more compact. Then there is the circuit board which is used to connect the different components without the use of wires. And the other main component is the antenna which is used to catch the radio signals in the air and transmit it to the IC. The other remaining component is the speaker which makes the radio signal audible to the ear.