Electronics -- Baygen Freeplay Radio

BayGen Freeplay radio Windup Technology 783-2880, (888) WINDUP1 $99

No batteries or power cord are needed for the BayGen Freeplay radio. You wind it up like an old Gramophone. Thirty seconds of rotation gives you 25 minutes of airplay before it's time for another 60 cranks.

There is something appealingly clean and honest about this $99, lunchbox-shaped device. No energy waste, no landfill-bound AAs. You get your entertainment the old-fashioned way: You work for it.

A Cape Town, South Africa, firm came up with the radio for use in power-shy regions. In Africa, a radio is said to be a status symbol capable of attracting a future wife. Its inventor decided to create the unit after hearing a broadcast about difficulties in transmitting safe-sex AIDS messages to African villages that could not afford batteries.

Outdoors companies are said to be interested in the radio for back-country use, the prime question mark being its bulk and 5.5 pounds.

The clock generator produces a faint rumble, easily drowned out by the volume control. The generator is rated at 10,000 windups, more than enough to amortize the radio's cost in batteries alone. AM, FM and short wave are supported.

The BayGen produces a crisp sound with plenty of volume. If you like radio, and want to help out Mother Earth, it's something you can feel good about using.

Not yet available in stores, the unit can be ordered directly from Windup Technology, based in Seattle. E-mail: 74301.2203@compuserve.com.