A good radio for bad weather (hope everyone and their families are ok)

[Rumbrave]

this is the Kaito 650 solo


is has a hand crank/solar powered/internal dry batteries/3 AA batteries/ or you can charge it from a wall socket or computer

Led lamp& flashlight


if you buy the 650 solo it comes with all the adapters you need to charge almost any electronic device via the output on the back and the hand crank

for all you guys in the areas this is a good radio i have left out in the rain, snow, freezing cold and it is still running strong. Smoke up to all of you in the disaster areas. good luck, god be with you.

[Tankerwolf]

I bought the Eton Solarlink FR-600 and it works pretty good as well. Seems to have a lot of the same features. These are a great thing to have around.

[FAL'ER]

I Havent had good luck with those ememrgency radios, I think I've had 2 of them in the last 10 years. They weren't the same as these though. What I'm using now is a portable HAM radio, which you don't have to be licensed to listen on only to talk on. Uses 3 AA batteries with a conversion kit or the Litium Ion battery it comes with is good for 10 hours. I like it because you can get shortwave and the regular AM/FM stations in addition to all the repeaters in the area. Not a cheap set up though.
I'm wondering with those ememrgency radios, do you have to crank them up every once in a while or will they lose their magnetic field?

[TwinStick]

So are CB radios &/or hunting radios if the cell tower is down &/or land lines are down.

[Rumbrave]

I Havent had good luck with those ememrgency radios, I think I've had 2 of them in the last 10 years. They weren't the same as these though. What I'm using now is a portable HAM radio, which you don't have to be licensed to listen on only to talk on. Uses 3 AA batteries with a conversion kit or the Litium Ion battery it comes with is good for 10 hours. I like it because you can get shortwave and the regular AM/FM stations in addition to all the repeaters in the area. Not a cheap set up though.
I'm wondering with those ememrgency radios, do you have to crank them up every once in a while or will they lose their magnetic field?

the radio in the pic has 2short wave bands am/fm/noaa alert band and 7 weather bands. no need to crank it at all unless you need a charge or if the sun isn't out the solar panel is efficient enough to listen and charge the radio at the same time.

[Moosez45]

I was watching the weather on an app, real time doppler radar, and emergency broadcasts, simultaneously.

Beat that emergency radio.

Smart phones really are becoming a central hub of intel, from just about every corner on the planet.

Moose

[Arkanian]

I have the Eton Solarlink FR160 and it is a great little device. My wife was able to charge my phone to power the GPS when the NY got wailed on during the last hurricane.

[Rumbrave]

I was watching the weather on an app, real time doppler radar, and emergency broadcasts, simultaneously.

Beat that emergency radio.

Smart phones really are becoming a central hub of intel, from just about every corner on the planet.

Moose

until your battery dies does your phone have a hand crank that can charge itself? i think not. but my radio can charge your phone

[Moosez45]

until your battery dies does your phone have a hand crank that can charge itself? i think not. but my radio can charge your phone

I have solar charging panels and a dynamo hand crank 120V 1.5amp outlet in my hideaway gear. They work.

I watched Archer on Netflix app, and switched back and forth between the doppler/EBS for about 3hrs that night, while the power was out. Still had 60% battery.

Smart phone for the win!!!!



Moose

[SpookyDriver]

Smart phones really are becoming a central hub of intel, from just about every corner on the planet.

Moose

Indeed. I'm a storm spotter on our local amateur radio club and 90% of our updates go out on our iPhones/iPads...or transmitted on 2M to our emergency office where they send it out on their iPhones/iPads. All our NEXRAD info comes from the WeatherBug and RadarUS apps. And a deep cycle marine battery with an inverter can keep any phone/tablet/laptop charged for weeks. Add an inexpensive solar panel and you can go indefinitely.

Having a good transistor AM/FM/SW radio at home for a backup is a good idea, of course. But they are rapidly becoming the secondary form of emergency comms.

[Moosez45]

Indeed. I'm a storm spotter on our local amateur radio club and 90% of our updates go out on our iPhones/iPads...or transmitted on 2M to our emergency office where they send it out on their iPhones/iPads. All our NEXRAD info comes from the WeatherBug and RadarUS apps. And a deep cycle marine battery with an inverter can keep any phone/tablet/laptop charged for weeks. Add an inexpensive solar panel and you can go indefinitely.

Having a good transistor AM/FM/SW radio at home for a backup is a good idea, of course. But they are rapidly becoming the secondary form of emergency comms.

I couldn't agree more. I have one that the local weather spooks gave us when we worked at the National Weather Service building. And they are tanks, but work very well.

I just like stirring the pot, but I'm serious, Smart Phones are changing the game. Hell, I can go from watching porn to range finding at the range while willis goes and sets up new targets. True story.



Smart Phones for the win!!1!!

Moose

[Doc_Savage]

Cell phones don't work worth a tinkers damn when the cell phone towers get knocked out. ... And when they are partially
restored, service is prioritized to government and emergency operations...

Been there...

Doc

[Murphnuge]

I have an old grundig shortwave and a handheld scanner. The Droid gets more use than with either of those though. I hate Star Trek, but it seems the communicator thing those dorks were packing is a reality.

[Moosez45]

Cell phones don't work worth a tinkers damn when the cell phone towers get knocked out. ... And when they are partially
restored, service is prioritized to government and emergency operations...

Been there...

Doc

Aye tis true. But cell towers have double redundant power backups, one UPS and two closed tank LP gas generators. I used to put those in when I was an electrician. Capable of running for 7 days without utilities.

If they get smashed to the ground, which can happen, they do triple coverage on areas(verizon) and double area coverage on ATT. Everybody else just piggy backs their towers.

According to the US emergency situations protocol, cell towers are a method of emergency contact.

That said, technology will fail. Everytime you need it.

Moosr

[SaturatedShadow]

I hate Smatphones.

[Doc_Savage]

Yeah... I am aware of the backup power, automatic roll over to other towers, etc.....all that is fine.

Also quite aware of us emergency protocols.... All great ideas

It ain't worth shit, when three hurricanes blow through central florida.. Had it not been for hams, a lot of areas would have had no outside contact...

And some areas have little to no cell coverage in Florida...

As I said... Been there, done that..

But in highly populated areas, radio is a secondary communication...

Doc

Of course, that is a rare instance....

[SpookyDriver]

Same thing happened when Ike rolled through this area a few years back. Every cell tower in three counties was either blown down or otherwise disabled. And all three of our backup repeaters on 2M were gone. The county lost the antennas for SO/EMS/Fire, too. One of our club members pulled a 20 year old repeater out of his closet and stuck a 2M j-pole on top of the courthouse and that was the only wireless communication available for almost 36 hours after the storm hit. And we're 100 miles from the coast.

Luckily, massive outages like that are very, very rare. The standard springtime T-storm/tornado can't do that kind of damage, so cell service will remain the primary emcomm protocol out here in the boonies.

[Moosez45]

Yeah... I am aware of the backup power, automatic roll over to other towers, etc.....all that is fine.

Also quite aware of us emergency protocols.... All great ideas

It ain't worth shit, when three hurricanes blow through central florida.. Had it not been for hams, a lot of areas would have had no outside contact...

And some areas have little to no cell coverage in Florida...

As I said... Been there, done that..

But in highly populated areas, radio is a secondary communication...

Doc

Of course, that is a rare instance....

Same thing happened when Ike rolled through this area a few years back. Every cell tower in three counties was either blown down or otherwise disabled. And all three of our backup repeaters on 2M were gone. The county lost the antennas for SO/EMS/Fire, too. One of our club members pulled a 20 year old repeater out of his closet and stuck a 2M j-pole on top of the courthouse and that was the only wireless communication available for almost 36 hours after the storm hit. And we're 100 miles from the coast.

Luckily, massive outages like that are very, very rare. The standard springtime T-storm/tornado can't do that kind of damage, so cell service will remain the primary emcomm protocol out here in the boonies.

I agree with ya'll 100%, I worked Andrew and Hugo when they tore across, when there's nothing standing, there's nothing working. Under those conditions, you scrape what you can, where you can.

What I was going with, was compared to most emergency weather radios, my Smart phone kicks their ass.

I'm addicted to the convience of being able to do so many things, from one device. The doppler I was watching, had about a 2 min delay, but the updates were instant. It was the second time I've had to use it, for some bad storms whipping through the area, and after this time, in which the power was out, I felt pretty much like I was up to the minute with weather reports.

For the Hazmat Response Teams and Emergency Operations Mobile units, they have built in towers on these huge rigs, that we put in, so they can onsite, crank up the tower and have 2 comms with their response crews. Cool stuff.

Smart Phones for the win!!!!



Moose

[Bladite]

smart phone (and even tablet) good while it has power, while your car has power, and as people have said, the network is up in some fashion.

last time my area was hit, simple power loss, the towers went down like CHEAP ****s within 48 hours. bam. no cell phone. land lines? they worked. so did water.

the hand crank do dads look nice.

what works well too? having a spare, charged, car or motorcycle battery, etc; with a "car outlet" jack, to plug your crap into, as well as an inverter; us city folx call the fancy version of that a UPS though many UPS won't work if the power didn't drop first (ie: they're not portable power solutions). some do.

couple of the high power GMRS radios, or five, and a bucket of batteries COULD be useful later, and they're certainly pretty cheap. many have NOAA weather radio on them; i have a singleton JUST for that feature. it's also "weather proof".

for me, good thread, i keep meaning to look into a good radio solution, but have long wished for a BETTER more robust gadget.

EMS/REI carry 10W solar panel on occasion, or your can order better, that have USB/etc outlets for realtime use or charging batteries for later dark use. nifty stuff.

[rigid650]

EMS/REI carry 10W solar panel on occasion, or your can order better, that have USB/etc outlets for realtime use or charging batteries for later dark use. nifty stuff.

I got a Goal Zero 10w panel for christmas from my in-laws, i really dig it so far....
usb/cigarette lighter adaptor, comes with rechargable battery pack that can also charge your goodies at night
http://www.goalzero.com/shop/p/79/Gu...nture-Kit/1:1/