Modern emergency weather radio, not some hand crank piece of junk?

S

Sid Post

Joined
Oct 14, 1998
Messages
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I am looking for an emergency radio for bad weather. If it plays music with good quality that would be a big bonus.

I want something of good quality with good functionality. I have solar panels and off-grid power so, a 2-watt solar panel and hand crank have almost no value to me. I want good signal quality whether an old school tuner or a modern digital alternative.

What is good these days? I expect to spend $50~$100 but, I can spend more if it is really needed.

TIA,
Sid
 
Which channels/frequencies will you need to receive during the emergency?

I have an old ETON unit with a crank and small solar panel. It claims to be able to charge a phone with the USB port, but the review said it cooked people's phones. The battery pack was replaceable (small port with screw), so I am on the 2nd pack since buying it. The coating on the plastic started to break down into a tacky material. Got most of it off with 90% alcohol, but it took the red paint with it. Receives AM/FM/NOAA Weather channels, but the fixed NOAA channels don't work any more.
 
Try looking up Midland weather radios. They seem to have good reviews. They were a mainstay of the CB radio crowd back in the day . Think they still make two way radios, also.

 
Midland was a staple back in the day for CB radios. The newer Midland weather radios seemed pretty cheap and chintzy when I saw them.
 
I might add I have never found radios to drain much batteries. So a wall socket with battery backup should get you through a weather event.
 
Drop bear said:
I might add I have never found radios to drain much batteries. So a wall socket with battery backup should get you through a weather event.
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WX monitoring will drain batteries if not plugged into a wall outlet or similar source. Small solar panels on the portables deal with this issue pretty well in most cases.
 
Sid Post said:
General thoughts on SAME and whether is is worth spending more for this feature?
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And that is the special radio channel or something?

I don't think we even have it in Australia. We just get alerts through the normal radio.

The thing I noticed during the last few cyclones is that there is a lot of extra information that comes through local talk back radio as the community reaches out to help each other.
 
Sid Post said:
WX monitoring will drain batteries if not plugged into a wall outlet or similar source. Small solar panels on the portables deal with this issue pretty well in most cases.
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Fair enough. The same sangean brand does make hard charger radios with torches and solar and cranks and such. So I hope the same quality is there.

And look. That one I mentioned exeded my expectations.

I do also buy AA radios in buckets. And then just align everything electrical to suit. As much as I can.

Originally this was because during a thing. C and D batteries disappeared faster.

But mabye not now as you can get very high outputs from AAs

By the way. Speaking of AA performance.

I highly recommend the pelican 90 degree torch. For a weather torch. Big sturdy yellow bulky case so you can find it in the dark. Waterproof, Magnetic base. Good output. And a swivel head so you can basically play a real life version of every survival horror game.

And so stupid things you nay not have thought of. Like hosing down with rain, blackout. Have to reverse a car.

Magnet swivel torch to the rescue.
 
Sid Post said:
General thoughts on SAME and whether is is worth spending more for this feature?
Click to expand...
I think SAME is definitely a feature worth having. Thanks to things like NEXRAD, forecasts, warnings, and watches have gotten much more localized, but an individual NOAA Weather Radio transmitter may cover a fairly large area. SAME will keep you from hearing lots of alerts that don't pertain to you. Also, different types of alerts are coded differently and often you can select the type of alerts you don't want to hear. (Example: I'm three miles from a major river, but 100 feet above normal river level. I don't need to be woken up at 3:00 AM to hear about a flood watch.)
I have an ancient Midland 74-200 with SAME. Also have a CCrane receiver that includes NOAA Weather with alerts and an ancient Radio Shack portable weather radio. I've done comparisons, and during a big storm the non-SAME receivers will be going off every few minutes (sometimes for warnings two states away), while the Midland is quiet unless a watch or warning is in my specific area.
 
Drop bear said:
And that is the special radio channel or something?

I don't think we even have it in Australia. We just get alerts through the normal radio.

The thing I noticed during the last few cyclones is that there is a lot of extra information that comes through local talk back radio as the community reaches out to help each other.
Click to expand...
SAME is a geolocation specific channel so, you only get alerts for your area.


NWR Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME)
 
Drop bear said:
Fair enough. The same sangean brand does make hard charger radios with torches and solar and cranks and such. So I hope the same quality is there.

And look. That one I mentioned exeded my expectations.

I do also buy AA radios in buckets. And then just align everything electrical to suit. As much as I can.

Originally this was because during a thing. C and D batteries disappeared faster.

But mabye not now as you can get very high outputs from AAs

By the way. Speaking of AA performance.

I highly recommend the pelican 90 degree torch. For a weather torch. Big sturdy yellow bulky case so you can find it in the dark. Waterproof, Magnetic base. Good output. And a swivel head so you can basically play a real life version of every survival horror game.

And so stupid things you nay not have thought of. Like hosing down with rain, blackout. Have to reverse a car.

Magnet swivel torch to the rescue.
Click to expand...

Flashlights is a whole different topic so, I'll just be brief and say that I really like the Convoy, Sofirn, and Wurkkos lights on the cheap end of the price range better than the common stuff you find at mass market places like Walmart, Bass Pro, etc.
 
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