I was just looking at all the storms across the country and it occurred to me I don’t have an Emergency Radio.

What should I get?

What do I need?

Do you leave it ON all the time? (How does that work?)

Hi Mike, I don't know what particular radio to get but I do know what radios not to get...Weather Radios Recalled by Oregon Scientific Due to Failure to Receive National Weather Service Alerts
and
Weather Radios Recalled by Oregon Scientific

ConwayBob

Mike,
We got the Eaton Grundig FR-300 from Bed Bath and Beyond as suggested by some on this group. I think the thread is still around from last year. search weather radios and pjanits

Try to get a coupon from them for the 20%discount.

It's an battery, plug in the wall or hand crank AM/FM weather radio with alert.

It works great and is easy to use. Weather has 6 position switch so there is no VHF tuning involved, just select the stongest station and slide the switch to alert.
Then it just sits there waiting to wake you up at 3:00 AM.
Also the handcrank can charge your cell phone.

It has a three high intensity LED light one of which is red and a siren position,
Maybe to scare off bears?

Pete

Mike
I always leave a small CB radio under the seat (Uniden pro 510 ... about $45...not much bigger than a pack of cigarettes and works great) but i get a good antenna (wilson 2000 magnetic mount antenna) great for emergencies if you break down and also when you come upon stopped traffic and not sure what's going on. With 40 channels there's always someone on to help you.... but channel 19 is the highway channel exclusively....Also good for caravaning......when i'm done i put it back under the seat.
Joe

This is the radio i use all the time in our trailer.Works great.On edit Mine is a 240, but still is a great radio.

If you use the radio on the crank feature, how often do you have to crank it to keep the battery good? I had a hand-crank flashlight but if it wasn't cranked every three months (and it wasn't because I didn't read that part) the battery went bad.

Also, a totally aside, OT, question. The radio has VHF TV 1-13: on topic, how well does that work? OT, why is it some areas have VHF tv stations and others have UHF?

Bobbie

I wonder if they make one with digital tuning?

Bobbie,

The crank will charge a 3 cell phone type battery. Ni cads I believe ,also being on ac power will charge them, but as there is no overcharge prevention, the manual recommended when not cranking to disconnect that battery. I'm pretty sure I saw this battery pack at Walgreens. There are also regular batteries for use as a normal radio.

How long the crank lasts I really don't know. I will have to try it and see.

Digital? don't think so.
VHF tv? never tried it. Listening to tv just puts me to sleep anyway.

http://www.etoncorp.com/American_Red_Cross

Hi Mike,

May I suggest a Walkie-Talkie Radio pair that would serve you 2 purposes. I have this model from Midland that monitors any of 10 weather channels while you are using it in communications mode. This does have digital tuning. If there are storms threatening, we leave it turned on during that time. If an alert is issued, the radio beeps, and then the alert is heard on it.

Click to view attachment

I have found this combination to be a valuable addition to our necessary camping items. I've had this particular model for some time now. It may have been superceded by a newer unit.

Terry

Most areas have both! Channels 1-13 are VHF and higher channel numbers are UHF.

There are a total of ten channels for weather use, seven in the US, in the US and Canada. Radios with fewer channels may not be of use in the wrong area part of either country. Also, one needs local knowledge to interpret the announcements because they are often given by county, river names and other local geographic references, rather than cities and towns.

US (NOAA) Weather Channel Freqs

The receiver in the radio can make quite a bit of difference when it comes to getting a usable signal; a friend and I were fooling around here in WA with two weather radios and his hand-held marine VHF transceiver; the marine radio had far better circuitry in it, picking up more stations than either dedicated radio, including some Canadian ones.

If I were looking for a weather radio, I would be very tempted to get an inexpensive marine VHF hand-held over an expensive dedicated receiver (Looking at the receiver specs for each would tell the tale!). It might even be of use as an emergency transmitter.

Here in Fresno all we have is 18 up. No VHF at all. But I checked on Sacramento, since I frequently go to agility trials there, and they have lots of VHF. Seattle has both now, but when I was a kid, just VHF. I just wondered if there was some reason some areas don't have VHF or don't have UHF.

Bobbie

Pete, do you remember what marine radio your friend has.

A lot of the Amateur HT's or hanhelds also feature weatherband reception.
Some even have the S.A.M.E feature which can give more local warnings.

These radios are all able to transmit on the Ham bands and beyond,depending upon modifications.
It is a simple matter to read and pass the HAM Liscense tests for most.
There are online test site that will drill you until you are passing consistently and the question pool is the same for everyone so there are no real surprises.

Needless to say these can come in handy in emergency situations where Hams are always eager to help.

I believe it's an older ICOM in the IC-M5x series, but am not dead certain. He likely bought at West Marine.

West Marine Handheld VHF

I would think that in the long run a HAM radio would be most useful. I have leaned towards the marine VHF because I have a kayak.