Emergency Radio Advice for the 2022 Summer Blackout Season

[occamrzr06]

With a lot of headlines warning of electrical blackouts this summer, I was looking for a reliable, decent, portable emergency radio.

I've seen a number of them online, but I don't trust the reviews. Many of the reviews are praising a cheap unit, or whining why a $30 radio doesn't perform like a $1000 one.

Any input or discussion would be appreciated.

I did a search, but I didn't see this topic.

[moovova]

Sparky bkmk...

[telescope115]

Great topic!
I need one too.
Here is one source for you- https://ccrane.com/

A good place to start, anyway.

[ecomcon]

What would the government tell us during an emergency? Things that would make it easier for them.

I guess it could be helpful, as you would then know what you probably should NOT do.

[srmanuel]

You might need to provide us with some additional information.

Who are trying to communicate with in case of an emergency??

Are you now or do you plan on getting ham radio license ??

At what distance do you think you might have to cover to communicate with someone in an emergency.

I know some of these questions are somewhat subjective, but important to consider.

For example, it would be pointless to purchase one type of radio and the people you want to communicate with have a different type of radio, a radio that operates on ham radio frequencies, would not communicate with another radio that doesn’t operate on those frequencies.

A few options to consider.

Ham Radio, requires a license and you must take a test to get the license.

GMRS radio, requires a license, last time I checked, but the license can be applied for and doesn’t require a test.

FRS - no license required, simple easy can be purchased in many places.

CB - no license required, simple easy can be purchased in many areas.

If you already know the answers, I’m just trying to find out what you know and what you are trying to do and who you are trying to do it with.

[cll]

Better buy portable generator with which you can run a number of things. I live in Puerto Rico where we still suffer from frequent blackouts, five years after the hurricane.

I have three portable generators. An old Yamaha 2600 W, which we ran for 12 - 15 hours a day for 40 days after María. I use that one for our guest house. The second one is also a Yamaha but 2000 W inverter. I use this one for brief (less than 12 hours) blackouts, and I can run a fridge, a freezer and quite a few electronics with it. The third one is a 8500 W Generac which I hook up to the house for extended blackouts.

[Gay State Conservative]

How about your smartphone? With the iHeart Radio app you can get hundreds...if not thousands...of radio stations. Just keep it charged...and get one of those little portable battery packs for an extra charge.

[Terry L Smith]

i am a believer in the old grundig 350 series.
its am/fm/shortwave, and runs on either a wall wart, 4 d, or, AAbatteries. it has a whip antenna, and, with the old fazhioned spade connector t-style fm antenna and coupler, will pick up fm stations 4 hours away by car! i live in CENLA and after hurricane laura i was piccking up baton rouge all day long. i also own a shortwave antenna for indoors, also t-style pvc, and the grundig am antenna.

if you suffer power spurts, do not plug this radio into the wall, all it takes is one spurt.

in constant use, a 4 battery set of ‘heavy duty’, not alkaline, will go at least 2 weeks, not 24/7/365.
alkaline go farther. panasonic blue batteries work well.

[Bob434]

[[warning of electrical blackouts this summer]]

Just wait till electric cars become mandatory, and homes are forced to convert from fossil fuels for heating and cooking to electric only. Gee, won’t thst be swell!

[Huskrrrr]

Yes, Grundig makes quality radios. I also have a Goal Zero battery for emergencies that is rechargeable with a portable briefcase solar panel. This will keep laptops, tablets, cellphones, radios and small lights running during an emergency.

[occamrzr06]

You might need to provide us with some additional information.

Just a general emergency raido. I'm not looking to communicate, i.e. Ham Radio, just general information, weather, etc.

Solar is not a real high priority, since I don't believe they are as efficient as advertised, for the money you spend.

[Pollard]

When we lived off grid, we had a handheld scanner with wx/weather. It was our only source for weather reports. Didn’t use the police/fire scanner because we were in rural Missouri where nothing really happens. The channels were still programmed for Florida police/fire and there was a lot of chatter back in FL.

It’s a Radio Shack - Realistic Pro-92 but it wouldn’t pick up newer trunked systems.

Before I would go with some hand cranked Chinajunk emergency radio, I’d look for a scanner or multi use receiver. Either is apt to get wx.

National Weather Service, AM/FM for Emergency Alert System, scanner for police/fire info. Ham and shortwave would be nice. Portable won’t get as good of reception as stationary with external antenna but portable will run off of batteries.

My handheld scanner takes 9 AA batteries for a total of 12vdc. It can be powered off a car battery. With the right rechargeable batteries, it will charge the batteries from 120 AC or 12vdc vehicle. Even the 9 AA batteries last a long time. A fully charged car battery would likely last months. It came with a short rubbery antenna but I bought a telescopic antenna for it. Antenna had instructions on how much to extend it for various frequency ranges.

You can buy small, self contained solar panel setups that put out 5vdc and 12 vdc for charging gadgets. The 5vdc is in the form of USB ports for charging phones etc.

[Big Red Badger]

FR is my ‘Go To’ Coms.

[srmanuel]

I have a Tecsun PL-880, it’s picks up just about everything and works great, it’s a little on the expensive side.

[occamrzr06]

Before I would go with some hand cranked Chinajunk emergency radio, I’d look for a scanner or multi use receiver

We have a scanner. The police around here, and many places, have gone encrypted, so we don't get many channels that lock.

[FreedomPoster]

In an extended outage the local cell tower will go down. We had one around New Years, and I think the tower might have lasted 2 hours on battery.

[Bonemaker]

Get one you can hand crank for power when batteries run out which they definitely will.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

moovova :" Sparky bkmk... "

Ping

[Pollard]

$120

The Uniden SR30C 500 Channel Compact Handheld Scanner is ideal for listening to events as they unfold. During severe weather or other disasters, you can listen to reports going directly to emergency agencies as they happen. The SR30C covers the bands used by ham or Amateur Radio Operators for Emergency reporting including NOAA weather broadcasts, as well as frequencies used at other events such as auto races, local events and more. It even has a built-in USB charger.

Not recommending this particular radio but something like this would be my preference. Police/fire, weather and some ham. You can program the frequencies using a PC and can download your local frequencies from Radio Reference so you don't have to type them in. It used to be a free service but I don't think it is any more. It is free to look up the frequencies though and they have them all. Not just local but local/county/state/fed. Even FEMA has a particular set of frequencies.

Solar Chargers and one with a built in battery would be best so it can be used at night. https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-solar-chargers I have no idea what's good/bad. Just for reference or a starting point.

[DuncanWaring]

Do you have a car?

Does it have a radio?