Are You Ready For A Blackout In Your Area? (Vanity - Poll)

Aug 15, 03 | SLB

[SLB]

How many FReepers feel they would be ready for a blackout right NOW? What do you do that makes you feel like you are or are not? How about personal safety.

[Prof Engineer]

I see you are an active ham. At age 48, I have finally started reading about amateur radio. Would you recommend a 2M radio and the basic license for emergency purposes?

See if there is an active Skywarn, ARES or RACES group in your area. Many of the preparedness aspects are the same. You might also look to see what lessons Hams learned during 9/11 and the Columbia recovery operations.

73 OM

[steve86]

I use Sta-Bil and have yet to see any deterioration in the fuel performance after storing it for a year, even in a temperamental high-performance two-stroke engine with high octane requirements.

[Gabz]

Hubby is looking at an LP generator because supply for that is very reliable around here.

And I'll remember the fire extinguisher trick for the beer!!! I just looked and those are the types of extinguishers we have!!!!

[ASA Vet]

How about "Fricassed neighborhood cat?"

[Squantos]

My recent move to a new casa forced me to buy a new wood stove.......pretty kewl, and will bake bread in the upper "cook box" . It's a rais brand. A sliding door on that upper cubbyhole slides closed for the baking and cooking duty. Keeps the house nice and toasty warm during cold spells.........

Stay safe !

[Tijeras_Slim]

My set up is pretty low tech. Only thing that worries me is having the pipes freeze (we had an ice storm a couple winters back that knocked power out for 35 hours). I can run the thermostats and pump on my furnace for 3 days off this industrial strength UPS I "borrow" from work when the weather looks grim. All else can be handled with coleman lanterns. If it's sunny, I'll stay in the greenhouse.

PS: Bagpipes scare the hell out of me!

[Hatteras]

These a-holes on the major networks and cable news shows are so full of themselves, they can kiss my butt. They don't realize that the rest of the country, outside the major cities go through these things on a regular basis. I've had my share of hurricanes and have gone a two or three weeks without power in the past (makes for great community cookouts). I didn't see them sending out reporters and stopping all other news coverage to come down and see how I was doing when we were "plunged into darkness" for a week after Hurricane Fran in '96 or other hurricanes we've had along the coast. Not only were we "plunged into darkness" for a week, but we spent a week cutting trees off all the neighborhood houses and clearing the streets.

But then again, they might have sent reporters down and stopped all their other coverage and I just didn't know it because I wasn't able to watch TV anyhow. (By the way, if you need ice? Try the mini-marts near the hospitals and police stations)

It is kind of humorous when you think about it. No terrorism? Great! Let's move on. The only ones who really care about the power outage are the ones that can't turn on the TV!

[novacation]

Oh please let there be one in California!It would be the final nail in the coffin for Gray.

[SLB]

I agree - the rest of the country goes on, but the news folks think the world revolves around them. Sure it affected lots of folks, but no one holds a gun ot their heads and makes them live in the city.

[archy]

I'd be really interested in hearing more about that. What kind of deterioration was there? Low compression, valve train problems, actual wear to the power head armature? I wonder if people went more than 20 hours or so without changing the crankcase oil? (that's another thing we need to provision).

Yes. Neglect of oil changes seems to have been the worst maintenance failure, aside from those trying to pull home A/C systems off little Honda 3-watt units. A lot of those running aircooled units inside carports or garage bays ended up with overheating problems, too; first thing I did with the units we were running was to set up a window fan pointed at them. As they begin trickling back to the dealers for repair or replacement, I should get a better picture of what failed first on which models, but I think most of the problems were caused by neglect or ignorance rather than design or construction flaws. I know of at least one with burned-out valves, and one that lost compression and wouldn't start.

My own Onan 4KW units performed like little champions, replacements for three mismatched previous units I'd had.

I have a basic solar system similar to what you are putting together. It is great in the summer for backup power (have several inverters up to 2500 watt), but pretty much worthless in December and January at this latitude even when it's sunny for a few hours (Washington State).

Right now I'm happy with having solar as a source for recharging my radio and computer standby batteries and providing 12 volt battery backup for emergency lights at night. Moving up to limited 110-volt solar backup seems the next logical step, but I'm going to wait until my probable pending relocation either takes place or is forestalled before going overboard. But solar offers interesting possibilities, including, for now, the recharging of the AA penlight cells I'd otherwise be going through like so much popcorn

I see you are an active ham. At age 48, I have finally started reading about amateur radio. Would you recommend a 2M radio and the basic license for emergency purposes? I have a one-tone van outfitted for camping (solar, generators, etc). Any recommendations on a good mobile radio I could use at home or in the van? TIA.

Yeah, you'll want to get your novice and go up to tech class, at least; no sweat, it's no code now. I'm more into 6-meter units than I am 2-meter, but 2M handhelds are so commonplace and repeaters so available that you really want to have one available and check in with your local net even if that's not where your later interests lie. And I'm also a Skywarn stormwatch volunteer, and that's done locally over a 2-meter net, so that too is a good reason for a 2-meter rig, even if you listen more than talk...you'll learn more that way.

-archy-/-

[archy]

PS: Bagpipes scare the hell out of me!

This is a sign that you're still rational. Maori haka war chants should have a similar effect, and are also great fun on karaoke nights when pals armtwist you into going along.

-archy-/-

[archy]

My recent move to a new casa forced me to buy a new wood stove.......pretty kewl, and will bake bread in the upper "cook box".

Yep, looks like you could make charcoal in that oven box as well. Looks like a nice unit. It's a good deal more elegant than my cast-iron Estate caboose stove, and a little better suited to fitting in with a residential living room.

Looks like there's enough room on that flat upper surface for a skillit or Dutch oven or two, as well, the lack of which is my primary gripe against some of the modern *Swedish Stove* woodburners. -archy-/-

[Tijeras_Slim]

That's the same model Martha Stweart has!

[archy]

How about "Fricassed neighborhood cat?"

We have plenty of squirrels in the immediate neighborhood; they'll do for fricasee. An air rifle, wrist rocket slingshot or scoped and silenced .22 pistol seems to be a usable tool for such purposes hereabouts.

Over the run of a couple of months or so, as could happen during an extended snowstorm series, flooding, or in the aftermath of a major earthquake, I'd rather have the kitties around to clear up local rodent populations. Particularly rats.

-archy-/-

[Tijeras_Slim]

You're assuming I have friends who partake of karaoke... It's bad enough I hang out on the web with Texans. :)

[BureaucratusMaximus]

I think I pulled up the model you got on the troy-built web site, you got 4 120v outlets to work with on that model...what did you end up doing with your extension cords? I'm guessing you dedicated one for the fridge, one for the freezer, one for the water heater, and one to a power strip that you used for tv/radio/computer.

BTW...that really looks like a good deal, and thanks for your response.

[Free Trapper]

I sometimes use a lot of 12v batteries but I don't care to tie up generators or vehicles for charging them.

One of my kids used an old push lawnmower engine and chasis along with a pulley,cables,belt and vehicle alternator to make an easy to wheel around generator for batteries.

With the large wheeled lawnmower frame,it's easy to run up and down lake and riverbanks to boats and is handy for jump starting cars or putting a pretty fast charge on batteries.

I believe my kids had even rigged it to run something that works off 110 current the other day but I'm not certain.I need to ask them.

[Mo1]

How many FReepers feel they would be ready for a blackout right NOW?

Yep .. I'm one of those paranoid types and I'm still Y2k ready

[archy]

Hubby is looking at an LP generator because supply for that is very reliable around here.

And I'll remember the fire extinguisher trick for the beer!!! I just looked and those are the types of extinguishers we have!!!!

Try a 24-can case *slab* of beer on the ground, with a line of cans stacked around the outside edge as a *dam* to hold the expanding gas from the extinguisher against them a bit longer, or *lining* the inside of a cooler or ice chest so the flat surfaces of all the cans can be hit with the blast. We've used a handy car trunk as well. Then, once they're as chilled as you can get them- our large wheeled airport CO2 fire extinguishers could freeze cans solid- put them in a cooler to keep them chilled as long as possible while you enjoy your treat.

You'll find some other references to LP generator types in this thread; I'd suggest letting hubby have a good read at his liesure here later. It looks like this is going to be a good one for bookmarking.

-archy-/-

[archy]

Hubby is looking at an LP generator because supply for that is very reliable around here.

See Post # 111 by Squantos, above. I'd suggest a FReepmail about details of his LP unit would be of some interest to you.