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Retekess V115 Digital Radio AM FM, Portable Shortwave Radios, Rechargeable Radio Digital Tuner and Presets, Support Micro SD and AUX Record, Bass Speaker?
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People don't have radios anymore? Really?
I have lots of radios, one handy in every room I use frequently. This is a recent acquisition.
> Retekess V115 Digital AM FM Radio Portable, Rechargeable Radio Digital Tuner, 9 Band Shortwave Radios, Support Micro SD Card and AUX Recording
$19.
I mostly use it to listen to NPR, but I also use it to listen to audiobooks when I'm stationary (e.g. washing dishes) and don't want to bother with earbuds.
(I have no affiliation with the product.)
A few more ideas :
I would suggest having a battery-powered FM radio (and extra batteries if it's battery powered, or get one which charges via USB like the one I linked) to listen to the news and get vital information.
Also (if not too late), order a sawyer mini (best) or lifestraw (not as good). If you don't have access to clean water it can help you stay healthy (beware of chemical contamination which cannot be removed by these).
If you have the money, get a Garmin inReach satellite communicator (requires a (relatively cheap) subscription, down to $15ish a month). You can request SOS (much like 911), and send/receive SMS and e-mails, even without cell coverage. Excellent to keep in touch with relatives and in case of emergency. Can be used year-round when hiking, snow-mobile, skiing, ... Don't tell anyone you have this...
Download the offline map of your area on Google Maps on your phone beforehand. Can be priceless to navigate around and doesn't require internet access. Also get the Maps.Me app and download the map of your area too. Google Maps offline maps will expire and disappear from your phone after 30 days (I believe), Maps.Me maps will not.
If the cell service in your area is out of order, use your phone in airplane mode so that it doesn't continuously and desperately looks for a cell to connect to, which will drain the battery VERY quickly. Also use it on the lowest practical brightness setting to save battery power.
If not too late, get big USB power banks (>=10000mAh such as this one) and fully charge them beforehand. It's good as barter items and it can be nice to recharge your things when you have no access to a generator (on the go, or if you don't want to run the generator to avoid attracting attention). You can also get USB lights (this one for instance) and your powerbank doubles as a flashlight with a very long battery life.
Get a first aid kit, and not just one with bandaids... Get a CAT tourniquet, trauma dressing, Celox (preferred) or QuikClot bandage, triangular bandage, SAM splint, ... and know how to use them. Also get the basic medecines (stomach/diarrhea relief, basic painkillers, anti-allergy, and any prescription medecine if you require any). Remember 911 service may be unavailable for some time and you need to be able to take care of injuries. Tourniquets save lives, everyone should have one readily available.
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I am a radio amateur and in these situations I like to have one or two portable radio for two-way communication but I realize it is not for everybody. Still, a pair of FRS/GMRS radio can be helpful. Please note that GMRS requires a (cheap) license in the USA. I would recommend this model which also allows to be used as a scanner and to program the NOAA weather frequencies (do it beforehand) and some local police/EMS/fire frequencies (if allowed in your juridiction).
Please DO NOT use a radio made for amateur radio use, where you can transmit on any frequency, such as the UV-5R; you may interfere with emergency communications, even if you can't hear them, miles away. Please stick to the FRS/GMRS frequencies. The radio above guarantees safe operation and still allows to be used as a scanner.
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Take pictures of all your important documents (ID, properties, ...) and store them in a waterproof plastic bag. Try to keep at least your passport and driver license with you during the storm...
If you have a sump pump, try to arrange so that it can be battery powered and/or connected to your generator. If using battery power, get a battery charger and/or a generator connection, if the outage lasts and the battery runs down. Sometimes homes are not affected by the main storm but are flooded due to the lack of power around the storm and are still ruined, and that's totally preventable.
Also, beforehand, depending of the situation you might want to BLOCK your main sewage pipe. This way you might avoid sewage backflow into your home. There are normally valves already installed but in case of serious flooding (high backpressure) they sometimes are not up to the task.
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Download a few offline movies on the Netflix app (if you have Netflix). I never lived though a hurricane but I assume after a few days/weeks, you might want some entertainment. You can also download e-books. Bonus if it's survival-related e-books.
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Hope this helps... good luck to those affected
PS: oooo, thank you stranger for the gold, I think I never had one before ! Happy prepping :)
> I would like to fix the system so the van Alternator charges the deep cycle battery.
> I would also like have a switch to turn on the stereo so I can run it on the RV system, or the Ignition system when the vehicle is running.
It would be simpler to get a small radio for the RV side. I love this little booger. Also gets shortwave (strong signals at least).
https://www.amazon.com/Retekess-Portable-Transistor-Shortwave-Recorder/dp/B01ARN28SQ
This is an am fm radio capable of recording to a micro sd card for 25 dollars. It also has presets
I think it's a good backup to have. I have an "Eton" brand one and it works just fine. If you search for "emergency radio", nearly all of them have a flashlight built-in now:
I say 'backup' because I think it's best to have dedicated flashlights and a dedicated radio.
For dedicated flashlights, there's a huge rabbit hole of what's "best" since there's been an insane amount of advancement in lighting in the last decade or so (LEDs). My keychain flashlight is literally brighter than the enormous police-style Maglites that took 4 D-cells and doubled as impact-weapons back in the 90s. My advice is just to go with a few from a trusted name brand - Streamlight, Fenix, Nitecore, etc etc.
As for radios, I did around an hour or so of research and came up with this one as the best value/size/utility for what I was looking for (rechargable/portable):
Hope that helps a bit.
I ordered this today
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ARN28SQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_gUO4FbEZZ77XH
This is not a ham radio question, but here is an AM/FM with presets.
Do you believe is it okay. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ARN28SQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_OO7CFbJGG6Z8G
From a consumer's perspective, the difference between short-wave receivers and AM or FM is you need to press a different button. Here's one on sale at Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com.au/Retekess-Portable-Shortwave-Transistor-Recorder/dp/B01ARN28SQ/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&aaxitk=ngyMmugn6hlwCS72EC1AcA&hsa_cr_id=3970123430603&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_1
From a technical perspective, different radio bands operate at different frequencies (equivalently, different wavelength), and also under different legislative/licensing rules.
Check this out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_spectrum#Bands
AM radio broadcasts in the high kHz frequency range: wavelenths measured in hundreds of metres.
FM broadcasts are in the mid MHz range: Eg, station 94.5 FM will be broadcasting at 94.5 Mhz. The wavelength will be just a few metres.
"shortwave" is actually in between these: shorter waves than AM, but longer than FM.
TV uses the next higher frequency band above FM, but check the wikipedia page for the full radio spectrum and how it's used.
For context: the shortest wavelengths on that table is 0.1 mm, but the wavelength of visible light is less than 0.007 mm.
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