Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Ex-MA Hole on January 15, 2009, 01:49:49 PM
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I was sitting in the reading room, and realized I had neglected y'all a bit with a somewhat valuable lesson that I had learned.
Do y'all have a battery powered radio?
Most, I assume, will say that they do not.
In this age of electronic crapola, most of us (again, I am assuming this), don't have an actual AM/FM radio. Ipod? Sure. MP3? Sure. Radio? Nope.
We lost power for five days, and it was an important source of information. It was also soothing...
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It was summertime about five years ago. Jen and I were looking for something to do, so we hopped in the car and drove up 89 to the VT/NH border to see what was there. We found an LL Bean store. I had to go in. They had a little windup radio with a cheezy light, AM/FM radio and the weatherband. This was back when I had extra money, so I just HAD to have one. You know, just in case. Jen rolled her eyes and went along with my paranoia...I brought it home, stuck four batteries in the case (NOT in the radio, lest they bleed and fry the radio) and stuck it on the kitchen counter in the corner. Where it sat.
And sat.
And sat.
Last fall I setup my man cave, and migrated it down there.
Where it sat.
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Well, a couple of weeks back we had that ice storm. You need to remember that Jen had TWO radial rears replaced Wednesday in Boston, and we got home around 10:30 at night. The surgery was scheduled for 2 1/2 to three hours, and it took over four. She has another screw in her arm, and they had to remove and reroute her bicep. I was up at 4:00AM the next morning (Thursday) to drive to Manchester to the only 24hour pharmacy in the area.
That night, we went to bed at 10, and I was woken up at 12:30AM to no power. Woken up? No, actually I was suffocated at 12:30. I have sleep apnea. When the power goes, so does your air. NOT a happy feeling, trust me.
We knew were were getting a storm, but in all of the prep with Jen, we never really paid attention to what we were getting.
We tossed and turned until 4AM Friday morning, then got up. No heat. NO FREAKING COFFEE EITHER. Oh wait. I have that camping coffee thing.
Phew. Coffee.
So, how bad is it?
No idea.
How long are we projected to be out?
No idea.
Jen, you have to understand, NEEDS background noise. The TV is ALWAYS on when she is home. She is not watching it, but needs the noise.
The silence was bothering her. Her shoulder was bothering her. The cold was bothering her.
Then, I remembered the radio.
I laughed, retreived it, put the batteries in, and had news, but more importantly, had a voice from the outside.
It was soothing to her. It gave us the info we needed as far as severity and current situation. It took her mind off of her shoulder.
Ah, yes, my paranoia paid off.....and she even admitted it!!!
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A couple of side notes:
1. I normally know EXACTLY where my flashlights are. My Daughter had "stolen" them all when we made a fort the weekend prior. I was completely lost in the dark. Stupid move on my part. Remember where at least one light is.
2. The radio that I bought is:
http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?categoryId=55377&storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&from=SR&feat=sr
I dont work for LL Bean, nor am I affiliated with them. It was a good product, and earned it's keep that morning.
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Two of them, handcrank emergency with weather bands, weather/alert tone, light and cellphone chargers with many different connectors. Can sit and crank it to charge your cellphone.
Also, every closet has one of the stubby Dorcy waterproof LED lights that will run 200 hours, hanging on a 3M hook on the inside of the door's frame, out of sight. There are also a lot of white snaplights.
I grew up in Florida. Power failures happened quite a lot. :)
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As a matter of fact, yes.
The radio/shaving mirror I have in the shower.
I also have a small travel alarm clock/radio that, surprisingly, has fantastic reception.
I also have a couple of boomboxes that take batteries, but I doubt that I have batteries.
And, I always have the radio in the car.
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I'm going to have to choose a battery-powered digital TV soon, too.
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Several radios (AM, FM, Amateur) and multiple means to power them (AC, battery, solar).
Chris
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Yes. Plus a carton of candles and a brick of matches.
Brad
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Several.
Want one? =D
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Cabela's sells the same unit if you're not a Beaniac. I'm going to get one for the same "Oh ****" security.
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Strangely enough, my father always gets me stuff like this for Christmas. This year he got me a hand crank radio, with a lot of other features (motion detector with high pitched, loud alarm, flashlight, other stuff). The strange part is that I don't think he has such tools. Of course he knows that I appreciate that stuff.
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I have a Eton crank radio my wife got me a few years ago.
http://www.etoncorp.com/product_card/?p_ProductDbId=6138
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My company gave all the employees in our area at least a weather radio with hand crank. I didn't think much of it and didn't use it during the last hurricane, but several people I work with said they did. My boss said the hand crank kept his 4 kids busy taking turns cranking the handle and charging the radio. The light on it was handy also.
I listen to AM radio a lot so I have at least 3 radios that take batteries plus one walkman style radio. Only one of the table top versions actually has batteries though.
Due to hurricane season every year, I try to keep some of AA, AAA, C, and D batteries on hand.
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I have one that I keep in my reloading area. I use ac with it but have lots of AA and D batteries in the same room. Small flashlights hang from each doorknob in the apartment. If power goes out a light is near to hand.
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Yep, got a few. One hand crank radio along with a battery operated one in our camping box and another in the house next to the flashlights and spare batteries.
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Two of them, handcrank emergency with weather bands, weather/alert tone, light and cellphone chargers with many different connectors. Can sit and crank it to charge your cellphone.
Sounds interesting. Any info you could share on make/model?
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Sounds interesting. Any info you could share on make/model?
Eton...the ones other people have mentioned here. You can find them for sale at Cabelas, Target, Bean, all sorts of places.
The thing is, I wish someone would make a pull-cord flywheel charger instead. That's much more efficient than a crank.
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Here is my emergency radio that also is small enough to bring backpacking. It sounds like I have the same one Manedwolf has.
The nice thing for emergencies and backpacking is that it has all the weather channels.
http://www.rei.com/product/777507
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.rei.com%2Fmedia%2Fll%2Ffc3cadd7-7861-4fe3-9766-7678da657c54.jpg&hash=2ba4c338cd2bb18b1779d276138bbdc8643768d5)
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I don't have a battery powered radio.
I have two generators, a couple of marine batteries, a couple of inverters, and plenty of gas in the four cars in the driveway.
And extension cords. Don't forget extension cords.
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I don't have a battery powered radio.
I have two generators, a couple of marine batteries, a couple of inverters, and plenty of gas in the four cars in the driveway.
And extension cords. Don't forget extension cords.
But do you have a human treadmill powered generator?
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The electronics In my Oh S#!t backpack include a Midland CB/weather radio, a small Panasonic AM/FM, a pair of Motorola FRS/GRMS radios, my Lowrance GPS, and a couple of mini Maglights. All of which run on AA batteries that get restocked annually after hunting season.
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Actually, yes I do. Two actually. :D
That and at last count I have enough flashlights and batteries to provide 10 hours of light daily for the better part of a year. Then I move to the oil lamps. :D
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I've got a crystal radio, does that count.
Although I do like that Eton thing from REI.... espcially the kid powered crank and the ability to pick up the NWS stations.
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One can always build themselves a Foxhole radio:
http://dimme.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/wp_foxholeradio.pdf
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I've got one of those crank powered radios that NPR gave me after funding them.
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I've got a few. My favorite is an older Sony ICF-2003 that I listen to almost every day.
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Yep...AM/FM weather radio with battery and/or crank. Also have a few L.E.D. crank lanterns, that I got at Kohls of all places. They work pretty well though.
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Uh... I've also got a floorstanding Philco tube radio that has shortwave...
Anyone want it? I don't have room for it, and the kids will kill it.
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Yes. AC/DC, probably cheapest in house, abd best reception (selectivity/sensitivity).
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I have one good battery operated radio. I'm thinking about buying one with the hand crank as a backup. I might suggest if you use the radio on DC current and it has batteries, I would suggest you periodically check those batteries to make sure they have not leaked as they get older.
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I have one good battery operated radio. I'm thinking about buying one with the hand crank as a backup. I might suggest if you use the radio on DC current and it has batteries, I would suggest you periodically check those batteries to make sure they have not leaked as they get older.
Roger that! Very messy!
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Do you have a battery powered radio?
Does a 2-way radio count ? =)
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We actually do have an AC/DC powered radio - just AM/FM, no weather or shortwave, and no hand-crank, either. We don't get too much use out of it, really, but it was handy a few months back when bad weather dropped the FOURTH tree this year from the same yard up the block from us, taking out our neighborhood's power for a few hours.
Frakkers couldn't be bothered to deal with any of them, either - *I* got to pull two of the trees out of the road so I could get home from work, and in the second case, the bastards pulled out of their driveway right next to where I was working to clear the road in order to go somewhere, and came back while I was still clearing the road, and STILL didn't do anything. Forunately, one of the other people living nearby stopped and helped me out very shortly thereafter, restoring some of my faith in humanity - he even thanked me for my efforts, which I greatly appreciated.
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Uh... I've also got a floorstanding Philco tube radio that has shortwave...
Anyone want it? I don't have room for it, and the kids will kill it.
YES, if you're serious.
My dad had an old tube radio that he ditched. "I didn't know you wanted it"
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Where do you live? The sucker is a floor-standing tombstone.
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I don't even have a radio, or any other type of music playing device.
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I don't even have a radio, or any other type of music playing device.
Then what are you posting from? =D
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A Bunch.
A number of small AM and AM/FM radios, one very small Grundig AM/FM/SW (inc SSB), one Grundig AM/FM/SW hand crank - and three handheld wideband radio receivers that cover everything from about 0.5 Mhz through to about 2450 Mhz.
IMO everyone should invest in a good handheld wideband receiver. With the advent of digital transmissions, one analog and one digital is a good idea. The newest varieties from makers such as Icom, Yaesu etc are very compact.
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http://gtr5.com
http://ssunitedstates.org
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I'm in the majority - multiple hand cranked/solar radios with weather alert as well. =)