As you have probably seen on the news, we had some pretty severe weather in NC yesterday. I live in Fayetteville, NC, and the tornado's track was centered about a mile from my house. We lost power and cable, and I do not currently own an emergency radio, which will shortly be rectified. We knew something bad was happening, but had no outside connection except my iphone and some weather applications, which did prove very useful, until the cell phone system dropped as well. We did not get anything back until this afternoon (17 April). So now I am shopping for a good emergency radio which can operate from multiple power sources. Recommendations anyone?

Shortly after the tornado passed (and the weather cleared quickly, making it seem surreal) I went to see what happened and how I could help. I took everything I could carry in my car. It was very good to see how everyone pulled together and immediately began to get control of the situation, even before the emergency crews arrived. This is a military town, and the affect of that was evident in the orderliness of the population in the area. Soldiers and retired soldiers were directing traffic, casualty collection centers were established with trained medics, rescue began right away, and supplies such as food and water was immediately being distributed. Everyone was accounting for their neighbors and providing shelter and transportation to shelters. I was very proud of my community. We were blessed that we had no more casualties than we did.

Glad to hear you all are pulling together. Tornadoes suck - I would rather deal with earthquakes, a fortunate circumstance given my location.

I have an Eton model, runs on AC (when I get the adapter), but also on three AA batteries, as well as a hand crank. It has a weather band. I wouldn't be without a weather radio in tornado country, or earthquake country, either.

It's good to hear that your community pulled together. A tornado touched down in our town last year and as sad as it was to see, some of us tried to get in and help only to be stopped and scolded by people because they thought we were "sight-seeing". I too have been searching for a good multi-band radio. I have a police scanner and a weather scanner, but these are all but useless after the danger has passed and the power is out. Eton and Grundig come up everywhere I search, but are there better without having to pay through the nose?

Glad you're ok Montanero. Sounds like quite a day in NC! My-in laws were about a mile away from a twister too and have had the same thought about a weather radio. Sounds like a great idea!

We've got a Grundig FR-200. It was a gift and not at all high end but does the job. It runs on ac power, 3 AAs or crank. There's also another wrapped battery pack in there that I just noticed. I'll have to find out more about.

I've seen more advanced models that have a solar charger too.

I don't know much about them, but the NOAA-type radios that turn on automatically when there is a local alert sound good to me.

This weather radio site seems to have a good selection, maybe it can give you some ideas on what features you want.

I'm glad your area wasn't hit as hard as some were.

Sue

I've used a Grundig FR200 (same as Eton) as bacpackac noted for about 10 years, and the NiMh batteries are still operable with the hand crank... there are probably better units available now, but it does as required...use a small battery portable digital TV for entertainment during long power outages...

for NOAA warning as Susan commented, if you get one that allows you to program your specific geographic area code (SAME circuitry), it cuts down on the false alarms

Thanks Les!

Radio shack has sometime sales on the Eton brands; good buys then. I've only seen sales prices advertised when I walk into the stores, not usually in the media: http://www.radioshack.com/family/index.j...rodsInSession=1

C. Crane sells excellent stuff: http://www.ccrane.com/radios/weather-radios/

Good to hear ya'll handled everything,Above&Beyond!I have an Eton FR-400 that has proven it's worth to me for the last 4yrs,Multi-powered-crank,4-AA,a/c adapter & Is armored in rubber,& Water resistant.I fumbled it about a year ago,watched it tumble down close to 250 yds of sandstone cliff into the Great Pacific,Thrashed myself decently fetching it,hauled it up topside,cleaned it like a field stripped AKM,& It came on & performed like a Valmet,Only the rubber housing guards had teeth marks!I paid $60 for it in '07 at an NRA gunshow in Virginny!

I got an ETON radio, AM/FM/weather bands, operates solar, batteries, windup, AC w/converter. Has a flashlight and flasher onboard also. Bed Bath and Beyond used to have them (Cross Creek Plaza) and I am pretty sure that Radio Shack still does. Without this radio we wouldn't have had a clue Saturday, we had no bad weather, but the radio went off and told us about the tornadoes up by post. Also, think about spending $8 on the WRAL weather call. More than once the call has alerted us to bad weather before we knew it was coming in.

No affiliations to any of the places/things mentioned above, other than I know the area where Montanero lives, more or less, as I live just south of there.

Thanks JBMat, I do have the WRAL call and a weather alert app on my iphone, along with the weather channel app with radar coverage. These were right on the money, and we knew what to expect, just not exactly where. I was actually out in the rain keeping a watch when it happened, and of course got the family into the best protection we have. After the tornado was gone, and we had not communications at all is when I really felt the need for the radio. I am not sure if any information was put out, but if it were a more long term disaster, I am sure it would become more important.

Do you think an internet weather site, displaying Doppler radar, would have been of any value?

That and the apps were great for warning, but all comms were lost when the storm hit. It took a few hours for cell phone service to be restored, quite a few more for power, and about 24 hours for cable and internet. I am thinking more about information after the fact. I am even considering a battery powered TV. However, will anyone be transmitting any information? By radio or TV?

Glad you made it through it ok.


As for weather radios, I err on the side of having too many. I have five Midland WR-100 models around the house, basement and garage. An inexpensive model that I found on sale for $10.00. They were cheap enough to warrant buying them.

I also have the WR-300 on the desk in my office. A much nicer model.

Both the 100 and 300 have battery back-up and have the configurable alert options.

The one I really like is their XT511 Base Camp model (not just a weather radio). It has Weather, FRS (no FCC license needed)/GMRS (FCC license needed but no test required and call sign is allocated to an entire family), AM/FM; runs off of AC, Alkaline Batteries and has a Hand Crank/Dynamo and rechargeable batteries.

It also comes with a LED light on the side (not the front like some other brands) so you don't blind yourself if you need the light on while adjusting the radio controls.

It even has a USB port for charging small portables such as many android phones, iPhones, etc.

I'm a Ham operator who participates in the Weather Watch / SkyWarn program and have my portable, weatherproof Yaesu HT, which has weather band also. Probably helps explain why I have so many radios I've collected over the years.

While not everyone wants to go the Ham route (and expense), I feel it is prudent to at least have the FRS/GMRS radios (I have portables for my wife and two kids). That at least gives us a short range communication options. Also, GMRS now supports the use of repeaters so there is a chance the range can be effectively extended. Of course, central repeaters are potentially susceptible to outages during extreme conditions, just as a cell tower might be. That said, most Amateur repeater sites need to be prepared to operate during emergencies so most have backup generators and/or battery backups, so short of losing the antenna(s), they are almost always available in bad conditions and there is a team of volunteers generally ready to respond to issues, should they go down. There is some small chance that the same site that hosts an Amateur repeater may host a GMRS repeater also.

FYI, I have no affiliation with Midland. While they certainly aren't the most expensive units around, for me they work well for the price and seem to me to have been designed with a reasonable amount of forethought.
I generally just have them around the house. I’ve taken the XT511 on two camping trips but it has NOT been exposed to any seriously bad weather conditions, so I can't speak to how well it would hold up if exposed to extreme conditions. I don’t believe it is meant to be weatherproof.

Of course, evaluate them for yourself, as YMMV.
So, probably way more than you probably ever wanted to know about this, but thought I would offer it up.

Regards,
Buckeye

Edited for typos.

Montanero...I live about 35miles from Tampa/St Pete, and we have a really good Doppler radar net incorporating most of the TV stations in the Tampa Bay area and NOAA at Ruskin... I have a small digital portable TV from Best Buy, and am able to pick up 5 stations using the telescoping antenna...luckily one station has a tower about 6miles and broadcasts weather...try the unit out before you buy, there was a significant difference in price and quality.... I bought it after the 04/05 hurricane season, with intentions to be used with a 12v auto battery and a female cigarette lighter adapter with battery clamps...plan is to run fan and TV off a couple of car batteries... though I do have a 3500w alternator and a small solar capability

as for will the stations be up...we might have had gusts over 125mph but probably only 85 sustained here, nothing like a tornado