Now you have to make sure your car has a radio (at least AM)?

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

That's great for entertainment purposes, but worthless for emergency purposes. When the cellular is out and you're too far for FM to reach you, AM may be the only option, that is IF your vehicle has it.

I've managed to go 45 years without needing AM or any radio for emergency purposes. Even when a supercell came through Alabama back in 2011 and 58 tornadoes touched down in 2 days the TV stations kept broadcasting. (They were broadcasting the tornado rolling through the West and North side of Birmingham live.)

(6 EF0, 29 EF1, 8 EF2, 6 EF3, 7 EF4, 2 EF5)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Super_Outbreak

I do have a hand crank AM / FM / weather radio in the earthquake kit.

[redpoint5]

I plan on using HAM radios for 2-way communication, which is way more important in an emergency than someone saying the nuclear bomb you managed to survive through was the cause of the nuclear explosion you managed to survive through.

Public broadcasts cater to the most inept among us. They include information like get warmer if it's too cold, or don't drive through water that's too high. You might be tempted to touch down powerlines, but maybe don't.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by JSH

I've managed to go 45 years without needing AM or any radio for emergency purposes. Even when a supercell came through Alabama back in 2011 and 58 tornadoes touched down in 2 days the TV stations kept broadcasting. (They were broadcasting the tornado rolling through the West and North side of Birmingham live.)

(6 EF0, 29 EF1, 8 EF2, 6 EF3, 7 EF4, 2 EF5)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Super_Outbreak

TV doesn't work in a power outage unless you have a way to power it through battery. They do make ATSC TV tuners for Android phones and tablets though...

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I plan on using HAM radios for 2-way communication, which is way more important in an emergency than someone saying the nuclear bomb you managed to survive through was the cause of the nuclear explosion you managed to survive through.

Public broadcasts cater to the most inept among us. They include information like get warmer if it's too cold, or don't drive through water that's too high. You might be tempted to touch down powerlines, but maybe don't.

When the power, phone and internet all went out here, the police and other authorities were using the local stations to broadcast what to do. I went out into the car to listen, but the recommendation was "Stay inside. Do not go out and sit in your car, it is too dangerous. Please wait inside for further instructions." What are you supposed to do with that? Keep going out to listen every time the wind calms down a little? Good thing I have a backup battery powered portable radio.

I'm also into ham radio and have a 40ft extending antenna mast with full sized 20 meter, 40 meter and 80 meter half wave dipole antennas on it.

Originally Posted by JSH

I do have a hand crank AM / FM / weather radio in the earthquake kit.

I also have a hand crank AM / FM / weather radio in my emergency to-go bag.

[freebeard]

Shortwave: The Warlord's Radio

S2 -- 210,402 views -- 7 Aug 2022

00:00 - Introduction
04:10 - The Emergency Itself
08:10 - The Nature of the Communication
10:26 - MARS Mod
14:24 - Mobility and Fitness
18:40 - Data Modes - RTTY
23:26 - Sending Images
28:37 - JS8Call
31:56 - Winlink
35:41 - Comm Scheduling
41:42 - Encryption
42:58 - Thinking Big
47:15 - Closing Thoughts

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

AM is the only way I can get stations from out-of-town without an internet connection. There's one that's about 70 miles away that comes in during the day. Then at night I can't listen to it as another station interferes, but I get a lot of other AM stations at night.

Interesting. Your report sounds similar to what Shortwave listeners usually do.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

TV doesn't work in a power outage unless you have a way to power it through battery. They do make ATSC TV tuners for Android phones and tablets though...

Both radio stations and tv stations need power to broadcast.

On my end I have multiple ways to provide electrical power.
1. My shed is solar powered. Cheaper than running an electrical line from the house and the shed is our dedicated shelter in case of an Cascadia earthquake. I fully expect our house to be unlivable and it is way easier to heat a 200 sq ft shed than a 1000 sq ft house. The shed has solar, battery, and an inverter.

2. If we need more juice the campervan has more solar, batteries, and a 2000 watt inverter.

3. The Ambulance will have 1800 watts of solar, 10 kWh of LFP battery, and a 6000 watt inverter. (The panels have arrived and are waiting for the 80/20 to make racking)

(BTW - a lot of modern cars have built in 120V inverters now)


All my vehicles have AM radio but I don't care if they have AM in the future. If we are at the point of nuclear war of some other similar scenario that takes out all of the TV stations and dozens of FM stations around me I have a lot more to worry about than getting radio broadcasts.

However, I live in a city. If you live in a remote rural area out of FM radio range you have to prepare for that unique challenge. It goes back to my earlier statement above - automakers are talking out AM radios because it cost money to keep them and the VAST majority of buyers don't care.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by JSH

Both radio stations and tv stations need power to broadcast.

On my end I have multiple ways to provide electrical power.
1. My shed is solar powered. Cheaper than running an electrical line from the house and the shed is our dedicated shelter in case of an Cascadia earthquake. I fully expect our house to be unlivable and it is way easier to heat a 200 sq ft shed than a 1000 sq ft house. The shed has solar, battery, and an inverter.

2. If we need more juice the campervan has more solar, batteries, and a 2000 watt inverter.

3. The Ambulance will have 1800 watts of solar, 10 kWh of LFP battery, and a 6000 watt inverter. (The panels have arrived and are waiting for the 80/20 to make racking)

(BTW - a lot of modern cars have built in 120V inverters now)


All my vehicles have AM radio but I don't care if they have AM in the future. If we are at the point of nuclear war of some other similar scenario that takes out all of the TV stations and dozens of FM stations around me I have a lot more to worry about than getting radio broadcasts.

However, I live in a city. If you live in a remote rural area out of FM radio range you have to prepare for that unique challenge. It goes back to my earlier statement above - automakers are talking out AM radios because it cost money to keep them and the VAST majority of buyers don't care.

The point was the vast majority of people don't have a battery powered TV. If the power, internet and phone go out, the vast majority will not have any way of watching TV.

Cars still have FM radios, but that could go away too. But if you don't have a car, you're out of luck as phones no longer have FM radio.

The point is that AM, FM and broadcast TV are going away because "the VAST majority of buyers don't care". I know you said that of AM radio, but it looks like the same is happening to all broadcast radio and TV. It's a push towards an internet-only world, where your only way of communicating will be pushed through the internet in one way or another. All phone lines in my valley, both home phones and cellular, all go through the same data cable that feeds all the internet. When that gets affected, all phones and internet stop working.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

The point was the vast majority of people don't have a battery powered TV. If the power, internet and phone go out, the vast majority will not have any way of watching TV.

Most people don't take even the slightest bit of effort to prepare for weather emergencies. The average TV consumes 150 watts and an inverter sized to run a TV and a fridge is $70 to $200.

I've never really seen the point of buying a generator as I've owned a hybrid or EV for more than 15 years now but they are also cheap:

(Personally I think most people would do better with a deep cell battery and invertor than a small generator.)

[freebeard]

World needs a network that has been pushed to low Earth orbit. Just so happens the richest African-American is on the case.

Still, I think crystal radios should be grandfathered. Tesla's electrical radio, notsomuch.

Originally Posted by JSH

(Personally I think most people would do better with a deep cell battery and invertor than a small generator.)

Budget DIY Ecoflow Delta Pro! More power for less money

I like the Ecoflow Delta, but way misunderestimated the price. Here is more power for less money.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by JSH

Most people don't take even the slightest bit of effort to prepare for weather emergencies. The average TV consumes 150 watts and an inverter sized to run a TV and a fridge is $70 to $200.

I've never really seen the point of buying a generator as I've owned a hybrid or EV for more than 15 years now but they are also cheap:

(Personally I think most people would do better with a deep cell battery and invertor than a small generator.)

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Generators can also be deadly. Even making sure it's outside isn't enough. 50% of carbon monoxide deaths from generators were from generators that were outside.

Edit. Of course using a car with an ICE for the same reasons is also dangerous.

This does bring up a question though. What battery would work in a cold climate like mine? Or what can be done to keep one from freezing? We still have several feet of snow and quite a while before it's warm again.