KenDavis500 69 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Do you have & use a weather radio when camping? What features do you require on your radio? Which features are useless to you? Is there a radio you recommend? Link to post Share on other sites
KC9DDI 11 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Not a bad idea to have one. We have a few that are battery-operated, waterproof, and handheld sized. The alert feature is nice, but you must know the right frequency and SAME code for the county you'll be in. I'd say it's a good idea for "base camp" type scenarios, and also if you're running a day or resident camp program. Not sure I'd could justify the extra weight for backpacking, though. Link to post Share on other sites
IM_Kathy 32 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 only thing I have is one of those crank powered radio/flashlight deal. I find it easier to tune in to a radio station than to find the right programing for weather radio. we don't live in mountains so never had issue of not getting radio station. and with the crank we may have to take turns keeping it powered up, but don't have to worry about batteries failing us Link to post Share on other sites
Basementdweller 608 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Depends an what your doin and where your going......Car camping you will probably have cell coverage, I just turn up the alert volumes....I just use weather bug and accuweather on my smart phone. For backpacking or places with no cell coverage Sangean DT 400W Weather alert radio Weather resistant, No stupid hand crank, too heavy.....small.... A nice feature would be the to have a portable unit that will take county codes, SAME, Specific area message Encoding, is what it is called....so in the middle of the night if a tornado or flood happens it will wake you up..... Link to post Share on other sites
packsaddle 753 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 If you're going to have a cell phone with you (seems unavoidable these days) you can also consider an APP for weather alerts. In the season, I also take a lightning detector. They've greatly improved in recent years and can give an estimate of whether a bad thing is headed toward you or away. Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle92 110 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 After one event where the rumors were flying, 2/3 of the folks left early, and the worse that happened was about 25 minutes of heavy rain, I got a weather radio. I got a Radio Shack one Benefits: easy to buy Can buy a separate power pack that will allow you to plug it into the radio and recharge batteries. Has it so that you can look up the SAME codes and set up several counties simultaneously. Negatives: VERY LOUD EVAN AT THE LOWEST SETTING (caps to imitate the weather radio at the lowest setting if I did it at the loudest, it would probably be VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY TO THE 10TH POWER LOUD Very poor customer service. Mine was a gift, and it was missing the clip to attach it to the belt. tried to replace it at the local store, no can do without a receipt. Now i could understand no refunds without a receipt, but no exchanges? I called the company's 1800 Customer no service number, and it was really bizarre, in fact they hung up on me and I was not being the typical upset, scream at you over the phone. No, I was telling them about one company I worked for "2, 20 Rule" i.e do something right, only 2 people will be told. do something bad, 20 will be told. And they just hung up on me Also the plastic antenna cover will break off. Link to post Share on other sites
Basementdweller 608 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 So Pack, which detector do you own?????? I looked them up and they range in cost from $30 to several thousand....... So your out with the Troop and it goes off, then what?????? your camping no buildings around????? Forget BSA crouch in the middle of a field on you sleeping pad in the rain by yourself......realistically what do you do???? Link to post Share on other sites
packsaddle 753 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I have one that looks like a pager made by StrikeAlert. I think I paid something like $75 for that one. It's cheap but it has basic functionality. Nicer ones run around $400. The one on the main boat was originally procured through DOD and is fairly old now. But it works really well. I have no idea what it cost originally but it's not one of those expensive models. I'm guessing in the range of around $800. The really expensive ones are usually for permanent installation or for interfacing with a computer and require a substantial antenna. I will tell you that being out on open water in a big aluminum boat with a radio mast on it can be hair-raising, literally, if storms are approaching. Once, while we were anchored like that, we kept hearing these buzzing noises that were a mystery until we noticed the little sparks jumping off the antenna up into the air. This is another one of those times when the concept of 'pucker factor' is appropriate. The team procured lightning detectors shortly thereafter. These detectors give you a warning when the storm is more than 30 miles away. That is usually ample time to study the strength of the signal and determine if it is moving toward you. If so it is time to think about 'Be Prepared' and get the heck into a safe location. Around these parts, that means inside or down in a ravine or deep into a river valley. Basically become the low spot and stop playing golf with those metal shafts or stop fishing with those graphite rods. Ben Franklin got lucky.(This message has been edited by packsaddle) Link to post Share on other sites
KC9DDI 11 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 About lightning detectors... Maybe it's just the geographic area that I'm in (the Great Plains) but I'm not sure I've ever been "surprised" by cloud-to-ground lightning, and I'm not sure I see the need for a lightning detector. In every case I can remember of camping through severe weather, I think I've gotten fair warning that lightning may be close (hearing thunder several minutes before the storm hits, looking west and seeing scary black clouds billowing, etc). I'm just curious - are the weather patterns in other areas of the country such that you might not get adequate warning of impending lightning without a detector of some sort? (This message has been edited by KC9DDI) Link to post Share on other sites
packsaddle 753 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 It does, have some dependence, on terrain. In this region, it is easy, to be hiking a trail, to hear distant thunder, but not be able, to see what direction it is, much less, its direction of movement. I have friends, who spent most, of their lives in ND. They HATE, the inability, to see long distances, here in the South. Link to post Share on other sites
Basementdweller 608 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Yep we are in the foothills and have limited visibility because of terrain and thick trees..... Boating I can clearly understand. Link to post Share on other sites
qwazse 4344 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 KC - you bet your graphite pole lighting can sneak up on you (in the Appalacian foothills)! Especially if you are in a sound dampening wooded ravine and the closest thing to your are noisy scouts. The first strike you notice may be five miles away and closing quickly. I've started to carry a weather radio that is pre-set to national weather service channels. It does ease the mind a little bit. Link to post Share on other sites
Eagledad 2779 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 We've had one for years because storms in Oklahoma develop fast and often in the Spring. It once save one of our patrols that was camping on their own. They were able to get out of the area just before the tornado dropped near by. As cell phones started getting more popular, spouses would call and warn us of something developing. I'm sure the smart phones are doing the brunt of the work now. BArry Link to post Share on other sites
Basementdweller 608 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 That is great car camping where you have coverage.......I was thinking backpacking or more remote areas with no cell coverage..... We camp in national and state forests with near zero coverage Link to post Share on other sites
KC9DDI 11 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Learned something new about the lightning detectors, very cool, and good to know. I've tried setting up my cell phone for weather alerts, but have never been able to make it work as reliably as a weather radio. Another problem with using a cell phone for this purpose is battery life. Even if you do have coverage, it's likely to be very weak coverage in most rural areas. And the battery use increases dramatically when trying to maintain a weak cell connection - especially when trying to use data communications that these weather alert programs require. Weather radios, on the other hand, typically get very good battery life, especially if you keep them in the mode where they're "off," but still able to receive the coded alert messages. While it's true that you may find yourself in an area that doesn't receive weather radio signals, it seems like the overwhelming majority of the country is covered (NOAA has coverage maps broken down by state at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/Maps/) Link to post Share on other sites
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