Communication - When Disaster Strikes - page 248

many of which have hand-crank spring-powered built-in generators, and/or solar cell power
supplies, so they can be operated with or without batteries, and with or without the grid (see
fig. 2-1 ). I keep a Baygen “Freeplay” radio in my 72-hour grab-and-go kit, which has a high-
quality built-in hand-crank generator and receives AM, FM, and some shortwave frequencies.
The crank winds up an internal spring that powers the generator, so you can crank the radio for
a couple of minutes and then it will continue playing for about fifteen more minutes while the
spring continues to drive the generator until it needs another rewind. When selecting a solar-
powered, or hand-crank generator-powered radio, read the reviews, or ask a trustworthy sales-
man for his opinion. Many cheap hand-crank radios have terrible reliability and are pretty
much guaranteed to fail after a very short period of time, so don't waste your money on a cheap
unit.
I suggest you store a lot of batteries, about evenly split between rechargeable ones and
standard alkaline batteries. The rechargeable ones tend to have only about half the capacity of
the standard alkaline types before they need a recharge. It is a good idea to also store a solar
battery recharger so when the grid is down you can recharge your batteries whenever the sun is
shining.
Broadband Receivers
To stay informed during an emergency, you really should have a broadband general-coverage
receiver that picks up shortwave (“world band”) frequencies up to 30 MHz (megahertz). This
will enable you to listen to broadcasts from around the world. A good broadband receiver
should have an antenna jack to allow for plugging in a larger antenna than the one that comes
with your receiver, a headphone jack, an illuminated digital display, and a good signal-strength
meter. A synchronous detector with selectable sideband increases adjacent channel rejection
while reducing fading and distortion, making the receiver easier to use with better sound qual-
ity. Another recommended feature is single side-band (SSB) capabilities, which improves your
listening options. The Grundig models pretty much set the standard in the moderate price
range, but a lot of people swear by their receivers from Sony, C. Crane, and Radio Shack, so
you might want to shop around (see sources in appendix 2 ) .
You may, for example, purchase a compact inexpensive Grundig model G8 Traveler II for
as low as around $50, their compact Globe Traveler G3 model ( fig. 9-1 ) with improved recep-
tion offered by SSB and synchronous selectable sideband sells for around $150, and their larger
desktop Satellite 750 ( fig. 9-2 ) model for around $300. The Grundig Traveler portable receivers