Emergency Gadgets Reviewed

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Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday September 21, 2005 @05:42AM from the powerless-to-resist dept.

Carl Bialik writes "When power lines go down, hand-cranked radios and standalone cellphone chargers could come in handy. Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg reviews emergency gadgets, including a $50 radio that picks up TV audio and gets 35 minutes of power from a 30-second crank. Of course, Mossberg also offers the caveat that these gadgets could be rendered useless 'should the communications infrastructure itself go down.'"

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My Mossberg emergency item... by east+coast · 2005-09-21 05:44 · Score: 5, Funny

It doesn't have a handcrank but it has a pump and a trigger.

--
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
1. Re:My Mossberg emergency item... by TykeClone · 2005-09-21 05:50 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  And a point & click interface!
  
  --
  A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
2. Re:My Mossberg emergency item... by Karma_fucker_sucker · 2005-09-21 05:51 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Actually more insightful than funny. It disturbs me that during natural disasters, a few people go nuts and start robbing, raping, killing, etc... The cops can't or won't do anything - it really pissed me off during the LA riots when the cops just drove by the mob that was kicking the shit out of that trucker.
  In short, it never ceases to amaze me how humanity devolves during disasters and make a bad situation even worse.
  
  --
  Evil people don't think they're evil. - George Lucas, Making of Ep III
3. Re:My Mossberg emergency item... by dougmc · 2005-09-21 06:11 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  it really pissed me off during the LA riots when the cops just drove by the mob that was kicking the shit out of that trucker.
  I vaguely remember what you're referring to, but not the specifics ...
  But it doesn't matter. Police, firemen and similar people are generally trained to take care of #1 first, not to be a hero. (Now, many people do disregard this and do dangerous things, but they're usually disciplined afterwards, assuming they live.)
  If you've got two police officers in a car, and you see a very angry mob beating somebody, intervening immediately is not usually the smartest thing to do. You'd be putting yourself into extreme danger, and may in fact make things worse for the person being beaten.
  A much smarter response would be to stay back and call it in and get lots of reinforcements, cops in riot gear, and THEN you can go in. When you're ready, not before. If you're going to enter a battle, make sure it's a battle you're likely to win. If you're not planning to win, don't enter.
  Individuals respect cop's authority. Even large crowds generally respect police. But an angry mob? No way would two smart cops do anything about that on their own beyond getting reenforcements.
That's revolutionary! by garcia · 2005-09-21 05:44 · Score: 5, Funny

After thirty seconds of cranking I'm usually asleep for thirty-five minutes!

Sorry, I couldn't resist ;)
Limited Usefulness Lifespan by smbarbour · 2005-09-21 05:47 · Score: 5, Insightful

The $50 radio that picks up TV audio will be useless when the mandatory switch to digital OTA broadcasts occurs. (Unless something interesting will be broadcast on those frequencies after that point.)
1. Re:Limited Usefulness Lifespan by Chairboy · 2005-09-21 06:11 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Breaking news: Some of the other emergency supplies you purchase (food, medicine, batteries) may also become unusable sometime in the future because of a limited shelflife.
  
  Because of this, I recommend holding off on purchases of emergency supplies until a few days before the emergency happens, that way freshness and technological protocol compliance can be assured. Alternately, don't schedule any emergencies until after a digital television compliant emergency radio is available for purchase.
  
  (PS, the radio also picks up... radio.)
Emergency by pete-classic · 2005-09-21 05:47 · Score: 5, Insightful

If you're charging your iPod you aren't having a fucking emergency.

A radio could be quite useful, but not nearly as useful as a couple of cases of bottled water.

-Peter
Judging by recent events by katana · 2005-09-21 05:49 · Score: 5, Insightful

A hand-cranked device that could produce 3-5 days of food and water would probably be popular.
The least problem by salzbrot · 2005-09-21 05:49 · Score: 5, Funny

[...]these gadgets could be rendered useless 'should the communications infrastructure itself go down.'

If you can no longer get shortwave signals on your radio because the communications infrastructure itself went down, listening to the latest news is the least of your problems. You should be looking for the stone ax and the closest cave to move into.
Baylis generator = no batteries at all by jakedata · 2005-09-21 05:49 · Score: 5, Informative

I have been using my original Freeplay radio for about 8 years now.

Unlike the more recent models, it operates on a spring driven generator for about 45 minutes, or in sunlight. It has no internal batteries at all.

The lack of batteries is a Very Good Thing. Rechargable batteries die, and sometimes they short out. If so, you got no radio - cranked or solar.

The downside is that the radio is the size of a loaf of bread. The upside is that it has a very large speaker and very nice sound.

I toyed with the idea of adding an external power tap, but there are dire warnings about opening it up and releasing the giant spring. Someday perhaps...
1. Re:Baylis generator = no batteries at all by stefanlasiewski · 2005-09-21 06:09 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Freeplay still makes an AM/FM/SW1/SW2 windup & solar powered (no battery) radio, but it's mostly intended for rural African communities. But you can buy one and donate a second radio for the Freeplay Foundation.
  
  It's the size of a loaf of bread, and it's ugly, but it's not really aimed for American gageteers.
  
  --
  "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
sounds like me by Anonymous Coward · 2005-09-21 05:50 · Score: 5, Funny

I can get 35 minutes of pleasure from a 30 second crank.
cheaper, better hand-cranked radios by Yrrebnarg · 2005-09-21 06:11 · Score: 5, Informative

Take a look at http://www.radios4you.com/ or http://www.kaitousa.com/ and invest in a radio that also does shortwave if you're looking for an emergency radio. For far less than the $50 you'd spend on the yuppie crud in TFA, you can pick up a solar/crank/charger model and a decent antenna reel, which would let you pick up broadcasts from europe, cuba, the USA, the caribbean (BBC news), or just about anywhere else. All you lose is _local_ broadcasts when the communication infrastructure takes a nose-dive.
Re:TV on Radio by Phreakiture · 2005-09-21 06:16 · Score: 5, Informative

As anyone who has lived in the 3rd world can tell you, you can pick up TV on ordinary FM radios it is a matter of tuning it to the right frequency. I have seen these things in Asia for years.

This is 100% dependent on the frequency structure in the country in which you are located. To do this with an "ordinary" FM radio in the US, you can only pick up channel 6, at 87.75MHz (with 87.7 being close enough). If you have one of the Japanese radios that has extended coverage to do both the Japanese 72-93MHz FM and the American/European 88-108MHz FM bands, then you can also get audio from US TV stations on channels 4 (75.75MHz) and 5 (81.75MHz).

There are other radios out there that have got TV audio capability on them. They frequently only cover channels 2-13 because it is easier to build a VHF than a UHF radio.

For reference, the frequencies are as follows:

Channels 2-6: 59.75, 65.75, 75.75, 81.75, 87.75 (note the gap betwen 3 and 4 is 10MHz, not 6MHz as elsewhere)

Channels 7-13: 179.75, 185.75, 191.75, 197.75, 203.75, 209.75, 215.75

Channels 14-69: 475.75, 481.75, 487.75, etc, every six MHz up to 805.75

Note also that frequencies within any vacant TV channels in the channel 14-20 range (470-512MHz) may also be licenced to business or public safety two-way radio users, especially in larger metro areas.

Last note, which I am providing to explain the huge gap between frequencies: the structure of a TV channel is this: It is 6MHz wide. The audio is 5.75MHz from the bottom of the channel, and uses the upper .5MHz of the channel (that is, 5.75MHz +/- .25MHz). The video is at 1.25MHz from the bottom of the channel to 5.5MHz from the bottom of the channel. Below the 1.25MHz point is cruft called a Vestigial Side Band. For example, on channel 2, 54.00-55.25 is cruft, 55.25 is the video carrier, 55.25 to 59.5 is video, 59.5 to 60.0 is audio, 59.75 is the audio carrier.

--
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