4 Survival Radios That Are Better Than The Rest

 

It’s very important to maintain communication with your family or friends during a disaster as it is your only way of knowing what’s happening and what to do next in an emergency situation. That’s why survival radios are a top necessity when building your emergency survival kit.

You may be wondering why we should bother using a radio when we have easier ways of communicating nowadays by using our cell phones, laptops, etc; here’s why:

• Cell phone communications has a lot of vulnerabilities like being dependent on cell sites which could be affected in disasters like floods and earth quakes, low battery life, etc. which makes it a poor choice for communication solutions or long-term emergencies.
• As mentioned earlier heavy winds and flooding can disrupt cell towers and cables causing loss of signal like what happened during Hurricane Sandy.
• Cell sites or towers operates on AC power alone and this could be a big problem when the main power source is disrupted which is mostly the case during disasters. Most cell towers use generators for backup power supply but generators are very short-term solution as they require fuel that has to be replenished more often.
• Cell phone communication depends on back haul systems that are not always reliable since it is wired which could still be affected by floods and earth quakes.
• Cell phones have very short battery life which would only last for a day or three. This could be a big problem for long term disasters or emergency because you won’t be able to use your cell phone unless you have a local power to back it up.
• Cell phones require satellites to establish a stable signal for communication. Unfortunately satellites are vulnerable to physical attacks, hackers, and solar storms.

When power and commercial lines are down the only way to be able to connect to the outside world is by using radios as emergency communication equipment because they do not depend on AC power, satellites, or commercial lines to establish a signal for communication.  These are the best survival radio choices that you can buy:

1.       HAM Radio

This is the top choice for emergency communication devices because it is the most powerful and versatile. With a million frequencies that you can use you will have a higher range of reaching out to send and receive information.

Using HAM radio repeaters will drastically maximize your radio’s band which is very useful during emergency situations as you will have the ability to reach out further and find someone you can communicate and exchange vital information with.

2.       CB Radio

You have to keep in mind that when choosing a CB radio that all CB’s has a limit of 4 watts of transmission power only which will affect your effective range. But CB radio’s can peaked and tuned to increase its performance.

CB radios are only different on their features so if you’re planning to store a CB radio on your emergency kit it is best to understand its best features:

• Squelch Control

The function of this feature is to basically set the break-point at which a CB radio outputs a signal. It means that the radio will only activate the speaker when a clear transmission is received keeping the operator from listening to static.

• RF Gain

This can be used to filter the type of transmission your CB radio receives basing on the strength of signal. This way you can eliminate background noise produced by weak signals due to faint transmission to get a better communication capability.

• PA Capability

This allows CB radios to be used for public address system with the use of the radio itself and its microphone as a transmitter. By using a PA horn that you can be mounted on top of a vehicle this can be very useful in times of search and rescue during disasters or emergency.

• Automatic Noise Limited (ANL)

This improves the reception or sound quality by filtering out static, engine noise, and other causes of interference giving you a higher chance of establishing a strong reception for communication.

• Weather Capabilities

Not all CB radios have this capability but the ones that have will have the ability to access local NOAA radio stations which could give you full updates and real-time weather information. This is very useful and important asset during emergency and disaster situations.

• Instant Channel 9 & 19

This CB feature will enable you to quickly switch to the two of the most popular chanel or frequency, that’s channel 9 (emergency) and channel 19 (highway/truckers) which is very helpful during emergency and disaster situation. Click to read the full article on All Self Sustained

---

 

Share this article• Facebook • Twitter • Pinterest • LinkedIn • Google • Add to favorites • RSSShare on Facebook

Source: http://www.allselfsustained.com/4-survival-radios-that-are-better-than-the-rest/