Prepping for an event, questions (no, not *that* event)

[br0adband]

Well, my Wife, bless her, woke me up a short time ago during a late afternoon nap to point out the weather outside which I've come to learn to not like quite so much now that we're situated here in Springfield. I've always had an interest in being prepared, not necessarily in the sense that most folks today think of "preppers" as in people preparing for the end of the world itself, but along the lines of covering the basics to the best of my ability for a catch-all "yes we can handle it" emergency situation.

Nothing like Mother Nature to give you a swift kick in the tail and make you sit up and pay attention fast. Today's weather situation in the SE Missouri area, covering Greene County where Springfield is situated, did that very thing for me, so having said all that...

Things such as having a nice quality First Aid kit on hand, plenty of water, and of course food but also something to be able to monitor local comms since if/when our Internet connection dies as would be the case, and since cellular service cannot be guaranteed either I realized that yes I really do need to get at least those basic prep aspects taken care of once and for all. I filled like 20 empty gallon jugs with tap water a short time ago during the period when the winds outside were gusting at 60+ MPH, my Wife uses a CPAP machine and I didn't realize she had been saving the empty gallon jugs used for the distilled water she fills the machine with so good on her for doing that.

While there's not much that can be done in terms of the First Aid kit at this exact moment (I'm looking at the variety of them on Amazon at the moment), the water (covered), and some other aspects, I will admit that I use Scanner Radio Pro on my Android smartphone to monitor the local SkyWarn net (N0NWS Southwest Missouri SkyWarn Severe Weather Net) at 145.490 MHz but of course that's just a Broadcastify stream and when the Internet craps out, poof, useless.

I do, of course, have a trusty RTL-SDR stick aka "a cheap USB TV tuner" so yes I can listen in to anything in my immediate area in terms of radio communications as needed but that always depends on power to keep the laptop(s) functional. I have 3 laptops, all configured basically the same, all using SDR# since it's very simple and I know the app extremely well. I'm covered in terms of monitoring ability, and while I haven't had a ham license in 30+ years now, I think it's time I got back into things (fast) and will be getting some Technician class learning materials today as soon as I'm situated with some other things.

The reason for this post is to ask for advice on getting a somewhat reasonably priced ham transceiver, with good/great battery life (yes I plan to get at least one extra cell), with some level of computer programming support or control, and of course some "wideband" reception capability to have around for an emergency. No, I don't have the license yet but as of today it's now on the priority board I keep in my head of things that must be done so that'll come soon enough. I won't intentionally transmit anything since obviously that would piss a lot of licensed hams off fast. OK, being facetious there, bear with me.

Anyway, I'm currently looking at the Baofeng BF-F8HP which is listed at Amazon for about $63 - I'm not trying to be ultra cheap here but I'm not independently wealthy and while I'd love to have a higher end unit from Icom or Yaesu or whoever, that's not possible at this time. Again the primary function would be to be able to monitor the local SkyWarn net, the weather service (162.400 in my area apparently), and some of the other comms that might take place. The BF-F8HP appears to cover the FM broadcast band as well, with extended coverage from 400-520 MHz which could prove quite useful, as well as the typical 136-174 MHz.

And yes, I realize a simple scanner might be "better" for purely monitoring, especially since one might cover the 800 MHz band where the local Green County EMS comms take place and can't be monitored on the BF-F8HP due to being out-of-band for that device, I really think having a transceiver - especially since my interest in that Technician license is now in full swing - is superior for such purposes, and for pure monitoring I do have the RTL stick for SDR purposes. Yes that requires more power to run the laptop but I think it'll be OK for now - sure I'd love to have all sorts of backup power devices, solar panels, a small generator, etc, but that's a bit extreme in my situation (but still a consideration, of course). When all Hell breaks loose, being prepared is absolutely important so yeah, I'm in.

I'm still just really beginning the research at this moment but I figured I'd at least make a post and see if there's anyone with experience in this area using this unit, or anyone in the SE Missouri or Greene County/Springfield areas that could offer me some suggestions or tips on getting more info in this area. I'm a city boy born and bred and never had to deal with much more than earthquakes (in Death Valley, of all places, just nothing that severe) so this kinda of potentially destructive weather type situation is all new to me and I really do want to get more prepared for whatever might come along.

Any info, suggestions, or tips is greatly appreciated, have fun, always...

 

[mmckenna]

Things such as having a nice quality First Aid kit on hand, plenty of water, and of course food but also something to be able to monitor local comms.

I'm in earthquake country, so like others, we're all in the same boat. The type of shoe that's waiting to kick us in the arse is just different depending on our individual locations.

I'll add a few things, my 2¢ worth.

No first aid kit does any good if you don't know how to properly use the stuff. Sticking a band aid or a 2x2 piece of gauze on someone is easy, but knowing what to do when it's beyond that is important. Find a good first aid class. It's a good investment.

Water is important, as you said, just make sure you store it somewhere that it's safe. And don't store it all in one place.

Food, good idea, but be careful of MRE's and "emergency food". Some of that stuff will stop up your innards pretty fast unless you drink a lot of water. Usually just keeping the pantry stocked is a good idea. Canned food is a good thing, especially if you have a can opener….

Radios…
I won't mince words, I have a strong dislike of the low tier Chinese crap radios.

No radio is any good without power. Whatever you pick, make sure you get one that you can load with AA alkaline batteries. Keeping rechargeable batteries charged takes planning, and if you don't have power, you can't recharge them. Good radios will have alkaline battery cases available. Keep a stock of batteries available, but make sure you rotate the stock periodically. I instruct my users to do this at work. Some groups have radios for "caches". They only get pulled out in an emergency or a drill. They often find that someone forgot to turn it off after the last drill, or forgot to recharge it. Keeping a brick of Costco AA batteries and just swapping it out once a year is good insurance.

If all you want to do is listen, a basic scanner will give you a lot more flexibility.
If amateur radio is in your future, then save up some coin and get the right tool of the job. Most of the dual band hand held radios have wide band receive. While they won't handle trunking, they can listen in on local agencies that are using conventional repeaters.

Better to invest the money in a good radio and have it be there when you need it, rather than the Chinese junk.