Best radio for boondocking?

[Grandpa Don]

I'm not supporting or promoting any one radio brand, just supporting the need to have one. I do have a weather radio in my camper and it saved me from being snowed in on this last trip. My son and I went up to the 7,600 level in the Sierra mountains two weeks ago. We checked the weather report two days before we left and there was not supposed to be any snow. However, as we got up to the 5,000 foot level we began to see patches of snow sticking to the ground. The higher we went the worse it got. It was not snowing at that time. At our camp site there was 6 to 8 inches of snow on the ground. We set up camp in a small clearing and gathered firewood for the cold night. While sitting around the nice warm fire that first night, I turned on the weather radio to see what the forecast was. We were surprised to hear that the forecast called for a heavy weather front moving into that area around 4 p.m. the next day with an additional snowfall of 12 or more inches above the 7,000 foot level. The winds were forecast to be in excess of 60 mph over the ridges.

We decided to get the heck out of there and get down to a lower altitude. We packed up first thing in the morning and headed down. We found a new site at the 5,600 level and set up. Sure enough, at around 4p.m. that afternoon the rain started. It rained constantly for a day and a half, but no snow. Had we not had and listen to the weather radio the day before, we might very well have been stranded in about 2 feet of new snow. So if you Boondock, especially in the mountains, get a weather radio and check it every day!

 

[tombiasi]

All radio waves are line of sight travel.

Did you forget about ground wave propagation?
https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/antennas-propagation/ground-wave/basics-tutorial.php

 

[NMroamer]

Nope, doesn't work when there is mountains in the way.

 

[tombiasi]

Nope, doesn't work when there is mountains in the way.

Your statement "All" didn't say anything about mountains.

 

[TheBlurb]

Th

Of all my many portable radios my favourite to take camping is my Grundig Satellit 750. It's loud and receives everything from longwave thru shortwave (including SSB mode transmissions) and also FM broadcast and VHF air. It uses D cell batteries which last a long time, but I do always keep a spare set for backup. I also bring along a couple VHF/UHF portables. Good for ham radio use as well as scanning public safety frequencies (and the park yogis!).

This looks cool, but now unavailable on amazon!

 

[Anthony Hitchings]

is there anything to be heard these days on SW Bands?

 

[TheBlurb]

is there anything to be heard these days on SW Bands?

I’ve been playing around a little with a radio with SW, gifted to me over Xmas. So far nothing on the dial! Maybe you can start a broadcast @Anthony Hitchings!

 

[Anthony Hitchings]

Using only my built-in telescopic antennae, I tried my Sony SW7600 last night, scanned all the bands, got only one Chinese station, English language broadcast, I think it was 5995 khz. This in the Oakland area, CA.

 

[Econ]

scanned all the bands, got only one Chinese station, English language broadcast, , CA.

I get VOA African broadcast and Radio Havana for Cuban music. I'm pretty sure Sackville and Antigue relays, the main cross Atlantic relays, have been shutdown and disassembled. Most who target the US now use internet. That includes Radio Netherlands.

 

[Anthony Hitchings]

I tried this again last night (nothing) and this morning (Chinese language stations) amid much static and a very strong extremely regular repeating “bzzt” that was extremely annoying and on all frequencies. I was using a long wire antennae (about 70 ft) aligned sort of NE-SW (corrected) here in oakland. My Tesla controller for the rooftop panels was not the source of the bzzt

 

[Ronal Owens]

You might be coming to a place where Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are not accessible. It is always better to be ready for when you run out of power in the middle of nowhere. The features that a portable radio possesses are undoubtedly helpful. Check out the high-quality camping radios offered by FosPower. They have a 2000 mAh power bank with this emergency radio. Tablets and tiny phones can get power from it in an emergency. Additionally, it has three power sources that can be used to recharge the radio and increase the power of most tiny electronic gadgets.

 

[Grandpa Don]

I recently purchased a Bivy Sticks Satellite emergency locator/communicator. It has the capability to retireve current weather forecasts for the area you are currently located in. There is an initial cost for the unit and a subscription price, but in an emergency it would be well worth the cost. I often boondock in places where there is no cell signal at all. If I got hurt, it could save my life. I also have a weather radio that can be charged by solar, battery, or hand crank. It really did save me from a bad weather situation a couple of years ago. It warned me of an upcoming heavy snow event that would be in my area the next afternoon. I packed up and got the heck out of there.