preparedness

It is 2012 and hurricane season is here. Tropical Depression Debby is heading out to the Atlantic after hovering over the Florida coast for four days, flooding the peninsula with a seemingly endless barrage of rain. According to the National Weather Service, the flooding remains a threat. If you are located in or around these flood-prone areas, Are you ready?

Have you put together your Hurricane Preparedness Kit? For those who haven't, now is the time to prepare. Get the official FEMA checklist of Recommended Items to Include in a Basic Emergency Supply Kit or purchase one of the ready-made Survival /Emergency Kits from Buy Two Way Radios.

Of course, basic necessities such as food and water are critical to have available and are top items on any emergency list. However, there are a other items on FEMA's list that are also extremely important. The third and fourth items listed in order of importance are a Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert. The next item? Extra batteries for both radios.

Below is a list of radios that meet the federal requirements suggested in FEMA's list:

Two Way Radios
Midland GXT1000VP4 Radios With Headsets and Charger - A powerful 5 watt all-weather radio. Durable and water resistant, the GXT1000 VP4 features NOAA weather channels, NOAA weather alerts and a 3 year manufacturer warranty. This is our most popular GMRS radio.

Motorola TALKABOUT MS350R Two Way Radios - Built for performance and designed specifically for extreme weather conditions, this radio is ready. The MS350R has 11 weather channels, operates on either rechargeable or disposable batteries, is submersible and floats. It even includes a built-in flashlight! This pack also includes an Emergency Preparedness Checklist Sheet.

Motorola TALKABOUT T9680R-SAME Two Way Radios - One of the most powerful FRS/GMRS two way radios from Motorola, the T9680R is designed as a Hazard Alert radio with Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) technology, a system adopted by the National Weather Service to warn citizens of emergency situations within their immediate area. SAME monitors the NOAA weather stations in your region for emergency situations and hazardous conditions. The T9680R can operate on either alkaline or rechargeable batteries.

Midland XT511 Base Camp Two Way/Emergency Crank Radio - This powerful device is the "swiss army knife" of two way and emergency radios.It's an FRS/GMRS radio, AM/FM clock radio with an alarm, and NOAA weather radio with weather alerts. It's also a flashlight. The Midland XT511 has five power options: AC wall power, DC vehicle adapter, rechargeable battery pack, alkaline batteries and a Dynamo hand crank. The XT511 even has a built-in USB connector to charge a USB device such as a cell phone in the event of a power outage!

NOAA Weather Radios (receive only)
Midland ER102 Emergency Crank Radio - The ER102 has the key features of the XT511 without the built-in GMRS two-way radio, but with a temperature indicator and freeze warning alert.

Midland WR-120 Weather Radio - An All Hazards Alert weather radio that monitors the Public Alert system and features SAME technology to alert you to weather or civil emergencies in your area. It also includes an alarm clock with snooze and a blue backlit display. A battery backup, color coded alert light and external antenna jack round out the features.

Midland WR-300 Weather Radio - The WR-300 has all the features of the WR-120 - with an AM/FM radio and alarm clock with snooze to boot.

Midland HH54VP2 SAME Handheld Weather Radio - This compact, portable handheld radio is a great travel companion. It has NWS all hazard alerts with S.A.M.E. technology and other emergency alerts such as Amber Alerts, biological hazard warnings, civil emergency messages, nuclear power plant warnings, fire warnings and landslide warnings. But that's not all. The HH54VP2 also features a bulit-in alarm clock with snooze, user selectable alerts, color coded alert indicators, a large, backlit display with continuous backlighting option and battery backup.

Midland HH-50 Pocket Weather Alert Radio - The Midland HH-50 is a weather radio that is so compact it fits in your pocket. It instantly auto scans for emergency and weather alerts as soon as you turn it on. The HH-50 supports all hazard alerts, emergency alerts, messages and warnings. This is a great choice for the travel size emergency kit in the car.

There is no doubt communication is critical in any emergency, but when severe weather strikes, you need to be kept up to date on current, constantly changing weather conditions in your area. During such emergencies, power can go out, landlines can be lost and cell service can lose signals. In such situations, a radio may be your only means of communication and important weather alerts.

Don't wait for the next storm to hit before you prepare. Whether you buy it or make it yourself, get your Hurricane Preparedness Kit ready now.

For more information on emergency weather radios, listen to The Two Way Radio Show Episode 13 - Emergency and Weather Radios.

This week - May 27th through June 2nd - is National Hurricane Preparedness Week. With the coincidental arrival of Tropical Storm Beryl, we've already had a taste of what this 2012 hurricane season could be like. Beryl was not even a category one hurricane, yet this storm packed a considerable punch with wind and rain, causing power outages and cancelling Memorial Day events along the Florida and Georgia coasts.

Tropical Storm Beryl is said to be the most powerful tropical storm in recorded history to hit the Atlantic coast of the US outside of hurricane season, which officially begins today, June 1. But it wasn't the first cyclone to jump the starting date. Tropical Storm Alberto, which formed off the coast of South Carolina, claimed that spot in mid May.

The National Weather Service advises everyone to be prepared for hurricane season this week. Develop an emergency plan of action and/or evacuation in case of an emergency. Prepare an emergency disaster kit with basic provisions, including:

Collecting everything you need to build an emergency kit can be time consuming and even a bit daunting, especially if you are someone who is always busy or on the go. For those who want to be prepared but don't have the time or patience to go on a scavenger hunt for emergency supplies, you can get one already prepared for you. Buy Two Way Radios now carries a complete line of emergency and survival kits, from the Basic Necessities Emergency Kit to the Four Person Survivor Kit.

Of course, our specialty is radios. For the NWS Emergency Preparedness List posted above, we recommend the Midland ER102 Emergency Crank Radio or the Midland XT511 Base Camp Two Way / Emergency Crank Radio. The XT511 is also an FRS/GMRS two way radio, which could come in handy if land line or cell phone communications are out.

For a complete overview of these and other emergency/weather radios, read the Weather Radio Buyer's Guide. To help you choose the best weather radio for your situation, check out our Emergency Weather Radio Comparison Guide.

So far we've had two storms in one month, before the hurricane season has even begun. Is this just an anomaly, or a shadow of things to come? Does it really matter? The National Weather Service advises us all to get ready, always be ready, because you just never know until the next storm comes.

For more information on emergency weather radios, listen to The Two Way Radio Show Episode 13 - Emergency and Weather Radios.

Hurricane Season is just around the corner and the National Weather Service has advised us all to be prepared. According to the NWS, one important item to have on your emergency preparedness list is an emergency weather radio.

But which weather radio is right for you? There are a lot of radios available with a lot of features and options. Every radio may not be right for everyone or every situation. What is the best weather radio for your family or business? Which one should you choose?

Not to worry. Buy Two Way Radios created the 2012 Emergency Weather Radio Comparison Guide to help you find the radio you need.

This comparison chart includes all the current models we offer as an authorized Midland dealer, from the compact, easy to carry Midland HH50 Pocket Weather Alert Radio to the full-featured Midland XT511 Base Camp Two Way/Emergency Crank Radio, considered by some as the "swiss army knife" of emergency radios. The radios and their features are organized into a simple chart so you can compare them all easily.

The Emergency Weather Radio Comparison Guide 2012 is FREE for download and ready when you need it.

Here is a quick overview of some key features included with these weather radios.

For more information about choosing an emergency weather radio, listen to The Two Way Radio Show Episode 13 - Emergency and Weather Radios.

With all of the unpredictable weather we have been experiencing lately, particularly the destructive tornados from last week, we have been receiving an uptick in interest in our weather radios. We thought it might be helpful to put together a quick guide to make it a little easier for those shopping for their first weather radio.

What Is A Weather Radio?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is a federal agency that, among other things, is tasked with monitoring the weather (through the National Weather Service). NOAA has transmitting stations spread throughout the United States that constantly broadcast the current weather conditions for the surrounding area. Each station transmits a message on one of seven VHF frequencies (162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525, and 162.550). A looped recording is constantly played over these frequencies describing the current weather.

A basic weather radio allows you to tune into these frequencies and instantly hear a weather report at any time. Very simple models are super easy to use, only requiring that you choose your local channel and press a button to start listening. Choosing a channel is often as simple as scrolling through stations 1-7 and listening for the one that is the clearest, but NOAA has a page on their web site that will allow you to find the station that is designated for your area.

While a basic weather radio can be useful, a more advanced radio is really recommended.

Proactive Alerts
More advanced weather radios take things a step further, proactively alerting you when an emergency or dangerous weather situation occurs. When an emergency arises, a special tone is transmitted by the NOAA stations. Many weather radios can constantly monitor for these tones and turn themselves on when the tone is heard. This is critical, as it allows your weather radio to now alert you proactively to an emergency.

One drawback of the weather radios that proactively alert is that a NOAA transmitting station covers a very large area, and you may find yourself being alerted to events that do not necessarily apply to your city or county. If this happens enough, you may find yourself paying less attention to the radio when it sounds an alert. The most advanced weather radios support "Specific Area Message Encoding," or SAME, which solves this problem. Weather radios using SAME technology allow you to enter a code that will focus the alerts on roughly a zip code sized area, ensuring that only warnings in your designated area will be alerted to you.

Who Needs A Weather Radio?
As a retailer, it is a little cliché to say that everyone needs our product. In the case of a weather radio, however, I offer no apologies. Year after year we see news stories about people who die in emergencies in which they just didn't have time to get to safety. Weather radios save lives year after year by waking people in the middle of the night or providing enough warning time for them to get to shelter. This is a product that sells for a range of $20-$60 that could make the all the difference in the world when an emergency occurs, so there is really no reason not to have one.

Fortunately, it seems like weather radios are catching on in a big way. Local news channels have gotten the word out about the importance of having one and we see many businesses purchasing them to help keep their employees safe. Weather radios are also in use by almost all of the schools in the nation now, with the Midland WR-120 being the most popular model.

What Is The Best Weather Radio?
As with most products, the best weather radio really depends upon how you plan to use it and even how much you want to spend. Here I'll outline a few of our best sellers and give the pros and cons of each.

Midland WR-120 Weather Radio - The Midland WR-120 is possibly the most popular weather radio in the world. It is a full featured desktop weather radio, supporting SAME technology and even allowing for the connection of (optional) external accessories such as a strobe light or antenna.

Midland WR-400 Weather Radio - More advanced than the WR-120, the WR-400 also includes features such as an AM/FM radio, alarm clock, selectable alert settings, and color coded alert lights.

Midland ER310 Emergency Hand Crank Weather Radio with Flashlight - This is a full featured portable combo weather radio and flashlight with multiple power options, AM/FM radio, SOS signaling in Morse Code, a built-in USB charging port and even a dog whistle to alert rescue animals. The ER210 is the base model.

Midland XT-511 Emergency Crank Radio - This is more of an all-around emergency device than simply a weather radio. It can be powered by AC, DC, battery, or by crank. It has a flashlight, AM/FM radio, weather radio, GMRS two way radio and USB port. It would be nice to have during a power outage or on a camping trip. Does not support SAME.

Midland HH50B Weather Radio - This is a very small and inexpensive hand held All Hazards Alert radio. Does not support SAME.

Weather Radio Accessories
Midland 18-STR Strobe Light - This accessory is made to go with your Midland Weather Radios. This strobe light will plug directly into many weather radio models, giving you a visual alert in case of an alert. This would be great if you had a family member with hearing problems or simply wanted to keep the volume on your weather radio at a minimum.

Midland 18-259W Weather Antenna - This antenna is will help if you are in an area or in a building where it is difficult to receive a strong signal. Great for cars, vans, homes, boats, RVs, and is specially designed to use for steel buildings and manufactured homes with metallic siding or construction.

Whether you live in a region with unpredictable weather or you just want to be prepared in an emergency situation, we here at www.BuyTwoWayRadios.com have the tools to keep you and your loved ones safe and prepared. If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to contact our sales staff at 1-800-584-1445!

The National Geographic Channel has a new show called 'Doomsday Preppers' that airs on Tuesdays at 9:00pm EST. This show takes a closer look at people who are going to great lengths to prepare for hard times. Each episode features several 'preppers', and shows you how each is preparing for a specific crisis scenario. The show doesn't look at the more common disasters, but instead focuses on major to catastrophic events, as unlikely as they may be to occur. Examples of such events include an EMP detonation, a major oil crisis, hyperinflation, financial collapse, and more.

In this past Tuesday's episode one segment focuses on Jason Charles, a New York City fireman, and details his preparations for a supervolcano eruption. As he was demonstrating how he would prepare himself to go from his apartment to a storage facility for more supplies, he was shown carrying a Midland GXT1050VP4 two way radio. Is this radio a good choice for a crisis scenario?

Advantages of the Midland GXT1050VP4
There is no doubt that the Midland GXT1050 is a fantastic consumer grade GMRS radio. It has a lot of power and great range (typically 1-2 miles), is somewhat waterproof, (meets JIS4 specifications), will operate on standard AA batteries if you aren't able to recharge the included NiMH battery pack, and it will allow you to listen to NOAA weather channels. This is essentially the same radio as the very popular and very well reviewed Midland GXT1000VP4, only in camo.

As you can see the GXT1050VP4 offers a lot of what a 'prepper' may be looking for, and it would be tough to make a case that it is a bad choice. As always seems to be the case, however, there is not a product that is completely perfect for this scenario so I'll point out a few other things that could be considered.

Other Things To Consider
First, while the GXT1050VP4 is packed with features, durability isn't really one of them. At $80/pair you really can't expect it to be, and this is going to be the case for any consumer grade radios. A business grade radio is going to be considerably more expensive, but far more durable. In a true disaster scenario, it would be difficult to find replacement radios so this has to be a consideration. Another option would be to purchase a backup set of the same or even lower cost consumer radios. This would provide a backup option and would still cost less than a typical single business radio.

The Midland GXT-1050 operates on FRS and GMRS frequencies, which are very popular and are used by most consumer grade radios. A high powered GMRS radio can usually be counted on for a mile or so of communication range. GMRS, however, also allows for the use of repeaters. Repeaters are high powered devices that essentially re-broadcast a transmission at a much higher power and over a great distance. In a crisis situation it may be helpful to be able to communicate with others that are more than a mile from you, but to do this you would need a repeater in your area as well as a radio that supports the GMRS repeater frequencies.

Unfortunately the GXT1050 does not support repeater frequencies. If you decide that you need this ability, Motorola has a couple of good options. The Motorola MR355R and MR356R are priced similarly to the Midland, but are repeater capable. The Motorola MS350R is repeater capable as well as fully waterproof. The Garmin Rino series is also repeater capable, but these devices are far more than just two way radios and that is reflective in the cost.

Basic Emergency Kits
Remember that we also offer some basic emergency kits. While these kits will get you nowhere close to the level of preparedness of those featured on the show, they are a small start and could make a big difference if you find yourself without power or clean water during a bad storm or other emergency.

We are now in the middle of the 2011 hurricane season. Hurricane Irene recently stormed across the Atlantic, hitting the Bahamas and the Eastern seaboard of the US. Another storm is currently forming off the coast of Africa and has a 70% chance of becoming a tropical depression within the next 48 hours. If you live or work in areas prone to hurricane activity, there is only one question to ask. Are you ready?

Do you have a Hurricane Preparedness Kit? If not, FEMA has a checklist of Recommended Items to Include in a Basic Emergency Supply Kit so you can build your own.

The first two items on FEMA's list are obviously the most critical: water and food, in that order. The third item on the list? A Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both.

Radios that meet the requirements suggested in FEMA's list include the following:

Two Way Radios

Midland GXT1000VP4 Radios With Headsets and Charger - The GXT1000VP4 is a powerful 5 watt radio designed for use in all types of weather. It is durable, water resistant, supports NOAA weather channels, NOAA weather alerts and includes a 3 year manufacturer warranty.

Motorola TALKABOUT MS350R Two Way Radios - The MS350R is a brand new high performance radio from Motorola. The MS350R is designed specifically for use in extreme weather conditions. It also features 11 weather channels and a built-in flashlight. The MS350R operates on rechargeable and disposable batteries, is submersible and also floats. The package even includes an Emergency Preparedness Checklist Sheet.

Motorola TALKABOUT T9680R-SAME Two Way Radios - The Motorola T9680R is one of Motorola's most powerful consumer two way radios. It is built as a Hazard Alert radio and features Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) technology, adopted by the National Weather Service to alert the public to emergency events in their specific area. SAME monitors the NOAA weather stations for you pro-actively and alerts you to emergency weather and hazard conditions. Like the MS350R, The T9680R operates on both rechargeable and alkaline batteries.

Midland XT511 Base Camp Two Way/Emergency Crank Radio - The Midland XT511 is a powerful, all-in-one two way radio that is the perfect choice for any emergency kit. It is, for all intents and purposes, the "Swiss army knife" of radios. It features an FRS/GMRS radio, flashlight, an AM/FM clock radio with an alarm, and NOAA weather alerts. The Midland XT511 offers five power options, including an AC wall power adapter, DC vehicle adapter, rechargeable battery pack, alkaline batteries and can be powered and charged using the Dynamo hand crank. The XT511 also includes a USB connector so you to charge your USB enabled devices (including many cell phones) in case of a power outage.

NOAA Weather Radios (receive only)

Midland WR-120 Weather Radio - The WR-120 is a basic All Hazards Alert weather radio and supports the Public Alert system and SAME technology. When a weather or civil emergency alert is issued in your specific area , an alarm goes off and a text alert is displayed. The WR-120 also features an alarm clock with snooze, a blue backlit display, battery backup, color coded alert light, and external antenna jack. The WR-120 is also tri-lingual and supports English, Spanish or French languages.

Midland WR-300 Weather Radio - The WR-300 offers many of the same features as the WR-120. In addition the WR-300 allows you to choose between an alarm alert, an LED alert, or both.

Midland HH54VP2 SAME Handheld Weather Radio - The Midland HH54VP2 is a small, portable handheld radio ideal for use when travelling. The HH54VP2 supports all NWS hazard alerts utilizing S.A.M.E. technology. The HH-54VP2 also provides other emergency alerts such as Amber Alerts, biological hazard warnings, civil emergency messages, nuclear power plant warnings, fire warnings and landslide warnings. The HH-54VP2 also features an alarm clock with snooze, a large, backlit display with continuous backlighting option, user selectable alerts, color coded alert indicators, and battery backup.

Midland HH-50 Pocket Weather Alert Radio - The Midland HH-50 is an extremely compact weather radio that easily fits in your pocket and auto scans for emergency and weather alerts from the moment you turn it on. The HH-50 supports all hazard alerts issued by the National Weather Service as well as other types of emergency alerts, messages and warnings. Its extremely low cost, light weight and small footprint make it a good choice for a small emergency kit in the car or on the go.

Whether at home or away, on land or water, a radio is an indispensable item for any emergency preparedness kit. When a weather emergency hits your area, alerts and updates on ever changing weather conditions can be vital to your safety or survival. Two way radio communications can also be critical in such emergencies, especially if you lose your landline, cell phone service or power. For more information on emergency weather radios, listen to The Two Way Radio Show Episode 13 - Emergency and Weather Radios.

Don't be caught off guard during the next weather alert. Assemble your Hurricane Preparedness Kit now.

UPDATE: We now carry a complete line of emergency preparedness and survival kits, including the Emergency Zone Severe Weather Emergency Kit. Add your choice of two way radio and be ready for an emergency or weather disaster now!