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MIDLAND WEATHER RADIO:

• Protect your family with immediate notification of severe weather or civil emergencies.

• A weather radio can make the difference between a close call and a tragedy in a severe weather event. Weather radios are one of the most important weapons in your weather safety arsenal. They get you warnings and alerts directly from the National Weather Service as fast as possible. Since they run on batteries your weather radio will operate when your electricity does not. Many dangerous storms that cause casualties occur at night. This is because people often do not get the warnings while they are sleeping.

• A weather radio will solve this by awakening you presumably before the dangerous storm strikes. If you travel it may be difficult to find a radio station that gives up to date weather alerts, this is solved with a weather radio in your car. The importance of weather safety while enjoying outdoor activities such as camping can not be stressed enough. Timely alerts are important in all types of weather events including floods, snowstorms and thunderstorms.

• PVR would like to remind everyone about the importance of having a weather radio when Spring comes rushing in with its high winds. If you aren't familiar with them, modern weather radios are able to silently monitor your local transmitter and will only speak up when an alert has been issued for your county.

• Many PVR members have the weather radio, shown below, as part of their radio equipment inventory in their homes. Weather radios range in price from $30.00 on up. The Midland radio has a price of $30-$35.

PVR RECOMMENDS THIS RADIO -- THE WR-100

A link to Midland Radios can be found here .

• If you do purchase one of these weather radios, we are including a link to the county codes that may be programmed. The link is: County Codes
• The codes are under the heading SAME#. See the Programming Manual that comes with the radio.

Converting KNOTS to MPH Chart:

• Sometimes weather wind speed reports are given in KNOTS rather than MPH.
• If you have an anemometer, it may be calibrated in KNOTS. To convert the knots reading to mph, you may use this chart as a guide.

Convert from one speed to another

Type a value in one box and click here to see the results

 

Kilometers per hour
Miles per hour
Knots

Math Conversion Table:

• If you wish, you may use this table to convert KNOTS to MPH mathematically.

1 knot = 1 nautical mile per hour = 6076 feet per hour = 1.15078 mph
1 mph = 1 mile per hour = 5280 feet per hour = 0.86898 knots per hour

 

• For instance. Suppose your anemometer, calibrated in KNOTS, shows wind speed at 10 knots. Simply multiply 10 by l.l5 = 11.5 mph. To verify, try this with the above chart.
• If you want to convert a wind speed of 20 mph to knots. Multiply 20 by 0.86. You get 17.2 knots. Check it with the chart. Pretty close, right?

What's in your Go Bag?

• There are "Go-bags" ... and then there are "Go-bags." What you have in your go-bag is a personal thing, but there are essentials that should be "ready to go" at a moments notice. You may be activated to serve for just a single day --- however, depending on the circumstances --- you may be called to serve for several days. Do you have everything organized so that you can just grab what you need and go?

·         We will not go into a discussion of your radio gear ... you are an Amateur Radio operator, so you know about your HT, the accessories you need for your radio, and the comfort and safety items you will need ... so we will discuss those "other" things you will need in your go-bag.

A.

"ALWAYS TAKE" ITEMS:

• ID Card(s) for any and all agencies with which you are registered. (American Red Cross, local or state ARES/RACES ID, SAR, etc.) Make sure these cards have the necessary telephone numbers.
• Keep your cell phone handy so that you can grab it on the run.
• Copy of your FCC Amateur Radio License. Copies of all FCC licenses (e.g.- "club" calls) you are authorized to use should be carried.
• Personal prescription and OTC medications. Carry list of all medications you take, plus name/address of doctor(s) and pharmacist.
• Eyeglasses (+ spare pair), sun glasses. Safety glasses or goggles.
• Appropriate clothing (for rain, hot weather, snow), headgear, sturdy shoes/boots, kerchief or scarf. (If kerchief is ORANGE or other bright color, it can double as a signal flag.)
• Water. One gallon per day per person,
• Small notepad, pen(s), pencils, spiral logbook/clipboard, RADIOGRAM forms. This might include your own SKYWARN book with scripts, frequency charts or repeater lists that you may need.
• Flashlight(s) (a "Snake Light or "Mag-lite" plus a pocket pen-lite is good).
• A good pocket knife. A folding multi-purpose tool.
• A whistle in the event you become "lost." Perhaps a signal mirror would be a good thing.
• Watch or small clock. (With an alarm is ideal).
• Respiratory (dust) masks.
• First-aid kit. Perhaps this should include a snake bite kit. (If you include a snake bite kit, you will probably never see a snake. On the other hand ...)
• You may need matches, tissues, moist towelettes, sun block, insect repellent, plus personal hygiene items which you may need.
• Emergency gas/phone money (the amount is up to you ... I carry mine in an empty pill bottle.)
• You may have to hike deep into the woods, so a small compass might be a good thing.
• Maps --- especially local maps.
• For some emergency activations you may be required to wear a hardhat. I have one with safety goggles included.
• Last, but not least, a copy of pages from your radio operating manual in the event you need to program frequencies other than the ones stored in your radio.

B.

WHERE DO YOU STORE ALL THIS?:

• A small tupperware container.
• A back pack.
• A professionally designed emergency go-bag.
• A large brief case.
• Whatever you use as your go-bag, keep it easily accessible. And, this is important --- try not to "rob" your go-bag! If you do, what you need may not be there when it is needed.

C.

ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS?

• If you have TWO VEHICLES, please do not store your go-bag in one car --- then, drive off in the other. Been there, done that.
• From Shawn, KC9KOP: "Looks like you covered all the important items needed for a go bag in general. Some bags can be a lot more complicated depending on the need. (such as Katrina) or any long term stay in a particular place. I think that for our storm spotters the general list you have described will be more than enough, but you never know when something major could happen and the need for more items in the bag would have been nice!"

D.

YOUR GO-BAG IN CHART FORM:

• If you are serious about organizing your go-bags, you may want to study these charts. Your circumstances may differ and you may want to delete/add things that you see on the charts. For instance, winter go-bags will certainly be different than those in warmer climates ... heavy jackets and snow shovels in winter --- sun screen and insect repellants in summer.
• Like a serious back-packer, pack only what you can carry, yet enough to meet emergency needs. You may skimp on your personal needs, but do not skimp as much in the area of station operation.
• As you will note, there are three go-bags: FIRST is the primary go-bag, the SECOND is the basic go-bag, and the THIRD is the extended go-bag (more than 24 hours of operation). The contents of each go-bag is up to you as an individual operator.
• GET YOUR GO-BAGS IN ORDER AND READY TO GO!

 

 

 

 

E.

A CHECK LIST:

• If you would like a check list of items for your go-bag, go here.

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