An emergency radio is, broadly speaking, a radioreceiver designed to remain functional in cases of power outage or isolation from contact with civilization. Such radios are often designed to run on minimal or no power sources. In radio terminology, a receiver is an electronic circuit that receives a radio signal from an antenna and decodes the signal for use as sound, pictures, navigational-position information, etc. ...
Emergency radios (all but the least expensive) are generally designed to cover more than just the standard AM and FM broadcasting bands; basic shortwave radio coverage (for situations where local radio is out or not available) is common, as well as weather radio in countries that provide that service. AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using Amplitude Modulation. ... FM broadcasting is a broadcast technology invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong that uses frequency modulation (FM) to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. ... This article is about an album. ... Weatheradio is a special radio service available over much of North America that transmits weather warnings and forecasts 24 hours a day. ...
Common to all emergency radios is the need to maintain power as long as possible in times of power failure. Commonly, such radios are designed to use minimal battery power, and a common feature (especially on units sold in less-developed countries where electrical supplies may be unreliable or nonexistant) is a hand-cranked electrical generator along with a rechargeable battery to store the generated energy (the device is sometimes known as a clockwork radio). A few, such as the Blackout Buddy from Eton Corporation, are designed to recharge from wall current. For other uses, see battery (disambiguation). ... An electrical generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy, generally using electromagnetic induction. ... A clockwork radio is a radio (usually an emergency radio) that is powered by clockwork wind-up mechanism driving an internal generator, rather than batteries, solar cells, thermoelectrics or electricity from the electrical grid. ... The Eton corporation is an American company based in California. ...
External links
A UK-based manufacturer of hand-cranked radios for the international market
Manufacturer of emergency and shortwave radio sets
The General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) is like the FRS in that it operates in the 460MHz region, uses small handi-talkies and is intended to be used by individuals to communicate with immediate family members.
The great grandpappy of the two way radio scene is the Amateur Radio service whose operators are known as Hams and who have pioneered radio communications since the first decade of this century.
The FCC has made it illegal to modify any of these radios to operate in any band other than the one for which they were intended or to make it possible to place telephone calls from the radios.
At the conference, the familiar amateur radio bands of 80, 40, 20 and 10 meters were established by treaty and international radio callsign prefixes were devised.
Amateur radio operators who are involved in emergency communications often belong to a national or local emergency club, such as ARES and RACES in the United States, AREC in New Zealand, RAYNET in the United Kingdom, WICEN in Australia and Hamnet in South Africa.
In contrast to most commercial and personal radio services, most radio amateurs are not restricted to using type-approved equipment, and therefore some radio amateurs home-construct or modify equipment in any way so long as they meet national and international standards on spurious emissions.
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