Recent tornadic events in our town gave reason for everyone’s survival skills to be tested, mine included.
It’s one thing to see meteorologist Gary England, necktie loosened and sleeves rolled up, pointing at a tornado on a radar map from a far-away place and saying emphatically, “Take your tornado precautions, now.” It’s another thing to actually hear a tornado roaring over the top of your house as you crouch in the hallway with a blanket over your head. And yes, Dorothy, it sounds just like a freight train.
Many times, the most immediate need in such situations is minute-by-minute weather information, especially if, as was my situation, electrical power is knocked out before the tornado even arrives. Battery-powered radios are great, and should be part of every survival kit, but weather information coming from radio stations cannot compare to what you get from local TV stations. When tornados are in the area, you want to see on a map where they are located, even if electricity to your home it cut off. You need a battery-powered TV.
Even with no Internet service, you can still watch local, over-the-air broadcast TV on your laptop computer. That’s assuming, of course, that the battery is charged. For laptop TV watching, I use a neat little device called WinTV-HVR 950Q, Model 1191, made by a company called Hauppauge. Price is around $70.
The device looks like a large flash drive, and plugs into a USB port, which means you can use it with more than one computer. Installation is pretty simple, but results can vary from laptop to laptop. Watching TV on your computer is a very resource-intensive task, so you’ll want to devote your battery-powered laptop to doing only one chore: watching TV. A computer that has been optimized for performance works best.
To get the best performance from the WinTV device, and to receive the most channels, you’ll want to connect it to an external antenna. The wimpy little antenna that comes with the device is OK for casual use, but for serious, emergency TV viewing, you need more. I use a rabbit-ears style antenna; the Model ANT121R, made by RCA. Price is about $15, and it works perfectly with the 950Q, doing a superb job of pulling in all of our local stations.
Another way to enhance the 950Qs performance is to disable video capturing. Capturing is enabled by default to allow “pausing” of live TV (a misnomer, if there ever was one). However, real-time capturing can lead to slow performance, resulting in herky-jerky TV watching. Turn off capturing by going to Settings (the little cog icon), click the Capture tab and set the buffer size to zero.
The problem with rechargeable devices, like laptops, is that they have to be recharged. This is a problem when your home has no electrical service. If you have a functioning automobile, though, you can use it to charge your laptops, cell phones and other rechargeable items that use built-in batteries. To do this, you need a power inverter.
Power inverters for this purpose are cheap; you can get a XOvision DN650 600 watt inverter at Walmart for $30. Keep in mind that devices like this are not made to power major appliances like coffee pots or desktop computers. Be careful not to connect too many things at the same time, and don’t start or turn off the car while your delicate electronic devices are charging.
Rechargeable laptops and cell phones are wonderful, but still not ideal in an emergency situation; what if you have no way of recharging them? Too bad for you. What you really need are devices that have replaceable batteries, rather than rechargeable.
Every well-prepared Oklahoman has a good-sized stash of AAA, AA, C, D and 9-volt alkaline batteries in their survival kit (don’t you?). What are best are devices that, when the batteries run down, you simply pop in a fresh set and get back to surviving. You need a portable TV that uses replaceable, rather than rechargeable, batteries.
Portable TVs that use replaceable batteries are hard to find, though. After much searching and researching, I added a portable boom-box to my preparedness kit that has a built-in digital TV with a 7″ screen, DVD/CD player, AM/FM radio, and ports to connect flash drives and SD cards. Best of all, it uses replaceable alkaline D-cell batteries. I consider it to be the ideal emergency TV/radio combination. Look for the Coby Model TFDVD777, at around $120.
Rounding out the portable power department is an all-in-one 12-volt battery system that can jump-start your car. I like the Energizer Model 84020, at around $120. This handy unit also has a built-in air compressor for inflating tires, and a built-in power inverter for laptops, radios and portable TVs. Este paratus!