One of the must-haves in a Go-Bag or Survival Kit will always be a radio that is capable of receiving AM band transmissions. Why AM (Amplitude Modulation) band, you may ask?
To explain this, we have to go back to a long time ago, when I was a child in the 1980s. My father had a 1974 Toyota Corolla. It was this car that took me to school and back- its stock radio was an AM radio, with no capability of playing audio cassette, nor could it receive FM (Frequency Modulation), hence no pop music; It really did one thing competently, which was to receive AM band transmissions. I say competently, not well, as by the 1980s, its electronics had degraded somewhat. Cross under a metal framework, say a metal scaffolding, the overhead latticework support of a bridge, or the LRT at Taft Avenue (in 1985, because the LRT was finished by 1984), the reception becomes garbled. This cannot be helped, as AM is particularly susceptible to interference, unlike FM. If your radio is already on the dodgy side (1970s technology- it probably used vacuum tubes, since it looked so steam-powered...), the reception will most likely be very garbled; I imagine that there were not many FM radio stations way back in 1974, only AM stations. This leads me to my next point--
Why the emphasis on AM, not FM, if this is the case? For starters, audio fidelity is not even that good on AM, so it is more suited for spoken word, not music.
This is specifically because AM has one thing going for it that FM does not have-- wavelengths in AM are long enough that radio waves are not blocked by buildings and hills and can propagate beyond the horizon following the curvature of the Earth. By contrast, FM has excellent audio fidelity, meaning you can transmit stereo sound, but it has a drastically shorter wavelength compared to AM waves;
This means that the government will definitely use the AM band, and will surely use or commandeer commercial AM radio stations, to broadcast messages to victims of any natural disaster like an earthquake or typhoon, where they may be cut off from the outside world; they may probably also use FM, but you are more likely to receive AM signals, as it really takes less energy to broadcast at a farther range for AM, as compared to FM; this is very critical if the population of a certain area are isolated from the rest of civilization, and the government or the authorities need to inform you where to go to be rescued, to be resupplied with food and water, etc.;
Oftentimes, when we think of AM/FM radios included in a Go-Bag, we think of crank radios;
Yes, these are excellent choices for AM band reception. But what if you wish or need to issue a lot of AM radios? or say put AM radios in several Go-Bags, in several sites? You want something that is nice and cheap, and reliable.
Enter the High Endurance Transistor Survival Radio:
Small, compact, very long-lasting with its two D-Cell batteries, this radio is not your grand daddy's transistor radio. It uses modern electronics, so reception is good for both AM and FM. Priced cheaply, you can buy dozens of this unit and not worry about breaking your prepping budget. And in addition, you can easily buy D-Cell batteries in almost any sari sari store in the most remote parts of the Philippines. D-Cells have been around for a very long time, as they are a long-time staple for people in the countryside- durable, stable, and very long-lasting, they use it to power radios, flashlights, and other devices;
Don't like the D-Cell Battery? This one is probably for you:
Like the D-Cell, the AA penlight battery is very, very common. It is so common, NVG systems were designed to use the AA battery for the very reason that AA can be procured from the most remote sari sari store in the rural countryside in the Philippines; possessing the same attributes of clear reception as the High Endurance Transistor Radio, the Standard Transistor Radio is an excellent survival radio;
To sum this all up, I have always believed that one is none, two is one, when it comes to prepping for disasters. Hence, it makes a lot of sense to procure several cheaper transistor radios to supplement your crank radio-- just on the off chance that you lose it, at least you have several standby transistor radios.
Till then, we are For Survivalists, by Survivalists®