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Comment by whitehexagon | Hacker News Reader

We awoke to power the next day, but mobile phone services only returned some hours later. Amazing how busy the banks were with people desperately seeking cash. Unfortunately the banks dont handle cash here now, and the ATMs were all offline.

The first few hours were scary, due to complete lack of information. I am not sure how people had internet access, seemed like all networks were down here. I dont follow any news (apart from HN) but from what people are saying locally, the cause is still unknown, which I guess means it can happen again at any time.

Any recommendations from preppers on a suitable portable radio? It would be nice next time to be able to distinguish rare draughty power line issues from possible start of WWIII.

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Tecsun PL series is pretty much the modern version the old Grundig Yachtboy series.

I have a PL 330 as my 'is there anybody out there' armaggedon world radio receiver. I also sometimes use it just for kicks to hear radio from somewhere unreasonably far away from me.

You can find a lot of pros and cons across the different models in their offering with plenty of online discussion as well.

That looks great, thank-you. It has lead me down a rabbit hole or radios, walkie talkies, and then I remembered my old CB rig. Funny how the old tech suddenly looks a lot more advanced.

You want a portable shortwave radio with external antenna. Amazon shows them ~$30 which is about what they cost. If you get a fancy one they go 3-4 times as expensive. I have a radio shack grundig battery powered one and it works fine.

Look at reviews, I guess, or try and find an old grundig. I'm sure other people have other brands/models.

If I can remember the last decent one I was looking at I'll comment again, but hopefully this will set you on the right track.

Thanks. I'll have another look, the ones I'd seen on amzn es looked a bit gimmicky, solar torch, hand crank, bt, but looked like they would last 5min or melt in the rain.

i asked in a group i'm in and most people said "Tecsun pl-880" - it is pricey, so the PL-330 was also mentioned.

Other brands mentioned: Eton, C. Crane. no models mentioned though. Hope this finds you well.

Thanks, I have a tecsun PL320 on the way, the 330 was unavailable here. But I like that it has the old nokia battery, I think, same as my current old dumb phone. I also went for a pair of motorolla walkie talkies.

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