NOAA Weather Radio

By FARMERIK

All across the USA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has small local transmitters to warn of weather and other emergencies. Most all areas are covered by these broadcasts. The ability to tune into these signals is added to some radios of many types. CB, clock radios, walkie talkies, portable AM and FM radios and most scanners can tune these stations. There are receivers made just for these signals, and they are reasonably priced. Not only is the latest weather forecast available, warnings are issued for many kinds of emergencies. A hidden message is coded into the broadcast which can turn on your radio, sound an alarm, and a descriptive message will follow. Not all radios which tune these special channels have the 'Alert' function. Some newer models have Specific Area Message Encoding [SAME]. This allows you to select or exclude some of the ALERT messages you receive. For example, I live at a very high local elevation, and flash flooding will never be a problem here. Having this feature allows me to exclude that warning ALERT. You can also exclude counties that are not that close to you. Some of these newer models also have a small screen which displays text, telling you the nature of the emergency. That is a nice convenience, since it takes a while after the ALERT signal sounds for a voice to come on and describe the problem.

Signals are strong enough in most areas. An external antenna may be needed if your are inside a building with a metal frame or roof. If the transmitter is too far away or blocked by mountains it will be harder to receive. Like anything else, a radio of poorer quality will not work as well as a better one. This service uses FM signals, but is higher in frequency than music stations you are familiar with. The antennas look similar, but are shorter. FM radio waves don't go too far over the horizon. Raising your radio or antenna just a few feet may really help. Trying different locations in a room can make a big difference. Any metal objects near an antenna will effect it. You may have wiring or duct work in your walls. Outdoors avoid metal too. A short whip antenna comes on these radios, and most have a jack to connect an external antenna. Commercial antennas are available, but if you buy a speaker cable sold for small home stereos which has a plug on one end to fit the input jack on your radio you can make one. At the far end, separate the two conductors inside the cable for the last 21-24 inches. Only this short section is your actual antenna, the rest just brings the signal to the radio. Make the antenna in the shape of a 'T' sitting on its side. Normally a vertical antenna is used. The cable should be run horizontal to the antenna portion, and one conductor should go straight up and the other straight down, again like the letter 'T' on its side. If you happen to get a co-axial cable, where one conductor is inside of the other, you can run the cable vertical, and just remove the outer shield on the last 21-24 inches. You are just copying the whip on the radio. A vertical antenna like this will receive signals equally well from all directions. If you run the antenna at the end of the cable horizontally,it will be somewhat directional, picking up signals from both sides, but not off the ends. Try this if you need to avoid interference, or point the antenna toward the transmitter site. On the NOAA website, you can find a map of the transmitters in each state. Click on your state, and you will be able to see what direction they are from you, or you can just experiment for the direction of the strongest signal. To improve the signal, mount the antenna as high as possible. Inside a motor vehicle, camper or mobile home, the antenna needs to be near the middle of a window. Commercial antennas are available which conduct the signal into the vehicle by gluing a small square on both the inside and outside of the glass. They will not work with insulated double pane windows you might have in your home, but they do prevent the need for drilling a hole which might leak. If your house has aluminum siding, try the middle of a window for your antenna, or just set the radio on the window sill. The side of the house toward the transmitter should be the best, but experiment.

For many years I relied on my Maxon WX-70 weather alert radio. It still works just fine, but it does not have the SAME feature, so recently I started looking at models which do. I chose the Midland WR-300 radio. This company has a long history of making good quality electronics which are reliable. I wanted to operate this radio off our home 12 volt battery bank, but also have internal battery back up. I have both 6 and 12 volt portable storage batteries to run small radios and LED lighting in my home when the power is out too. Most of the weather radios have an internal battery back up for when the power fails. That may be when you need them the most. I also wanted to be able to recharge the batteries used inside the radio. The newest rechargeable AA cells will run a small LED flashlight or portable radio for a very long time. These weather alert radios draw currant all the time to monitor for alerts, so a larger battery is needed for routine use. Most people simply plug them in, but I want mine protected from power line surges and even somewhat from EMP spikes.

While a battery is being recharged, it should be disconnected from most home electronics. Voltages during recharging will get much higher than the battery normally provides, and could ruin electronics. Devices made for use in a vehicle underway have to be designed to take those higher voltages, CB and car radios which tune the weather frequencies are examples.

There are many brands of weather radios out there. I chose the Midland WR-300 partly because it runs on four AA cells or on 12 VDC, not because it also has a digital AM FM radio and a clock. These are still nice features to have. During a power outage, most of our clocks are no longer correct, but this one should be. A digitally tuned radio allows me to quickly and certainly tune in specific stations. I have made a list of News/Talk stations in all the major cites I can hear on AM radio. If there were an event in New York or Boston I could hear the news reports live on the ground, before the networks have them, and in greater detail. Unfortunately this WR-300 is not sensitive enough for distant stations without an external loop antenna. I have several though. I can set the radio to the correct frequency, and then just position and tune a small loop like the Select-a-tenna or Terk Advantage. Both are less than a foot in diameter, so they are not hard to position near a radio. Grundig is importing a really nice looking wooden frame AM loop antenna, and so are others. They are not hard or expensive to make either. I have 2 and 4 foot loops for really far away stations, but those can be clumsy to use.

The WR-300 and my Maxon WX-70 both have 1/8th inch mono phone jacks for external speakers. Many other models will too. An old speaker from an inexpensive 'childs' stereo, or a Public Address [PA] horn or cone style speaker is much more efficient, making these radios much louder. Then you can hear them in more rooms, or while an appliance, radio or TV is on. Small horn speakers with 1/8 th inch phone plugs are sold for use with CB radios, and a single PA type cone speaker between 5 and 8 inches in diameter works well. They are designed to clearly and efficiently reproduce human voice. A larger cone speaker and cabinet than what is in the radio will sound better for music as well.

Weather radios are widely available at stores which sell electronics, outdoor and marine sports equipment and department stores. Don't expect the clerk to be able to answer all your questions though. Use the links below to learn about this important service, and the radios which can connect you to it.