Need opinions on weather radios, scanners

[xtreme_right]

Sorry, not really sure what to call it. I'm wanting to get something to alert me to bad weather (we're coming up on the spring storms here in tornado alley), but am thinking it would also be nice to have something that is able to alert me to more than just weather. I'm planning to go on the net and research, but am not really sure what to research yet. I know there's plain ol' weather radios, but am wondering the benefits to getting a scanner or even ham radio. Can someone point me in which direction I need to look?

xr

 

[Phlatulance]

Plain-jane Weather Radio. They make noise when ANY alert signal is recieved, for you, or any of the surrounding counties. And if your on the western edge of a coverage area, you more than likely won't have much warning on an approching storm, but can listen to the radio make noises every 10 minutes as new warning are posted for every county to your east.

SAME Weather Radio. They make noise when an alert signal is recieved for any of the areas you have programmed in. (list of county codes on NOAA's website) These are the Best of the Best!!!! Push a button on the front and listen to the weather until you cannot stand the mostly-monotoned-automated-voice-of-weather-goodness that the NWS is slowly trying to make sound more human.

Scanner. Price will depend on what you get. Have not seen one that has the Weather Alert system built in. Any of them I have seen on the market you can punch in the freq. for your local NWS and listen to your hearts content. Also you can listen to police, fire and all that goodness. Depending on where you live, you might be able to listen to the ham radio storm spotter groups if they are in your area.

Ham Radio. Your probably thinking of a mono or dual band handheld for this purpose. For this only ONE that I have seen has the built in SAME radio, but several have the plain-jane weather radio's in them. (note: The one I have seen is a Radio Shack dual band handheld, that has been discontinued to my knowledge) Also most have wide band recieve and you can listen to more than just hams. At this point, I would suggest taking the Tech class Ham test and get your license. It's easy. That way A) you have a viable form of communications if needed B) if you feel so inclined, you can join a weather spotter group in your area and C) because it just good fun. Atleast for me. Then again I tell everyone they need to get their ham license.

edit: The Radio Shack handheld is the HTX-420 for anyone who is curious. Several reviews here.
Also Radio Shack has a selection of weather radios.

 

[dimensiondancer]

I have the NOAA ShareCom WRP-500 (with screen)


It's rather expensive

here is a link:

http://www.weatherradios.com/store.htm

 

[xtreme_right]

worked wonderfully thru the storms last night!

I ended up getting a SAME weather radio from Radio Shack for $40. It worked great! About 10 minutes after I programmed in the counties I wanted alerts for, it went off telling me the county next to me was under a tornado watch. I slept so much better last night than I normally do when I know there's bad storms heading our way. It went off at midnight telling me my county was under a watch. It was so nice not having to wake up hearing the thunder and rain and not be able to go back to sleep without trying to find something on the TV or radio. Once it gives an alert, it keeps a light on as long as the alert is still in effect. And if you want details, you just press the button and it gives the NOAA weather reports and warnings for the area. So happy with it, I just wish I had gotten one years ago and not had to be so stressed during the tornado season.

xr

 

[Ravekid]

Sorry, not really sure what to call it. I'm wanting to get something to alert me to bad weather (we're coming up on the spring storms here in tornado alley), but am thinking it would also be nice to have something that is able to alert me to more than just weather. I'm planning to go on the net and research, but am not really sure what to research yet. I know there's plain ol' weather radios, but am wondering the benefits to getting a scanner or even ham radio. Can someone point me in which direction I need to look?

xr

First, you need to get a S.A.M.E. weather radio. There are plenty of different kinds out there. The better SAME radios allow you to enter codes for just your counties and surrounding areas so that you don't get woke up at 1AM over a storm warning 100 miles away.

Second, some radios use the digital signal SAME sends out. These radios will always go off, so just because the box says "SAME" technology doesn't mean it's county specific.

I would suggest one of the newer kinds. The most important things are:
#1: Make sure you can block out different kinds of alerts. The 1st generation of SAME radios you could not block out warnings. It really sucks to hear the standard flood warning that is of no danger to you every few hours. You need to make sure you can block out both warnings and watches.

#2: Make sure the radio has a batter back-up incase the power goes out. The POS I have is nice, but if the power goes out, it's dead. While it has a 9 volt battery in it, you have to physically flip a switch to run it from the battery. This is most stupid set-up I have ever seen.

Due to #2 above, I am likely going to be getting the First Alert or the Reecom. The Reecom is by far the best radio I had. I sold it for this POS that actually has a map of the county display. This is called a ShareCom. It is fine except that there is no battery back up...at least on my radio. You have to flip that swich. Kinda sucks if the power flickers on/off and you lose all memory.

Forgot about scanners. There are scanners out there with the SAME technology, but just not country specific availability. I would look for one of those. Once you get the scanner, you need to dedicate one bank to weather/ham usage. Find your storm spotter freq. and plug in all those (even surrounding counties). What I also do is add local police and fire in this bank but just lock them out. When something is going down, I unlock police and fire if they are involved.

 

[Ravekid]

I have the NOAA ShareCom WRP-500 (with screen)


It's rather expensive

here is a link:

http://www.weatherradios.com/store.htm

Dancer,

If you unplug your radio _and_ it has a 9 volt in it, does it still work? Mine seems to lose it's memory when I unplug it. I read the book and it doesn't sound like a battery back-up in case of power outage, but more of an optional battery operated unit.

 

[Lurking LRRP]

I have the oregon scientific, ALL HAZARDS, emergency alert monitor. hand held device, love it. It has helped us many times, including last night at 12 am when we had a tornado watch issued for north Texas.

Lurking LRRP