Weather radio

Tom_M wrote:

rwbradley wrote:
Just a note, someone posted using an App. I really really would not recommend that. Keep in mind that on 9-11 most of the internet came to a standstill while everyone streamed the towers. During Hurricane Sandy, cell service was out in areas and the 2 most inportant internet data centers in the world (both in Manhattan and feed much of the western world) were in danger of flooding and were going hour by hour waiting on Diesel for their generators. The internet/cell networks are too fragile to rely on in disaster situations. A self powered weather radio should be on the top of your list for emergency items, right up there with water, first aid and fire.

The way I see it is that the purpose of a weather alert is to warn you of bad weather before it occurs. Getting a warning after the storm wouldn't do much good.

LOL good point :)
However some types of emergency weather issues are slow moving and semi-predictable ie Hurricane and Blizzard and can start to cause infrastructure outages for you before the storm front actually hits you. Also after the storm goes thru, if infrastructure fails, weather radio may be the only way to know how bad it was ie can I get in the car and move to higher ground, is there a second front coming etc...

Still worth having a DC/Solar/Crank powered Weather radio, preferably with AM/FM for additional news info. You can get many models out there that have all of the above plus a USB port to charge your phone as well.

We use a Midland WR300. The main purpose of the S.A.M.E. technology is to filter out alerts from unwanted areas. When we are at home in the Midwest we filter out the counties far to the South of us since the storms through that area rarely effect us.

When we are traveling we just set it "All" and then we get the warnings from the local area. Radio is ALWAYS on at home or in the fiver. In the truck while traveling we have a CB that monitors NOAA frequencies and will sound an alert even when the volume is down.

rwbradley wrote:
Just a note, someone posted using an App. I really really would not recommend that. Keep in mind that on 9-11 most of the internet came to a standstill while everyone streamed the towers. During Hurricane Sandy, cell service was out in areas and the 2 most inportant internet data centers in the world (both in Manhattan and feed much of the western world) were in danger of flooding and were going hour by hour waiting on Diesel for their generators. The internet/cell networks are too fragile to rely on in disaster situations. A self powered weather radio should be on the top of your list for emergency items, right up there with water, first aid and fire.

The way I see it is that the purpose of a weather alert is to warn you of bad weather before it occurs. Getting a warning after the storm wouldn't do much good.

The weather radios are fine for general weather info, but the cell phone app is much better for localized weather. The Red Cross has an app called Tornado that is great for this purpose. While you can't always be assured that you will get data from a cell tower, I like the fact that the app gives me info for where I am and not a general area. :B

We use the inexpensive RADIO SHACK WX RECEIVER model 12-260 here which searches for the active WX RADIO station in your area when you first turn it on...


The smart WX RECEIVERS are nice but being on the move like we are it has to be programed just about every place we stop at.

This radio is battery operated but I added an radio shack adapter cable so i could plug into the trailer 12VDC and remove the batteries.

My WX RADIO is on 24/7 when in camping mode.

Roy Ken

We bought one from a garage sale this past summer. Battery only.
Went to SoDak for a 2 week trip. Coming back, we were in a very sudden tornado watch area.
This is what I can tell you.
You do not need a zip code for an emergency weather radio. It will pick of the closest signal to wherever you are. It will give you tornado alerts with a loud continuous sound and then voice. Also, we have a stupid cell phone. That also gave the tornado alert signal but no voice.

Most any Weather-all Hazards alert radio sold in the US today will have SAME technology it is not the zip code you program in but the area code, an area may be a county or even a city, but is usually multiple zip codes Most radios can accept multiple zones.. I have like 4 programmed into my Radio.

Two for summer, one for winter and one more

Plus it has TRAVEL mode (mine is a pocket size)

To program you can either use the owner's manual or a web site and look up where you are or, Just now I leave it in travel mode.

Radios come in two types.. "Pocket Size" Portable battery powered with built in antenna.

Desk Top: Line powered, usually with a rod antenna and an external antenna connector if you wish to use an external (Scanner) antenna.

Radios operate in the range of 162.5 MHZ give or take a bit so a 2-meter Ham antenna is a good choice of antenna or a scanner antenna.

At these (VHF) frequencies HEIGHT is MIGHT so an antenna mounted higher gives better reception. Thus the desktops work better. But the portable also have advantages.

We have an Oregon Scientific and it is portable as the main unit looks like a walkie-talkie and it fits into a small base. It has SAME technology and we set it up wherever we are (by county). We look on the map to be familiar with an area if an alert sounds. To us, it is an essential piece of RV equipment. I also have multiple phone apps like Weather Bug. However poor cell service means no weather alert if you are only using an app.

Just a note, someone posted using an App. I really really would not recommend that. Keep in mind that on 9-11 most of the internet came to a standstill while everyone streamed the towers. During Hurricane Sandy, cell service was out in areas and the 2 most inportant internet data centers in the world (both in Manhattan and feed much of the western world) were in danger of flooding and were going hour by hour waiting on Diesel for their generators. The internet/cell networks are too fragile to rely on in disaster situations. A self powered weather radio should be on the top of your list for emergency items, right up there with water, first aid and fire.

Just an aside - we're sitting here at Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks, and for the first time ever I'm getting a solid signal on all seven of the weather frequencies. So much for geographical separation. :)

al