Weather Radio?

TyroneandGladys wrote:
This has worked well for us

That Midland portable was the one I just ordered and has since arrived. Seems like good quality. I'm pleased with it.

dewey02 wrote:
The Midland one is what we use.
Have been very happy with it. As loggenrock said, the Travel mode on it is a very useful feature for folks that do a lot of travelling.
The fact that it will run on batteries and comes with an AC adapter is nice too.

The Midland was one of the first that caught my eye, so ordered one today from Amazon and it'll be here in time for my trip through the Florida Panhandle to Louisiana and maybe on to Arizona.

Also added some weather Apps to my iPhone as others have suggested, so I'm good to go come Feb 8th.

The Midland one is what we use.
Have been very happy with it. As loggenrock said, the Travel mode on it is a very useful feature for folks that do a lot of travelling.
The fact that it will run on batteries and comes with an AC adapter is nice too.

I have found many low cost weather receivers.. are just that... Low performance.. ones with pull up antenna's are a little better..


I use a Police Scanner with automatic NOAA alerts ... much better receiver...

lock OUT all police channels... so radio is silent.. but NOAA alerts sounds...

JoeTampa wrote:

justme wrote:
BTY I am presently in the Ocala forest and I can not get NOAA even though their coverage map says I can, but I do get enough cell phone signal to send this message as well a my Weather Channel map. Could it be that NOAA's signal propagation is effected by the present rain storm?

Which NWR station are you trying to receive?

162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525. 162.475 is faint and hardly distinguishable with a lot of static. My cell has 2 bars at 4G and works better than I expected.

justme wrote:
BTY I am presently in the Ocala forest and I can not get NOAA even though their coverage map says I can, but I do get enough cell phone signal to send this message as well a my Weather Channel map. Could it be that NOAA's signal propagation is effected by the present rain storm?

Which NWR station are you trying to receive?

JoeTampa wrote:

justme wrote:

If you look at the coverage map for NOAA weather channel you will notice it is similar to Verizon cell service.

I have no idea what map you are looking at, but it's not NOAA's:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/resources/NWR_Propagation.pdf


Here's Verizon's, for comparison:
https://vzwmap.verizonwireless.com/dotcom/coveragelocator/

NWR transmitters are usually 1000 watts.

justme wrote:

Also the wave propagation for the NOAA channels are greatly impacted by the weather

162 Mhz is NOT impacted by the weather. I've listened to NWR on radios with RSSI indicators in all types of weather and the signal is NOT degraded, even in torrential rain.

justme wrote:

Cell phone extender would be a better investment if you are in fringe areas.

I would classify these as a good investment, but not in comparison to a weather radio.

The Verizon coverage is similar and is good enough for most. Where it is not good, my FM radio works good enough for warnings. I have listened to NOAA during severe weather and in every situation I reverted to my smart phone or computer to see what is really going on. So what ever floats your boat is fine with me. But NOAA is a dinosaur.
BTY I am presently in the Ocala forest and I can not get NOAA even though their coverage map says I can, but I do get enough cell phone signal to send this message as well a my Weather Channel map. Could it be that NOAA's signal propagation is effected by the present rain storm?

justme wrote:

If you look at the coverage map for NOAA weather channel you will notice it is similar to Verizon cell service.

I have no idea what map you are looking at, but it's not NOAA's:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/resources/NWR_Propagation.pdf


Here's Verizon's, for comparison:
https://vzwmap.verizonwireless.com/dotcom/coveragelocator/

NWR transmitters are usually 1000 watts.

justme wrote:

Also the wave propagation for the NOAA channels are greatly impacted by the weather

162 Mhz is NOT impacted by the weather. I've listened to NWR on radios with RSSI indicators in all types of weather and the signal is NOT degraded, even in torrential rain.

justme wrote:

Cell phone extender would be a better investment if you are in fringe areas.

I would classify these as a good investment, but not in comparison to a weather radio.

JoeTampa wrote:

justme wrote:
Weather radio is obsolete and will go the way of LORAN/LORAC, RED/GREEN lane and other old technologies. So why waste hard earned money on a dinosaur?

Because when you have no cell service, you probably will have a NWR signal. Redundancy - it can save your life.

If you look at the coverage map for NOAA weather channel you will notice it is similar to Verizon cell service. Then one can also use satellite TV, local TV or Radio for weather warnings. I have found the weather channel application on my PC and smart phone provides great service and you can actually see the weather (tornados/hurricanes/snow/hail as they occur in your area. The NOAA weather report is mostly useless for those in unfamiliar areas because they talk about the weather in towns and counties that are unfamiliar. My weather app eliminates any confusion as to where the bad weather is at. Also the wave propagation for the NOAA channels are greatly impacted by the weather
Cell phone extender would be a better investment if you are in fringe areas.