NOAA Weather Radio

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NOAA Weather Radio
Cochise Amateur Radio Association

• July 2, 2007

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Agenda

• What is NOAA Weather Radio?
• Southern Arizona Transmitters
• Information That Is Broadcast
• Types of Weather Radios
• Manufacturers and Features
• References

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What is NOAA Weather Radio?

• This life-saving technology broadcasts weather
  forecasts and travel conditions, storm warnings,
  and alerts affecting life and safety on a 24/7
  basis - 24 hours a day, seven days a week.The
  system is operated by the National Weather
  Service a division of the National Oceanic and
  Atmospheric Administration (both agencies are
  branches of the US Commerce Department). NOAA
  Weather Radio broadcasts are localized using over
  900 special VHF transmitters in all 50 states and
  territories.The NOAA frequencies are in the VHF
  radio spectrum ranging from 162.400 to 162.550
  MHz, which is outside of the normal AM/FM radio
  bands and must be monitored by special receivers
  like the All Hazards/Weather Emergency Alert
  radios. These broadcasts can be received up to
  40-50 miles from a NOAA transmitter.

Nationwide Station Listing Using Broadcast
Frequencies
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NOAA Weather Radio Station Listing for Arizona
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Automated Voice Broadcasts

• The automated computer voice broadcasts (or voice
  of the National Weather Service) allows you to
  listen to current weather conditions, weather
  forecasts as well as weather statements, alerts
  and warnings.
• All weather radios have the ability to tune into
  a specific frequency and listen to broadcasts.
• Automated computer voice broadcasts include
• Temperature and Humidity
• Barometric Pressure
• Rain Fall
• Weather Forecast
• Storm and Disaster Warnings

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What is the EAS?

• The Emergency Alert System (EAS) provides the
  only network of national and local government
  broadcasts for messages affecting public health
  and safety. Weather radios with SAME technology
  will receive these broadcasts automatically. EAS
  broadcasts may include warnings about weather and
  technological emergencies, including tornados and
  earthquakes toxic chemical spills radiation
  emergencies explosions and fires and other
  conditions that require immediate public
  notification.With the EAS and the NOAA working
  in conjunction, communities are capable of being
  warned of every type of disaster - natural as
  well as man-made. Alerts and warnings (both
  visual and audio) are issued for such severe
  weather as hurricanes, tornados, floods, high
  winds, thunderstorms, tropical storms, radiation
  emergencies, hazardous chemical spills and fires
  within a 30-40 mile range.

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What is S.A.M.E.?

• S.A.M.E. is Specific Area Message Encoding.
  S.A.M.E. radios receive the same alerts and
  warnings as the NOAA radios, however they allow
  users to adjust their reception and identify
  information for specific counties of interest and
  concern, rather than for an entire regional
  broadcast area.Weather Radio owners can easily
  program a SAME-equipped receiver with a six-digit
  code for a specific county location. This
  eliminates the numerous "false alarms" for
  weather alerts that may apply to an area 40 or 50
  miles distant. Multiple county codes can be
  programmed and memorized by more sophisticated
  weather radios to permit storing home and
  business locations, travel/vacation destinations,
  and favorite recreational sites.

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Some Arizona SAME Codes
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Statements, Alerts, Warnings

• 911 Telephone Outage
• Avalanche
• Biological
• Hazard
• Boil Water Warning
• Blizzard
• Child Abduction
• Civil Danger
• Civil Emergency
• Coastal Flood
• Chemical Hazard
• Contagious Disease
• Dam Watch
• Dam Break

• Dust Storm
• Emergency Action Notification
• Emergency Action Termination
• Earthquake
• Immediate Evacuation
• Evacuation Watch
• Food Contamination
• Flash Flood
• Flash Flood Watch
• Flood Watch
• Fire Warning
• Flash Freeze
• Freeze Warning
• Not Current Used In NWR

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Statements, Alerts, Warnings

• Hurricane
• Hazardous Materials
• Hurricane
• High Wind
• Iceberg
• Industrial Fire
• Local Area Emergency
• Law Enforcement Warning
• Land Slide
• National Periodic Test
• Network Message Notification
• Nuclear Power Plant
• Power Outage
• Radiological Hazard

• Special Marine Warning
• Special Weather Statement
• Shelter in Place Warning
• Severe Thunderstorm
• Severe Weather
• Statement
• Tornado Watch
• Tornado Warning
• Tropical
• Tsunami
• Volcano
• Wild Fire
• Winter Storm Watch
• Not Current Used In NWR

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Weather Radio Types

• Standalone Receivers Standalone Receivers might
  also come with AM/FM bands, but their primary use
  will be to receive Weather Radio broadcasts. You
  can choose between handheld and desktop models,
  depending on whether you will want to take your
  radio with you when you go out. There are many
  choices from a number of manufacturers with
  prices ranging from around 20 to over 100,
  depending on the number of features included.
• Multi-Band/Function Receivers These receivers
  bundle a number of features, and Weather Radio is
  just one of possibly many frequency bands
  included. You can find the Weather Radio band
  included in
• AM/FM radios
• Shortwave receivers
• CB radios
• VHF Marine radios
• Scanners
• GMRS/FRS 2-way radios
• Car radios
• TV/Radio combinations
• Amateur Radios

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Whatever Works For You!
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Partial List of Manufacturers

• First Alert http//www.simacorp.com
• Radio Shack http//www.radioshack.com
• Midland http//www.midlandradio.com
• Reecom http//www.reecom.com
• Oregon Scientific http//www2.oregonscientific.co
  m/
• Homesafe http//www.homesafeinc.com
• Ambient Weather http//www.AmbientWeather.com
• C. Crane Co. http//www.ccrane.com
• Weather Radios http//WeatherRadios.com
• MTS http//www.mts-comm.com
• Exploratrak http//www.weatherradiostore.com
• Freeplay http//www.freeplayenergy.com

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Residential Radios and Features

• Prices Range from 20 to 200, depending on the
  model. Useful features include
• Tone alarm The National Weather Service will
  send a 1050 Hz tone alarm before most warning and
  many watch messages are broadcast. The tone will
  activate all the receivers which are equipped to
  receive it, even if the audio is turned off. This
  is especially useful for warnings which occur
  during the night when people are asleep.
• SAME technology SAME, or Specific Alert Message
  Encoding allows you to specify the particular
  area for which you wish to receive alerts. Most
  warnings and watches broadcast over NOAA Weather
  Radio are county-based, although in a few areas
  of the country the alerts are issued for portions
  of counties or cities. SAME receivers can be
  programmed to respond only to alerts issued for
  the area (or areas) you have selected. This
  minimizes the number of false alarms for
  events.
• Selectable alerting of events While SAME allows
  you to specify a particular area of interest,
  some receivers allow you to turn off the alarm
  for certain events which might not be important
  to you. For example, you may elect to turn off
  the alarm for severe weather watches, but leave
  it enabled for severe weather warnings.
• Battery backup Since power outages often occur
  during storms, battery backup can be crucial.
  However, unless you have a portable unit which
  you will use away from other power sources, an AC
  power connection is also recommended.
• External antenna jack Most receivers come with a
  whip antenna which can be extended out from the
  unit. Some receivers come with an external
  antenna jack which will allow you to connect to
  a larger antenna to improve reception.

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Watches Vs. Warnings

• Watch
• A watch is used when the risk of a hazardous
  weather or hydrologic event has increased
  significantly, but its occurrence, location,
  and/or timing is still uncertain. It is intended
  to provide enough lead time so that those who
  need to set their plans in motion can do so.
• Warning
• A warning is issued when a hazardous weather or
  hydrologic event is occurring, is imminent, or
  has a very high probability of occurring. A
  warning is used for conditions posing a threat to
  life or property.
• .

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References

• NOAA Weather Radio http//www.weather.gov/nwr/
• NWS Tucson http//www.wrh.noaa.gov/twc
• FCC EAS Page http//www.fcc.gov/pshs/eas/
• Manufacturers Pages

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Questions?
NOAA Weather Radio
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