Help choosing a NOAA Weather Radio

[coyoteunknown]

Could anyone recommend a good NOAA Weather Radio that has battery backup?

Since my family has moved closer to tornado alley and Oklahoma is practically in my back yard I'd like to get one as an extra precaution.

There seems to be a lot of makes and models available, so I'm not really sure what to look for. Do they also pick up the DTMF signals that are broadcasted to activate tornado sirens?

Anyways, any help would be appreciated.

[Justin]

There seems to be a lot of makes and models available, so I'm not really sure what to look for.

While I can't recommend any specific models, you should look for a radio that has this contraption called "SAME". I think it works by breaking down the reception area into counties, so one county under warning won't trigger a warning in another and reverse that behaviour if needed. A radio that can also alert for other threats (like chemical spills) is handy.

Do they also pick up the DTMF signals that are broadcasted to activate tornado sirens?

Generally no; as it's up to the authority controlling the siren system (when installed) choose a frequency to broadcast on, and this generally isn't standard across counties/states; so would be difficult to implement on weather radios.
However, tornado sirens can be programmed to fire up when an alert is given through the weather radio system; though the system has to be installed with this capability (or the activation point).

You might want to recommend a portable one for the car as well.

[bwillcox]

I've been getting and installing the RS 12-262 radios for the places I've needed a weather radio.

These are fully SAME capable and you can turn off alerts for most things
(certain warnings cannot be disabled and these are marked in the manual) They also have a very loud warble alarm.

I did have the one at my mom's place just flat out die but RS replaced it no questions asked, and the new one has been fine since. The other 4 including the one at my place have been working like champs.

We also usually have these as the raffle prize at the county Skywarn school and they have been very well received.

There are no standards for the radio system to key off sirens (could be 3 different frequency ranges and a multitude of encoding formats).

It should be possible to build something that would work, but you're not going to get anything commercially off the shelf that will work.

[Adam Pollak]

Sirens are activated by so many different means that it would be impossible for a weather radio to have that capability built in. Some systems still use land lines to start off. For radio activations though, the systems can be set off on virtually any radio frequency ranging from VHF all the way up to microwave frequencies. Some are hooked up to 800 MHz trunked systems that even most general scanners are not able to follow unless they have trunked radio tracking of some kind. There are also so many different activation tones such as two-tone, DTMF, and FSK (digital, like a modem...which is actually the way that the heading information is encoded in an EAS message).

[Corey Hudson]

anyone have a midland? i heard they are good

[coyoteunknown]

I've been getting and installing the RS 12-262 radios for the places I've needed a weather radio.

I did have the one at my mom's place just flat out die but RS replaced it no questions asked, and the new one has been fine since. The other 4 including the one at my place have been working like champs.

We also usually have these as the raffle prize at the county Skywarn school and they have been very well received.

Thanks for the recommendation, pup. I did some light research on that particular model and I don't think it'd be right for me. A good majority of the reviews for it on Radio Shack are negative. A lot of them saying that the unit simply fails or malfunctions within a short time frame.

I've been looking at this unit from Amazon/Midland Electronics. It has S.A.M.E. features, LED back lighting and some other features. What do you all think of it?

Midland WR-300 NOAA Weather Radio

Edit:

Ooh, I like the portability of this one. Than I wouldn't need one for the car or when we visit family in Oklahoma.

Portable Weather Radio

[Corey Hudson]

ive done some research on the midland and was thinking of getting it. Ive also seen the wr-200(i think) the $40 one. not sure which one. The 300 has mute options for ceatain warnings like flood. And i would like the clock but im not sure if putting the radio in took away any capability's available in other weather radios?

Thoughts???

Corey

[Goatherder]

I've been getting and installing the RS 12-262 radios for the places I've needed a weather radio.

I did have the one at my mom's place just flat out die but RS replaced it no questions asked, and the new one has been fine since. The other 4 including the one at my place have been working like champs.

We also usually have these as the raffle prize at the county Skywarn school and they have been very well received.

Thanks for the recommendation, pup. I did some light research on that particular model and I don't think it'd be right for me. A good majority of the reviews for it on Radio Shack are negative. A lot of them saying that the unit simply fails or malfunctions within a short time frame.

I've been looking at this unit from Amazon/Midland Electronics. It has S.A.M.E. features, LED back lighting and some other features. What do you all think of it?

Midland WR-300 NOAA Weather Radio

Edit:

Ooh, I like the portability of this one. Than I wouldn't need one for the car or when we visit family in Oklahoma.

Portable Weather Radio

I recommend the RS 12-262. i have it here at home and have read the same reviews, the only reason the have that problem with them is they can't read the instructions, it clearly says if no alert is received in 10 days it says check op, if they would set it to receive the test alerts then there would be no problem. Of course it also depends on your local weather office and whether they send a test alert also. Mine has never missed an alert, but it has said check op because my weather service office didn't test for a week.

[500AT]

Currently, I am looking at purchasing a new NOAA All-Hazards radio receiver myself. At present, I have a 2000 vintage Uniden WX-100 receiver, which has been very good over the years, and has SAME decoder technology. However, there are some of new SAME codes for local emergencies that it will not decode, and replacing it has become a necessity.

I have done some rather extensive research on what models are currently available. Moreover, selecting a unit that is a "Public Alert Certified Weather Radio" is the best overall policy. Likewise, examining what companies manufacture the best overall radios; thus, I have narrowed my list down to two candidates:

1. Midland WR-300

http://www.midlandradio.com/comersus/st ... oduct=3106

2. Reecom R1630

http://www.reecominc.com/

One thing I really like about both radios, is that certain alert codes can be blocked from waking you up at night. Somehow, I really don't like the idea of being awakened at 3:00 a.m. for an Amber Alert. Conversely, the Midland offers one very nice feature that allows software upgrades to be downloaded directly to the radio's CPU. This means that any future changes or upgrades can be installed by the user.

Therefore, I find myself leaning more towards the Midland WR-300. Also, Midland offers several accessories, which can be used to help enhance the warning capabilities of this radio. My cousin has the optional strobe light for his WR-300, so his mother who is deaf, can visually see the flashing light, and walk over to the radio to see what emergency is affecting her area. Actually, I even like the idea of the optional strobe.

One major requirement that I have for any radio receiver, is that it must have a jack for an external antenna, which the Reecom and Midland radios both have. This is a must in weak signal areas, where reception is spotty.

[Adam Pollak]

Haha, Ron, that is great! I intentionally went out of my way to find a WX-100 and got one off eBay a while back cause I really liked the orange backlight. Missing the newer SAME codes is somewhat sad, but at least it (like most) will still decode the last letter as either a Warning, wAtch, Emergency, or Statement. It has by far outperformed any other weather radio I have owned in terms of signal reception and consistency. The worst I have ever owned was a Midland radio and the Radio Shack one I owned was too fickle with antenna direction and the signal cutting out. I have always lived well within range of a station. I will admit the Midland was very old though when SAME first came out, so I'm sure they have worked a lot out, but Uniden, by far, is a name I trust the most when relating to radio equipment, even if they do not have all the features of other models.