I first discovered Weather Radios in December of 2001 when I was 14 going on 15. That previous spring and summer I had begun to cultivate an interest in all forms of radio communications. As previously stated, I always had a fascination with weather. So, to me, a weather radio seemed to be a pretty cool device.

I wrote these notes on Weather Radios in the composition book I had been EDCing on October 3, 2018. The main source for these notes I have taken that I will cite is Wikipedia.

Without further ado, here are the notes:

A Weather Radio is a special radio receiver that is designed to receive the signals from government owned radio stations that broadcast weather observations continuously.

Routine reports are interrupted when a weather emergency arises.

Some non weather emergency information may be broadcast such as a natural disaster, civil emergency or terrorist attack.

Broadcasts occur on the VHF High Band.

Two varieties are sold: Home and Portable.

Portable models come with features such as crank power in addition to grid current and batteries for use in an emergency when the power is disrupted. Smaller portable/pocket models do not typically feature Specific Area Message Encoding, but allow outdoor enthusiasts to get weather information in a compact device.

Modern Home models have in addition to Specific Area Message Encoding, visual alert features such as text displays and multi-colored lights. They also have connections to add peripherals such as pillow shakers or bed shakers, strobe lights and loud sirens for people with sensory disabilities. There peripherals can be connected via the weather radio’s accessory port.

NAVTEX gives Global Weather alerts for ships at sea. It is a Low Frequency Teletex broadcast.

In the United States NOAA Weather Radio is a nationwide network of automated weather broadcast stations giving weather information from a nearby Nation Weather Service forecast office. A broadcast cycle lasts between three and eight minutes.

Specific Area Message Encoding activates radios based on the Federal Information Processing System codes and radios equipped with that said feature will only activate when the corresponding administrative division programmed in the radio has an emergency.

Weather Radio Channels and Frequencies:

Original Number…..Frequency…….Marine Number……New Number
WX01…………….162.550 MHz…..39B…………………….7
WX02…………….162.400 MHz…..36B…………………….1
WX03…………….162.475 MHz…..97B…………………….4
WX04…………….162.425 MHz…..96B…………………….2
WX05…………….162.450 MHz…..37B…………………….3
WX06…………….162.500 MHz…..38B…………………….5
WX07…………….162.525 MHz…..98B…………………….6
WX08…………….161.650 MHz…..21B…………………..N/A
WX09…………….161.775 MHz…..83B…………………..N/A
WX10…………….163.275 MHz…..113B…………………N/A