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Old 03-14-2005, 01:46 AM   #1
Bowie
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Weather Alert Radio

Have just read the thread on WIND in Fulltiming. Eric Roellig mentions his weather alert radio in his response. An excellent point and we don't want it to be lost!! MOC talked about the importance of these handy items at length sometime last spring or summer. We feel that having a weather alert radio turned on at all times in the Monty or the tow vehicle (wherever you are to hear it) is very important especially now that parts of the country are getting to the time of year when tornadoes and thunderstorms are likely. If you don't already own a weather alert radio, please go buy one soon. (We don't have a particular brand to recommend--just buy the best you can afford.) USE IT 24/7!!! It could make an enormous difference in your ability to deal with ugly weather and stay safe. The value of these handy items was brought home to us several years ago when our SIL who is an AF pilot bought one for our daughter to use while he was posted overseas. Kansas, being Kansas, she was happy to have it many times--the bowling alley on their base was named Tornado Alley for good reason! Their house survived a tornado--but the house next door did not! The secret to the usefulness of the weather alert radio is that you must know the name of the county where you happen to be as the alerts are generally issued by county. This requires most of us to bone up on our map-reading skills--an added bonus. Having our radio with us when we travel makes us feel a bit more in control of our destinies--though we know who is really in charge!
 
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Old 03-14-2005, 04:03 AM   #2
richfaa
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Actually the freq on the NWS Weather alert system is the same country wide..No matter where you are you will get local/regional weather.Some Cb's have the channel on them and just about all scanners do. Of course you do have to know where you are...We use it at all times not to mention having ther NWS on our laptop. Helped install that system when i was still working for the FAA..The guy that does the weather (IGOR) is a personal friend of mine..He is @ 8 foot tall, 2 1/2 feet wide, 2 feet deep, he is Black trimmed in Blue..he is a computer.
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Old 03-14-2005, 04:29 AM   #3
jpkelpe
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We got the hint that any time you go to a campground ask the attendent what county you are in and even the surrounding counties so that you don't have to try to find the name of it on some map. that way if you hear an alert you will know if it is for your area.
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Old 03-14-2005, 05:20 AM   #4
campbud
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We have one we purchased it at a garage sale one day...it has been the best quarter spent! I think local IGA stores sell these also. We used it so many times last spring and summer...it always goes camping with us.
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Old 03-14-2005, 08:38 AM   #5
Montana_265
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I am going to get one... Several times tornado warnings on the tv or radio. Several times I have looked around as to where to go for shelter... block bathhouse. We once in VA Beach grabbed the dog and ran to the office. I did not want to have the trailer blown into the water (we were about 5 ft. from the backbay). The storm actually blew over at least one of the tall ships that happened to be in Norfolk that weekend. I think I have watched the Wizard of Oz one time too many. I have great respect for Tornados and electricity....
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Old 03-14-2005, 08:40 AM   #6
Ishler
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Just to build on the discussion the newest radios with the SAME technology actually display the cause of the alert on the display. The alerts include AMBER alerts and other emergency information.
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Old 03-14-2005, 10:47 AM   #7
jrgwdenner
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This is a great suggestion, Bowie, and a weather radio is something we want to purchase. So how 'bout some suggestions? Where do we start to look and what do we look for....features, etc??? Judy
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Old 03-15-2005, 12:45 AM   #8
RnR
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Mornin' everyone,
A good place to start looking for a weather radio would be www.midlandradio.com/ Lots of info, links, radios, etc.
Just purchased the WR100 S.A.M.E. radio which is listed on their web site for just under $60.00. This radio is on sale at Target stores right now for $28.00 plus change. Got it set up right by the keyboard! Also has 7 preset frequencies so there is no frequency setup. Plus many other features.
Hope this helps someone.

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Old 04-08-2005, 04:54 PM   #9
sreigle
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I'm also a believer in weather alert radios, having spent most of my life in Kansas. We always had one in our home and carried another in the Montana. And we have one in the Montana now. Ours has a switch for the various frequencies. I just move the switch until I find the strongest signal. We're currently in Gatlinburg, TN. We are getting no NWS signal here in the mountains. Less than ten miles up the road in Pigeon Forge we had a signal, but that's out on the flatlands.
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Old 04-08-2005, 07:14 PM   #10
Montana Sky
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Another idea to look into is a cb radio. I just had one installed in the truck and it has a weather radio built right into it. Have not gotten the coach out of storage yet, but this radio will sure be nice to have out on the open roads.
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Old 04-08-2005, 07:49 PM   #11
H. John Kohl
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I know I would have to get one that is quiet until the alert tone goes off then it opens the audio speaker. Ann would not like the one that just monitors the broadcast all the time.
Thanks for the reminder.
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Old 04-08-2005, 08:03 PM   #12
D and M On The Road
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We live in the "Shake & Bake" state of California and our natural disasters are supposed to be earthquakes or floods.

Today we had ANOTHER tornado warning for an area about 30 minutes north-east of us.

Two months ago we had 3 tornados touch down in areas as close as 15 minutes from us.

Just another reason to carry equipement that will dispense weather advisories and emergency information no matter where you travel.

You just-never-know what's out there.
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Old 04-08-2005, 08:47 PM   #13
H. John Kohl
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I do not support any of these radios but here is a couple examples
MIDLAND74250 portable
MIDLAND 74-200 desk top
UNIDEN Weather radio
UNIDEN CB w/weather radio
multiple MIDLAND weather radios
Again I do not support any distrubutor, just found this information on a web search.
Hope this helps.
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Old 04-09-2005, 12:31 PM   #14
sreigle
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by H. John Kohl

I know I would have to get one that is quiet until the alert tone goes off then it opens the audio speaker. Ann would not like the one that just monitors the broadcast all the time.
Thanks for the reminder.
John, ours is quiet until there is an alert. It has an option for the alert to trigger either the voice message or a siren. I opted for the siren as it will wake the dead. We can hear it outside, even when we're at a neighbor's place. Once the siren goes off a light will blink in case we were away when it went off. Press a button and it fires up the NWS station's audio. I believe it also has a silent alarm to just blink the light if you prefer.

Ours has been around for several years. Some of the newer ones have, I believe, an option to trigger only when the alert is for your county and another option to trigger only for certain kinds of alerts. For example, in our stick home we did not want to be awakened to hear about a flash flood warning in Jackson county when we lived in Shawnee County. Ours will trigger for any alert in the NWS station's coverage area while the newer, more expensive ones have the above options. I'm not sure if all NWS stations are equipped for those options or not.
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Old 04-09-2005, 01:18 PM   #15
Countryfolks
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Y'all got me thinking about if we should get one. I found this one, it has good reviews and is in a price range I can live with [Amazon]. Sounds similar to the one Steve has.

First Alert WX-167 Emergency Alert Radio with Same Technology

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Old 04-09-2005, 04:28 PM   #16
sreigle
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Do you have a link to that radio, Skip?
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Old 04-10-2005, 06:03 AM   #17
Countryfolks
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I did a search on 'weather radio' then found it on Amazon. It's made by Sima. This is a link to the users manual. Don't have the others.

http://www.handiham.org/manuals/First%20Alert/

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Old 04-11-2005, 03:11 PM   #18
sreigle
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I didn't get to your post before doing a quick google search. This one has the sales info on it. http://www.ambientweather.com/fialwxemalra1.html
Skip, I like this one. It has the technology I was talking about but we don't have. This is the one I'd like to have. I think we bought ours at Walmart years ago. It's a Midland Weather Monitor Model: 74-109 and has a telescoping antenna. We have it sitting on the bedroom dresser next to the curtains. I found this link to a used one with picture.
http://home.triad.rr.com/kc4gmy/midland.htm

I like the one you are looking at better as it's newer technology and has the ability to choose which alerts will trigger the alarm. I think we paid $40-50 for ours several years ago. It has an AC adapter with batteries as backup. I have to remember to turn it off when we hit the road so it won't run on batteries all day.

By the way, Skip, we've seen a lot of flyfishermen here in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I still want to learn how to do that someday and will take you up on your offer to teach me.

ed. Vicki says we bought it at Radio Shack. She's probably right.
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Old 04-11-2005, 04:13 PM   #19
Countryfolks
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Steve;
It's 47.99 w/free shipping at Amazon.

I always have my rod with me so any time we cross trails is fine with me.

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Old 04-12-2005, 01:18 PM   #20
richfaa
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We use a hand held scanner Uniden 300 Channel truck tracker,In addition to weather you can monitor Police, Fire,Well you name it you can monitor it..When you are in trouble you can never have enough information.. Saved our butts in Oklahoma May 1999 when the F5 tornado went through Moore ,Okla we were right in its path and monitored the local police report the path street by street. We did the old put the couch upside down in the hallway trick..it missed us but got Moore just a couple of miles away...
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