Weather radio

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Two types of weather radio receivers; the common Midland home weather radio (model WR-100) to the right is often the most popular and known unit sold in the United States, while the orange Oregon Scientific model on the left is portable and water-resistant for outdoor use. Weather Radios.jpg
Two types of weather radio receivers; the common Midland home weather radio (model WR-100) to the right is often the most popular and known unit sold in the United States, while the orange Oregon Scientific model on the left is portable and water-resistant for outdoor use.

A weather radio is a specialized radio receiver that is designed to receive a public broadcast service, typically from government-owned radio stations, dedicated to broadcasting weather forecasts and reports on a continual basis, with the routine weather reports being interrupted by emergency weather reports whenever needed. Weather radios are typically equipped with a standby alerting function—if the radio is muted or tuned to another band and severe weather bulletin is transmitted, it can automatically sound an alarm and/or switch to a pre-tuned weather channel for emergency weather information. Weather radio services may also occasionally broadcast non-weather-related emergency information, such as in the event of a natural disaster, a child abduction alert, or a terrorist attack.

Contents

They generally broadcast in a pre-allocated very high frequency (VHF) range using FM. Usually a radio scanner or a dedicated weather radio receiver is needed for listening, although in some locations a weather radio broadcast may be re-transmitted on an AM or FM broadcast station, on terrestrial television stations, or local public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV channels or during weather or other emergencies.

Weather radio receivers

Weather radios are generally sold in two varieties: home (stationary) or portable use. Portable models commonly offer specialized features that make them more useful in case of an emergency. Some models use crank power, in addition to mains electricity and batteries, in case of a power outage.

Sangean DT-400W (10711303835) Sangean DT-400W (10711303835).jpg
Sangean DT-400W (10711303835)

Smaller hand-held weather receivers generally do not support the SAME alert type encoding, but allow hikers and other explorers to listen to weather reports without packing a heavy and bulky base station radio. Some models have a built-in flashlight and can double as a cellphone charger. Some also serve as a more general emergency radio and may include multiband and two-way communication capability. "Scanner" radios designed to continuously monitor the VHF-FM public service band are already able to receive weather channels.

A Gorman-Redlich CRW-S weather radio Weatheradio.gif
A Gorman-Redlich CRW-S weather radio

Besides SAME alerting capability, modern weather radio receivers, especially those that are compliant with CTA standard 2009-B, may include visual alerting elements (e.g., multicolored LED indicator lights) and allow for the use of external devices (e.g., pillow vibrators, bed shakers, strobe lights, and loud sirens, which attach via an accessory port) to alert those who are deaf or hearing impaired.

Global weather radio services

Wib2bx Wib2bx.jpg
Wib2bx

Both private and commercial seagoing vessels need accurate weather reports, in order to avoid storms that might damage or capsize the vessel, or make paying passengers uncomfortable. One such service is Navtex, which is a low-frequency facsimile radio service.

North American weather radio services

National Weather Radio Frequencies
for U.S., Canada, and Mexico (et al.)# WX8-WX12 frequency order and inclusion varies
FrequencyWX [1]

Channel

Marine

Channel

Radio

Preset

162.400 MHzWX236B1
162.425 MHzWX496B2
162.450 MHzWX537B3
162.475 MHzWX397B4
162.500 MHzWX638B5
162.525 MHzWX798B6
162.550 MHzWX139B7
161.650 MHzWX#21Bblank
161.750 MHzWX#23Bblank
161.775 MHzWX#83Bblank
162.000 MHzWX#28BASM 2
163.275 MHzWX#113Bblank

The United States' NOAA, Canada's Weatheradio, Mexico's SARMEX and Bermuda operate their government weather radio stations on the same marine VHF radio band, using FM transmitters, and the same seven frequencies (162.4-162.55 MHz) as NOAA Weather Radio (NWR). [2] [3] Bermuda only uses 162.550 (land) and 162.400 (marine). [4] [5] NWR transmitters operate VHF-FM between 5–1,000 watts. NWR channels operating in the range of 162.3625-162.5875 MHz (WX1-WX7) have a band spacing of 25 kHz and may have bandwidths up to 16 kHz. [6] The original "weather" frequency was 162.550 MHz, with 163.275 MHz initially recommended as a backup and later dropped due to interference problems with other federal agencies.

NOAA Weather Radio, Weatheradio and SARMEX all refer to the seven stations by their frequencies:
162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525 and 162.550 MHz. [7] [8] [9] [10]

Other channel designations such as WX1 through WX7 "have no special significance but are often designated this way in consumer equipment" and "other channel numbering schemes are also prevalent/possible" according to NOAA and USCG. [11] [12] Ordering channels by when they were established (WX1, WX2, …) is "becoming less 'popular' over time than a numerical ordering of channels." [13] Weather radios may list stations in the order of their WX#, or by a "Preset Channel" number 1 thru 7 in ascending frequency order. [14] [15] [16]

The "WX#" format is continued from WX8 up to WX12 on some lists and radios to include 163.275 MHz and or one or more of the Canadian continuous marine broadcast (CMB) frequencies 161.650, 161.750, 161.775, 162.000. Unlike WX1-WX7 typically ordered by frequency adoption by NWS, there is no consistent frequency inclusion nor assignment for WX8-WX12. [17] [18] [19] Effective January 1, 2019, channels 2027 (161.950 MHz, 27B) and 2028 (162.000 MHz, 28B) are designated as ASM 1 and ASM 2 respectively for application specific messages (ASM) as described in Recommendation ITU-R M.2092. [20] 163.275 MHz was formerly used by the NWS for coordination during power outages[ citation needed ].

All stations in the United States, Canada, and Bermuda transmit a 1,050 Hz attention tone immediately before issuing a watch or warning, (In Canada a 1050 Hz Tone is only used for a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, Tornado Warning and the Required Monthly Test) [21] and this is used as both an attention tone and as a way to activate many radios that don't have SAME technology.

FEMA-provided audio file of the SAME alert header, followed by the combined 853 Hz and 960 Hz Warning Alert Tone, followed by the SAME end-of-message (EOM) tone

All U.S. and Canadian stations transmit WRSAME codes a few seconds before the 1,050 Hz attention tone that allows more advanced receivers to respond only for certain warnings that carry a specific code for the local area. SAME codes are defined for counties, parishes, territories, or marine zones, and are set using preassigned six-digit FIPS county codes (in the U.S.) or CLC codes (in Canada). The SAME code protocol also includes an end-of-message (EOM) tone which is made up of three short data bursts of the binary 10101011 calibration then "NNNN", which some radios will use to mute the speaker after the alert broadcast has been completed. [22] [23]

United States

NOAA Weather Radio (NWR; also known as NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards) is an automated 24-hour network of more than 1,000 radio stations [24] in the United States that broadcast weather information directly from a nearby National Weather Service office. A complete broadcast cycle lasts about 3 to 8 minutes long, featuring weather forecasts and local observations, but is interrupted when severe weather advisories, warnings, or watches are issued. It occasionally broadcasts other non-weather related events such as national security statements, natural disaster information, environmental and public safety statements (such as an AMBER Alert) sourced from the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Emergency Alert System. Weather Underground discontinued live streams of NWR broadcasts in 2017. [25]

Canada

In Canada, Weatheradio Canada transmits in both official languages (English and French) from 230 sites across Canada. The Canadian broadcast cycle features the forecast for the forecast region where the transmitter is located, as well as any neighbouring forecast regions there may be. It also includes the current conditions for local cities, towns, airports or military bases and the air quality forecast is the last part of the cycle before it switches to the other language to repeat the cycle in either English or French. Weatheradio Canada does not currently broadcast any non-weather-related events, such as an Amber alert or Fire warning, though these types of events are "for possible future implementation". [26]

Caribbean/Atlantic

Bermuda Radio (call-sign ZBR) is a weather radio station in Bermuda working under the Government of Bermuda.

Bermuda has only one station dedicated purely for weather, on 162.55 MHz from Hamilton, now operated by the Bermuda Weather Service with tropical weather forecasts from NOAA. It has a second station, however, for marine conditions and forecasts, ZBR (operated by the Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre), at 162.4 MHz. [27] [28]

Mexico

Mexico has since launched its own weather radio system, SARMEX (Sistema De Alerta De Riesgos Mexicano, or Mexican Hazard Warning System) for coverage of its cities, [29] which also implements the Mexican Seismic Warning System. Some Mexican alert radios also support activation by a two-tone alert for another type of risk warning. [30]

European weather radio services

Germany

In Germany, the Deutscher Wetterdienst broadcasts marine weather reports and weather warnings via long and short wave transmissions. [31]

Commercial weather radio services

The weather radio band is part of the marine VHF radio band reserved for governmental services.[ citation needed ] However, most standard AM and FM broadcast radio stations provide some sort of private weather forecasting, either through relaying public-domain National Weather Service forecasts, partnering with a meteorologist from a local television station (or using a meteorologist hired by the station, common when a radio station is a sister station of their TV counterpart or has a news and forecast-sharing agreement), affiliating with a commercial weather service company, or (in the most brazen cases) copying a commercial service's public forecasts without payment or permission. (The first option is not available, or at least legally, in Canada, where Environment Canada's forecasts are under crown copyright.)

Accuweather (through United Stations) and The Weather Channel (through Westwood One's NBC Radio Network) both operate large national weather radio networks through standard AM and FM stations. Brookstone licensed Accuweather's data service for their popular 5 Day Wireless Weather Watcher Cast Forecaster.

Microsoft's MSN Direct was a popular data service that included weather forecasting sent over US FM radio signals from 2004 to 2012. It was used by Microsoft Spot watches and Oregon Scientific clocks. [32]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Radiotelephone Communications system for transmission of speech over radio

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FM broadcast band Radio broadcast band

The FM broadcast band is a range of radio frequencies used for FM broadcasting by radio stations. The range of frequencies used differs between different parts of the world. In Europe and Africa and in Australia and New Zealand, it spans from 87.5 to 108 megahertz (MHz) - also known as VHF Band II - while in the Americas it ranges from 88 to 108 MHz. The FM broadcast band in Japan uses 76 to 95 MHz, and in Brazil, 76 to 108 MHz. The International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT) band in Eastern Europe is from 65.9 to 74.0 MHz, although these countries now primarily use the 87.5 to 108 MHz band, as in the case of Russia. Some other countries have already discontinued the OIRT band and have changed to the 87.5 to 108 MHz band.

Digital Radio Mondiale Digital radio broadcasting standard

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Second audio program (SAP), also known as secondary audio programming, is an auxiliary audio channel for analog television that can be broadcast or transmitted both over-the-air and by cable television. Used mostly for audio description or other languages, SAP is part of the multichannel television sound (MTS) standard originally set by the National Television Systems Committee (NTSC) in 1984 in the United States. The NTSC video format and MTS are also used in Canada and Mexico.

National Weather Service U.S. forecasting agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the purposes of protection, safety, and general information. It is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) branch of the Department of Commerce, and is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, within the Washington metropolitan area. The agency was known as the United States Weather Bureau from 1890 until it adopted its current name in 1970.

Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) is a protocol used for framing and classification of broadcast emergency warning messages. It was developed by the United States National Weather Service for use on its NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) network, and was later adopted by the Federal Communications Commission for the Emergency Alert System, then subsequently by Environment Canada for use on its Weatheradio Canada service. It is also used to set off receivers in Mexico City and surrounding areas as part of the Mexican Seismic Alert System (SASMEX).

NOAA Weather Radio 24-hour network of VHF FM weather radio stations in the United States

NOAA Weather RadioNWR; also known as NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards is an automated 24-hour network of VHF FM weather radio stations in the United States (U.S.) that broadcast weather information directly from a nearby National Weather Service office. The routine programming cycle includes local or regional weather forecasts, synopsis, climate summaries or zone/lake/coastal waters forecasts. During severe conditions the cycle is shortened into: hazardous weather outlooks, short-term forecasts, special weather statements or tropical weather summaries. It occasionally broadcasts other non-weather related events such as national security statements, natural disaster information, environmental and public safety statements, civil emergencies, fires, evacuation orders, and other hazards sourced from the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Emergency Alert System. NOAA Weather Radio uses automated broadcast technology that allows for the recycling of segments featured in one broadcast cycle seamlessly into another and more regular updating of segments to each of the transmitters. It also speeds up the warning transmitting process.

The International Telecommunication Union uses an internationally agreed system for classifying radio frequency signals. Each type of radio emission is classified according to its bandwidth, method of modulation, nature of the modulating signal, and type of information transmitted on the carrier signal. It is based on characteristics of the signal, not on the transmitter used.

Marine VHF radio Radios operating in the very high frequency maritime mobile band

Marine VHF radio is a worldwide system of two way radio transceivers on ships and watercraft used for bidirectional voice communication from ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore, and in certain circumstances ship-to-aircraft. It uses FM channels in the very high frequency (VHF) radio band in the frequency range between 156 and 174 MHz, inclusive, designated by the International Telecommunication Union as the VHF maritime mobile band. In some countries additional channels are used, such as the L and F channels for leisure and fishing vessels in the Nordic countries. Transmitter power is limited to 25 watts, giving them a range of about 100 kilometres.

The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) is a worldwide system for automated emergency signal communication for ships at sea developed by the United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO) as part of the SOLAS Convention.

Airband or aircraft band is the name for a group of frequencies in the VHF radio spectrum allocated to radio communication in civil aviation, sometimes also referred to as VHF, or phonetically as "Victor". Different sections of the band are used for radionavigational aids and air traffic control.

2182 kHz Radio distress frequency

The radio frequency 2182 kHz is one of the international calling and distress frequencies for maritime radiocommunication in a frequency band allocated to the mobile service on first priority ("primary") basis, exclusively for distress and calling operations.

Weatheradio Canada is a Canadian weather radio network owned and operated by Environment and Climate Change Canada's Meteorological Service of Canada division. The network transmits in both official languages from 230 sites across Canada. Weatheradio Canada like their telephone service, uses the Starcaster Text to Speech, which has been used for many years and is owned by STR-SpeechTech Ltd.

A forecast region is a unique geographical area for which individual weather reports are issued.

National Weather Service Chicago, currently based in Romeoville, Illinois, is a weather forecast office responsible for monitoring weather conditions for 23 counties in Northern Illinois, the Chicago metropolitan area and Northwest Indiana. The Army Signal Service established the first federal weather office in the region in Chicago on October 15, 1870. During May 1894 the Chicago Weather Bureau was given a new forecast area extending from the Great Lakes region all the way to the Rocky Mountains. The current National Weather Service Chicago is located in Romeoville and is in charge of issuing local forecasts and weather warnings for the Chicago area. It is one of only two National Weather Service offices in Illinois, the other being National Weather Service Central Illinois in Lincoln, Illinois. The National Weather Service Chicago forecast office is located adjacent to the Lewis University Airport in Romeoville, Illinois.

Personal radio service

A personal radio service is any system that allows individual to operate radio transmitters and receivers for personal purposes with minimal or no special license or individual authorization. Personal radio services exist around the world and typically use light-weight walkie talkie portable radios. The power output, antenna size, and technical characteristics of the equipment are set by regulations in each country. Many regions have standardized personal radio service rules to allow travelers from one country to use their equipment in another country. Examples of standardized services include PMR446 and FM Citizens Band Radio (CB) in the EU and several other countries/regions. 26–27 MHz CB radio is the oldest personal radio service and is used in nearly every country worldwide, with many countries and regions copying the United States 40-channel frequency plan. In many countries, CB radio is less popular due to the availability of other personal radio services that offer shorter antennas, better protection from noise and interference.

National Weather Service St. Louis is the National Weather Service office located in St. Charles, Missouri, just outside St. Louis, Missouri. There are 46 counties in its County Warning Area (CWA). Some of the cities in its CWA are Columbia, Farmington, Hannibal and Jefferson City in Missouri, and Belleville, Centralia, Edwardsville, and Quincy in Illinois.

National Weather Service Topeka, Kansas Weather forecast office serving northeast Kansas

National Weather Service – Topeka, Kansas is a local National Weather Service forecast office based in Topeka, the state capital of Kansas. Its offices are located near Philip Billard Municipal Airport. It provides weather and emergency information to 23 counties in north-central, northeast, and east-central Kansas. Communities that rely on the Topeka Weather Office for forecasts and severe storm warnings include Abilene, Clay Center, Concordia, Council Grove, Emporia, Hiawatha, Junction City, Lawrence, Manhattan, Marysville, Ottawa, and Topeka.

National Weather Service Fort Worth, Texas

The National Weather Service Fort Worth, Texas is a local weather forecast office of the National Weather Service responsible for monitoring weather conditions for 46 counties in north central Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro Area and Waco, Texas.

References

  1. ↑ "USCG: U.S. VHF CHANNELS".
  2. ↑ "Weatheradio: find your network - Canada.ca".
  3. ↑ "Centro de Instrumentación y Registro Sísmico, A. C., CIRES - MÉXICO". Archived from the original on 2012-03-24.
  4. ↑ http://www.rccbermuda.bm/Documents/BMOC/broadcast.schedule.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  5. ↑ worldradiomap.com/bm/hamilton
  6. ↑ "4.3.7 Channeling Plan for Assignments in the Band 162-174 MHz, CONDITIONS AND LIMITATIONS 2. Wideband Operations" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  7. ↑ "All Hazards NOAA Weather Radio: The Voice of NOAA's National Weather Service" (PDF). U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service. January 2020. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  8. ↑ "NOAA Weather Radio". U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service. January 16, 2020. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  9. ↑ "Weatheradio: find your network - Canada.ca".
  10. ↑ "Centro de Instrumentación y Registro Sísmico, A. C., CIRES - MÉXICO". Archived from the original on 2012-03-24.
  11. ↑ "Dissemination of Marine Weather by the NWS".
  12. ↑ "U.S. VHF CHANNEL INFORMATION".
  13. ↑ "U.S. VHF CHANNEL INFORMATION".
  14. ↑ "All Hazards NOAA Weather Radio, Page 11" (PDF).
  15. ↑ "NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio Help".
  16. ↑ "Midland X-Tra Talk GXT1000//1050 Series GMRS/FRS Radio Owner's Manual, Page 21" (PDF).
  17. ↑ "Motorola Two-Way Radio User's Guide, Model SX700 series, "WX8-WX12" (C) 2005" (PDF). MotorolaSolutions.com. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  18. ↑ Leimer, Andy (May 2005). "Part 80 VHF Transceivers and Marine Radars, Andy Leimer, Equipment Authorization Branch Equipment, Federal Communications Commission Office of Engineering and Technology Laboratory Division, page 10 "WX 10 163.725"" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Talkabout Emergency Preparedness Two-Way Radio T480 MN001399A01-AA "WX10 161.750"" (PDF). MotorolaSolutions.com. Motorola. May 26, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  20. ↑ "INTERNATIONAL VHF MARINE RADIO CHANNELS AND FREQUENCIES". Navigation Center, United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  21. ↑ "Event codes for Specific Area Message Encoding".
  22. ↑ "Radio Operations with E.O.M (End Of Message) Detection".
  23. ↑ "Using NWR SAME".
  24. ↑ "NOAA Weather Radio".
  25. ↑ "WU feature and product updates – Customer Feedback for Weather Underground". help.wunderground.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-22. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  26. ↑ "Event codes for Specific Area Message Encoding".
  27. ↑ "Bermuda VHF Marine Radio Frequencies and Their Usage". Archived from the original on 2015-07-03. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
  28. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-07-19. Retrieved 2013-07-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  29. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-17. Retrieved 2015-10-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  30. ↑ "Sistema de Alerta de Riesgos Mexicano (Mexican Risk Alert System)".
  31. ↑ "Broadcastings of transmitter Pinneberg".
  32. ↑ MSN Direct stops FM data network
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