INFORMATION ON
BUYING A NOAA WEATHER RADIO RECEIVER
The primary difference between models of NOAA Weather Radios
is whether or not they have a tone-alert feature and if they use
the SAME technology.
Tone Alerts:
When we issue warnings for situations that may be life-threatening,
there is a special tone sent with the warning. This signal
will cause weather radios with the tone-alert feature in the listening
area to alarm in some way (usually with a loud siren or alarm),
alerting you of the situation even if your radio is not on at
that particular moment. You can buy a NOAA Weather Radio
with the tone-alert feature for as little as $20.
SAME Technology:
SAME stands for "Specific Area Message
Encoder". When we issue warnings, we also also
send special signals (heard as a series of 3 short bursts before
the warning), that tell certain types of receivers about the type
of warning and the area it affects. You can program these
SAME receivers to alarm only for specified warnings and counties.
For example, say you live in Macomb, Illinois and you only want
to be awakened for severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado warnings
in your own county. With these SAME receivers, you can
program your receiver to alarm only for a Severe Thunderstorm Warning
and Tornado Warning and only for McDonough County, IL.
SAME receivers start at around $50 to $75 retail.
Where to get a Weather Radio:
NOAA Weather Radio receivers can be purchased at many retail stores
that sell electronic merchandise, including stand-alone electronic
retail outlets, electronics departments within department stores,
and some drug stores. NOAA Weather Radio receivers can also be purchased
through some mail order catalogs. In addition, NOAA Weather Radio
receivers are often sold in boat and marine accessory businesses
since they are popular in the marine community. These are just some
of the places that NOAA Weather Radio receivers can be purchased.
- For residential
grade receivers, prices can vary from $20 to $200, depending
on the model. Many receivers have an alarm feature, but some may
not.
- For Industrial/commercial
grade equipment, designed for reception of Emergency Alert
System (EAS)
broadcasts as well as NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts, prices may
vary from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
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