Weather radios are devices that inform you of any changes in the current weather. They fall under the category of life-saving devices thanks to their ability to alert you to impending natural disasters near your location. For this reason, they’re important to have around whether you’re thrill-seeking in places frequently struck by calamities or spending time outdoors during particularly bad weather.
Before picking up a weather radio, though, it’s crucial to learn some important things about the tool. For instance, you’ll want to acquaint yourself with its mechanics, the NOAA logo stamped on the radio, and the duration of its usefulness, among many others. These are what we’ll cover today to help you select the weather radio for your needs.
How Does Weather Radio Work?
When bad weather is approaching, the NOAA weather radio sends you a civil alert, specifying the area or areas where the natural hazard will occur. With this convenient function, you no longer need to glue yourself to the television or always listen to your radio at home to get weather updates in your region.
You can go out with peace of mind knowing that you’ll be alerted to any potentially catastrophic weather event that takes place near you. Thus, you can take the necessary steps to avoid it.
For weather radios with the NOAA logo, you can listen to news updates via a special frequency that can’t be disrupted by the typical AM/FM device. Of course, if you have models that operate at Very High Frequency (VHF), you can set them on other frequencies to listen to other radio channels. Once a civil alert is issued, though, the weather radio will send you an alert since it was programmed to disrupt any other transmission to inform you of the serious weather update.
How to Start Using Weather Radio?
SAME codes are the technology by which weather radios operate. For you to receive weather alerts and updates for your specific region, you must search the SAME code your country falls under, access your radio’s menu, and input the said piece of information. After completing this relatively easy process, you can start receiving weather alerts issued for your neck of the woods.
If you’re curious about where to find the SAME code attributed to your area, you can access the internet for the info you need.
How Long Do Weather Radios Last?
The usual weather radio can last for approximately eight days on standby mode using back-up energy. In cases when the radio functions continuously, the longest its batteries can keep it running and allow you to receive emergency information is about 24 hours.
Nevertheless, higher-end radios that are more durable and have longer battery life are also available in the market. Hence, there is no need to limit yourself to the regular standard if you have the budget.
What Is NOAA?
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radios are the industry standard, which is why any weather radio user or potential user needs to know about them.
The NOAA Weather Radio is a computerized network of VHF FM weather stations in the USA that broadcasts updates about the weather via the National Weather Service office. Thanks to the special receiver on the NOAA weather radio, users can tune into NWS broadcasts 24/7.
The NOAA alert system network provides the most comprehensive weather and emergency info to the public. It airs warnings and post-event updates for the broad range of hazards and emergencies. With these radios, you and your family can have instant access to the same reliable and accurate weather info used by meteorologists and emergency professionals.
What Weather Radio Should You Get?
You should pick a weather radio with the NOAA logo because it ensures the product has been assessed and approved by the organization. As for the brand, Midland is a renowned manufacturer of both weather radios and two-way radios, making them an excellent company to partner with.
Aside from Midland, there’s also RunningSnail, Epica, and other manufacturers known for their tough, capable, and portable weather radios. These companies are what saturate the current market with models that are highly functional and feature-packed, which makes getting weather updates more convenient and comprehensive.
Additionally, with these weather alert radio options available, you should be able to add yet another efficient outdoor device to meet your camping needs. Most of these items have antennas that will intercept radio signals in any region and under any weather predicament. They are also portable, in case you’re in an area with no power source.
Just make sure to pack plenty of batteries with you or pick a device with a pre-configured power generator that you can hand-crank. Nevertheless, even with a standard weather radio, when kept on standby most of the time, the batteries should keep the device running for a few days.