Indy Siren test & BCD396T

[kg9qm]

Tomorrow is the first Friday I've had the scanner. I programmed the FIPS code for Marion County.

So I don't miss my one shot at it, does NOAA broadcast the SAME code for Marion County when the sirens go off at 11AM, or just the 1050 Hz tone?

Maybe I should switch it to the ALL FIPS monitoring mode for the test, instead of the Marion County SAME code?

 

[W9NES]

The siren test will be on 146.700 at 11AM on Friday only.It will not be on 162.550.The Indianapolis office of the National Weather Service will test all receivers each Weds at 11AM.Ham Radio Operators will go out and check sirens by locations thru out Marion County by Township to check to see that they are going off by listening to the siren location by ear and also watching the siren to make sure it is functioning property. The FIPS tones will not work except when Indianapolis Weather puts out a Warning for a certin county.When a Watch is issued Indianapolis Weather will set off the 1050Hz.I use both the FIPS receivers and I also use a Motorola Alert receiver set up for 162.550 with a tone alert of 1050Hz.When the Motorola goes off it is very loud when Indianapolis Weather sets it off.Hope this helps."My door is always open" if I can be of further help to you please feel free to pm me with your questions. 73 Tim DeLong W9NES

 

[kg9qm]

Well dang, yesterday was the day. I'm a day late, which is fitting since I'm (at least) a dollar short, too.

Thanks. I'll try again next Wed.

 

[WA9JGB]

The siren test will be on 146.700 at 11AM on Friday only.It will not be on 162.550.The Indianapolis office of the National Weather Service will test all receivers each Weds at 11AM.Ham Radio Operators will go out and check sirens by locations thru out Marion County by Township to check to see that they are going off by listening to the siren location by ear and also watching the siren to make sure it is functioning property. The FIPS tones will not work except when Indianapolis Weather puts out a Warning for a certin county.When a Watch is issued Indianapolis Weather will set off the 1050Hz.I use both the FIPS receivers and I also use a Motorola Alert receiver set up for 162.550 with a tone alert of 1050Hz.When the Motorola goes off it is very loud when Indianapolis Weather sets it off.Hope this helps."My door is always open" if I can be of further help to you please feel free to pm me with your questions. 73 Tim DeLong W9NES

Those Minitor V pagers are the best thing Motorola ever made. I have one programed for 162.550 with a 1050hz tone and it works like a charm. It's a must have for any SKYWARN spotter. It's the best money I have spent in years.

 

[rdale]

Wouldn't a text pager or cellphone with email warnings be a little better?

 

[speedway_navigator]

I use a VHF GP-300 that has all the 162 freqs in a scan list, it's set for two tone decode on 1khz, that way I can leave it on and get alerted in normal operation, or put it in monitor and listen to the forecast at any time. I take it on the road when I travel and keep it on in my hotel at night, by scanning I don't have to worry about having the wrong freq for the area I'm in.

 

[AK9R]

So I don't miss my one shot at it, does NOAA broadcast the SAME code for Marion County when the sirens go off at 11AM, or just the 1050 Hz tone?

As Tim explained, it's two different warning systems.

NOAA's All-Hazards Radio system tests their warning activation every Wednesday morning unless severe weather threatens. Each of the transmitters controlled by the Indianapolis NWS office gets an activation code from the office which causes the transmitter to send out the 1050Hz alert tone and the appropriate SAME codes.

For additional information, you can see a map of Indiana with the transmitter locations and coverage areas at http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ind/?n=nwrimage. The map is a little confusing because it's trying to show multiple levels of information, so it may take some careful studying to understand. Note that some counties are covered by more than one transmitter. NWS has another chart at http://www.weather.gov/nwr/CntyCov/nwrIN.htm that shows counties, SAME codes, transmitter frequencies, and also transmitter output power.

Marion County Emergency Management activates the warning sirens in Marion County based on their internal protocols. To the best of my knowledge, there is no direct (i.e. non-human) interface between the NOAA All-Hazards Radio alerts and the warning sirens. As most of us in the county know, the Marion County sirens are tested on Friday morning at 11am.

The Marion County sirens used to be triggered by a series of DTMF tones on a particular VHF frequency. That system may have been completely decomissioned in favor of some other radio data system. I know the sirens in Hendricks County are moving to a MOSCAD (Motorola siren activation system) system that is transmitted on a SAFE-T talkgroup.

 

[mcema699]

Text Warnings??

Wouldn't a text pager or cellphone with email warnings be a little better?

Those are excellent backup notification systems. Given the amount of network traffic, the time lag might be significant enough to be too late in the case of a warning. In the case of emails, most of my fellow employees aren't looking at emails every moment of the day nor can they whip out their cell phones when talking to customers. Granted, when conditions warrant, I pay close attention to all my sources.

That being said, I use a program at work which sends out emails and text messages. Had to disable the texting because our cell phones are on a set budget and Admin didn't want to pay the .10 X each cell phone X each message. As a result, the program is practically useless, althought it does notify everyone of a watch so they can pay closer attention to our weather radios for warnings.

Most if not all vendors have this disclaimer or one very similar:
"Disclaimer: The reliability of text messaging should not be trusted in dealing with emergencies."

Be it via special agreements or ?? some departments use a wx alert radio to trigger voice pagers and then give a announcement.

There are many solutions and one may work better in your situation than others.

 

[SCPD]

The best way I found for the Weather service alerts on 162.550 out and about traveling around town is a company in New York G&G Communications is selling Motorola Directors II SV and Mentor Pagers set up on 162.550 with alert tone works great the one I have has built in recording if you miss the weather alert page it stores the audio. He will trade equipment for them if the equipment = the price of the pager.

http://www.iinc.com/ggcomm/pager.html

 

[kg9qm]

Interesting, I assumed everything was tested - sirens, weather radio, etc - during the Friday test.

Sounds like I have a 'chance' of testing my radio sometime tonight, according to the weather reports...

 

[WA9JGB]

The best way I found for the Weather service alerts on 162.550 out and about traveling around town is a company in New York G&G Communications is selling Motorola Directors II SV and Mentor Pagers set up on 162.550 with alert tone works great the one I have has built in recording if you miss the weather alert page it stores the audio. He will trade equipment for them if the equipment = the price of the pager.

http://www.iinc.com/ggcomm/pager.html

All Minitors are good, but the Minitor V (5) is by far the best I have ever used. You can find used pagers on Ebay for less than $50.00 alot. I also have a listing on Ebay for Minitor 3, 4, and 5 programing. I have set up tons on these for SKYWARN spotters. They work like a charm.

 

[kg9qm]

Well, I successfully got to test the SAME configuration on my radio after all.