Pro 97 Weather Alert

[gs711]

As i sit here waiting for the alert to go off as the Nor easter churns up the east coast all i hear is silence. The NWS has issued watches and warnings already and i have tried both ways to get an alert (FIPS-triple checked #s and PRI WX and i get nothing. Has anybody had a similar problem with the 97?

Snow Bound in NY
Mark

 

[djeplett]

The weather alert works very well on mine.

If you have a weather channel as your priority channel it will not matter what FIPS you have in your radio. During regular scanning, if the radio hears the tone on the weather channel it simply tells you there is a weather alert and not what the specific alert is. And the radio will not tell you if it's having trouble receiving the particular weather channel you put in as a priority channel. You could check the reception of it by manually listening to that channel in the position you place the radio, just to make sure it can even receive it.

If you put the radio in weather alert mode (function button then WX button) it then only alerts you when there is an alert for any of the FIPS codes you entered. If it receives the alert tone and none of the FIPS codes match, you will not get an alert from the radio. Make sure the FIPS you programmed are valid for the weather channel(s) you can receive. Maybe the only weather channel(s) it receives do not broadcast alerts for the FIPS you have programmed.

Then there are the other no-brainer checks like make sure you do not have the attenuator on, and that the antenna connection is good...

 

[kmacka]

How often does the nws put out those alerts. Every couple of minutes? or just once??

 

[rdale]

Once when the alert is issued. And only for priority warnings, i.e. tornado / severe thunderstorm / etc. Nothing in your area.

 

[gs711]

That might be my problem, i thought they broadcast it every few minutes. I may have not of had it on when the alert was issued.

 

[qman62]

As far as I know, the alert will only trigger the scanner the very first time the weather statement is issued.

My Pro-97 alert went off when the NWS first broadcast the Winter Storm Watch, and then the Warning. I thought it was funny though when I happened to be checking weather.com and noticed the warning for my county, and then about 10 minutes later the Pro-97 went off with that warning.

If you want to check to see if your scanner is getting the alerts, the NWS sends out a test tone every Wednesday between 11AM and noon (unless there is a need for a real alert).