Weather radios may need an upgrade as National Weather Service gets new transmitter

[PanJurekMrJerry]

CLEVELAND -- More people in northwest Ohio will be alerted when severe weather is coming their way.

That's thanks to a new transmitter the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service is installing on March 3.

The new transmitter will broadcast a new, clearer frequency with triple the power of the their old frequency.

People with older NOAA weather radios may have to upgrade their equipment for the new transmitter because the older radios won't pick up the new frequency.

The increased signal power from 100 watts to 300 watts, will allow increased coverage area and will eliminate interference in northwest Ohio and southern Michigan.

"This new transmitter will allow us to serve northwest Ohio better, with a clearer and stronger signal," said Gary Garnet, warning coordination meteorologist for NOAA's National Weather Service forecast office in Cleveland. "By increasing the signal power by 300 percent, we can reach more people with timely and accurate warnings."

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=83524

 

[k8mcn]

The new frequency of 162.500 MHz, and some older weather monitors do not include the frequency..............

 

[w5cyc]

It's Cleveland!

Who cares if they get wiped off the map? It's not like it's Cincinnati!

 

[rdale]

Cleveland is in NE Ohio, this is NW Ohio (Toledo.)

Nobody should be using older radios anymore, given SAME codes, so this really isn't a big deal.

 

[pitcockm]

It probably is a big deal for some.
Who would have thought that the end of analog cellular would cause the little problem that it is...

 

[DonS]

The increased signal power from 100 watts to 300 watts

...

"By increasing the signal power by 300 percent"

I guess having rudimentary mathematics skills isn't a requirement for the position of "warning coordination meteorologist" at the NOAA.

 

[Thunderbolt]

The original plan for the NOAA Weather Radio transmitter in Toledo, Ohio in 1979, was to have it's operating frequency on 162.475 MHz. However, the Canadian authorities objected to the use of that frequency, since it was so close to Canada at that time. Also, station KHB-97 in Castalia, Ohio on 162.400 MHz, had it's power boosted from 300 to 900 watts. Sadly, the Toledo transmitter ended up on 162.550 MHz, and the co-channel interference in Lenawee and Monroe Counties, in Michigan was terrible between Detroit and Toledo NWS offices, making most NWR receivers useless.

Thankfully, WXL-51 will be moved to 162.500 MHz, which will make things a lot better for residents in Southeastern Lower Michigan and Northwest Ohio. Also, since most everyone has a modern receiver, the frequency change should not be that much of a problem. Hopefully, everyone will receive the information that their local station has switched frequencies and will not be left out in the cold, when this year's Severe Weather season starts.

73s

Ron

 

[N8IAA]

It's Cleveland!

Who cares if they get wiped off the map? It's not like it's Cincinnati!

Who cares abt Fleabitten, OK(Edmond) anywho8>P
Larry

 

[PanJurekMrJerry]

It's Cleveland!

Who cares if they get wiped off the map? It's not like it's Cincinnati!

What? Scared that our Baseball team is better then yours????

 

[poltergeisty]

Check my sig.

Being the thinker I am. Wouldn't it be neat if there was GPS data sent along the NOAA transmission so that you can interface a GPS receiver to a weather radio? That way the GPS will show where there is a hazard.

 

[studgeman]

He is mathmatically accurate depending on how you want to look at it. 3x the power in watts doesn't mean 3x the range, or 3x the apparent signal strenght. There is a reason engineers do their math in db's. It is only a gain of about 5db between 100 and 300Watts, not exactly a marked improvement for analog voice. Now if they went from 100 to 1000Watts we would be talking...litterly ;-)

 

[icom1020]

Probably if you have one of these.

Doesn't this scream 1970's as in avocado green appliances?

 

[DonS]

He is mathmatically accurate depending on how you want to look at it.

He removed all ambiguity when he said "increasing the signal power by 300 percent".

Power is expressed in watts, and has little or nothing to do with "range" or "apparent signal strength". The transmitter's power increased from 100W to 300W - an increase of 200%.

The NOAA employee needs a refresher course in one or more of: a) elementary school mathematics, b) English grammar, or c) the definition of "power" and how that term is used when discussion radio frequency transmitters.

 

[tjg66]

Probably if you have one of these.

Doesn't this scream 1970's as in avocado green appliances?

wow, we have one of those, and still use it. I used to just listen to it and tune across the weather bands just to listen to the radio noises when i was a kid.

We still use it when ever there is any severe weather coming, in case the power goes out and we lose internet.

 

[poltergeisty]

No laptop. HEHE :lol:

 

[johnnyelectron]

Wxl-51

This is a different article than the one I read, in that one he clearly understood that he was only going to get about a 15% increase in range with the power increase from 100W to 300W. What they haven't said is if they are going to install a new antenna and/or new coax up the tower, as they are both going on 30 years old later this year!
If I recall correctly, the current antenna supposedly has about a 5dB gain, giving them an ERP of about 330 Watts, so if they replace the stick with a no-gain antenna, they are no better off than they are now, with the exception of not having co-channel interference with Detroit's station. That another error in the story - Detroit increased power from 300W to 900W on the same frequency, not the Castalia station on 162.40MHz, which has had 1 Kilowatt since time began (one of the first 50 NWR stations back when they were ESSA WX radio). Leave it to the newspaper to get half of the information wrong.

 

[rcvmo]

Now if they went from 100 to 1000Watts we would be talking...litterly ;-)

As the old commercial says:
WHEN EF HUTTON TALKS, PEOPLE LISTEN!!

I hear 162.400 L&C in the farmfields of Northern Monroe county!!
rcvmo

 

[jpryor]

As of 11:45 AM, the new NWS Toledo transmitter is now online on it's new frequency of 162.5000 MHz.

 

[N3KGD]

...Leave it to the newspaper to get half of the information wrong.

Haha, too true. My local newpaper is a rag.



In any case, they have been off the show. It really needs an upgrade. Just remember the days with the old voice, I mean, you couldn't understand anything that was being said. The meterologist would have to get on the radio and start talking.

Once in a while, you'll hear the NWS go back to the old voice for a day.


Has it been installed already? How's the clarity and the signal?

 

[PanJurekMrJerry]

Human Voice Vs. Computer Voice

Haha, too true. My local newpaper is a rag.

In any case, they have been off the show. It really needs an upgrade. Just remember the days with the old voice, I mean, you couldn't understand anything that was being said. The meterologist would have to get on the radio and start talking.

Once in a while, you'll hear the NWS go back to the old voice for a day.

Has it been installed already? How's the clarity and the signal?

I prefer the HUMAN voice to the Computerized Voice. It just sounds better and more NATURAL. Computers just cannot compare to a NATURAL HUMAN voice.

This is the Borg. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. N O T!!!!