bc296 S.A.M.E. question

[seltzer]

The earlier post on the pro94 same weather alert question got me thinking about the alert capabilities of my scanner. I've never used it before, just too lazy to program it I guess, but I have a question...I think (I'll check to make sure), that the manual says that you can't scan at all while in Alert mode, but I've talked with a couple of other 296 owners who say they can, but like posted above, only in conventional mode. Anybody know for sure? It would seem to me a big waste only to have the scanner on alert during a storm and possibly miss all the other exciting stuff I could be hearing if scanning. I normally listen to the wx channel breifly during storm season, especially tornado season, but the repeating just drives me crazy! It would be nice to know that in the event of a tornado being close, and it warants an alert/sirens, that I could be alerted with my scanner which more than likely would be on next to me. Thanks for any help in advance. I've only posted here a couple of times, and I find this a very fascinating place. The information most of you have is just overwhelming, you all have probably forgotten more than I will ever know!

 

[K5MAR]

I would strongly suggest that, if you live in an area that experiences severe weather, you buy a dedicated NOAA WX Radio receiver w/ SAME alert. That way, if there is a severe weather warning when you don't have your scanner turned on, you won't miss the alert. Fifty bucks for the peace of mind for you and your family is a small price to pay.

Mark S.

 

[seltzer]

Yeah, that is true, however, I work outside all day long, with my trusty 296 by my side, and I would like to be able to know if severe weather is heading my way...I work on overhead cable lines on utility poles, It'd be nice to know if there is a T-storm warning or not, without listening to weather station all day long.

 

[AZScanner]

Yeah, that is true, however, I work outside all day long, with my trusty 296 by my side, and I would like to be able to know if severe weather is heading my way...I work on overhead cable lines on utility poles, It'd be nice to know if there is a T-storm warning or not, without listening to weather station all day long.

If you have a pager or cellphone with text capability, you can get alerts from various services - some are free others charge a small fee. Look around. I get mine from the weather channel.

-AZ

 

[seltzer]

Huh...never knew that, AZ. Thanks for the info. How reliable is it? I surely don't want ot be bothered for every little thing, but if it for my specific area/town, that would be great. I'll look into it.

 

[K5MAR]

Yeah, that is true, however, I work outside all day long, with my trusty 296 by my side, and I would like to be able to know if severe weather is heading my way...I work on overhead cable lines on utility poles, It'd be nice to know if there is a T-storm warning or not, without listening to weather station all day long.

Well, in that case you might consider a handheld wx radio, such as the ones sold by Radio Shack or Oregon Scientific. I just wouldn't want to depend on my scanner for weather alerts.

As for pager/cellphone alerts, try here:
http://www.emergencyemail.org/
Or try your local TV stations, they usually have some kind of alerting system you can sign up for on their website. And there are various paid services, I use StormNow http://www.stormwarn.com/
Very good for my emergency management duties, everybody has a dual-capcode pager, one capcode is group-wide with everybody getting the wx pages. Perhaps your employer could be pursuaded to set up something similar.

Mark S.