NOAA Weather Radio - KWO-35 NYC
- Thread starter mondaro
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It's on the air for testing, not yet back in full service. That's an important distinction, and so we probably don't need play-by-play every time it goes off and on the air.
nwschat.weather.gov
NWSChat - NOAA's National Weather Service
Interesting that it is atop the Empire State building. In the '60's it was atop Rockefeller Center so it is closer to it's original home. Wonder how many times it has changed locations since it's original inception.
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Coming in good here in Ocean county. 4 bars on the Whistler 1065. Outside antenna.
This is not meant to be sarcastic, but what role does NOAA weather radio play in modern society? I know there are still 3 or 4 people out there that don't have a smartphone capable of receiving weather alerts. I'd be curious as to how many people in the NYC area even own a device capable of receiving these broadcasts. And even those that do, why would you tune in when the forecast is readily available online anyway?
Mariners use it and public safety to a degree
Good question, no sarcasm taken. Well first off not everyone has a Smartphone capable of receiving NOAA broadcasts and not everyone has Internet access at home. Also, some portable AM/FM radios and scanners include the NOAA weather band in addition to other bands and that's just another convenient way to listen to the weather; no Internet connection needed. I know that some some Emergency Alert Stations in the 1600 - 1710 kHz band rebroadcast NOAA transmissions for their communities. And even TV stations will broadcast severe weather alerts from NOAA as an information strip at the bottom of the screen. There are also more sophisticated NOAA radios that send out a noticeable alarm, like an alarm clock, with SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) reports and these can be of great importance to folks when bad weather is coming.
To make a short story long
a NOAA weather receiver is an inexpensive way to receive weather from a reputable source without the Internet. And no Apps needed which somehow or other might gather information that would seem superfluous. Oh, and NYC is only one dot on the map; the US is big country and rural areas might need NOAA much more than city dwellers. Surely others will come forth with other points of view.
That was an excellent question.
Yes I remember those days fondly, then came the Console Replacement System and human voices stopped. One of the announcers back in the day was a ham like myself and he'd call to find out how much snow was on the ground at my location, which was Eastern PA.
I completely agree with spongella's comments. I have always followed the weather and like many others have a number of weather apps on my smartphone. But like many others there are times I silence it or otherwise turn off alerts and miss weather messages. Also, apps do not always send urgent weather alerts in a timely manner. Our medium-small urban area in Upstate NY has experienced our fare share of floods, tornados, severe thunderstorms and winter weather events. I have found my relatively expensive SAME-enabled weather radio to be the most reliable means of getting severe weather alerts. It signals alerts only pertinent to my county and only those for events I have selected. (I live high on a hill so there is no need to be awakened for river flooding). During severe river flooding several years ago the cellphone systems overloaded and were unusable for internet access or voice service, while the NWS station continued to broadcast flood warnings and river levels. Due to hilly terrain many areas just 10 miles away from town lack reliable cell service and if the power is down cellphone boosters people use in there homes are useless. As spongella mentioned, the NYS DOT rebroadcasts the NWS weather radio on low power AM stations along the interstates in our area, and message boards alert motorists to turn to the stations when bad weather such as our sudden severe snow squalls is approaching. I grew up in the NYC area listening to KWO35, and purchased my first weather radio with alert after sleeping through a nearby tornado in Georgia many years ago. I have had a weather radio on standby ever since.
mshumeyk you have some great comments. You know, new technology e.g. Smartphones and older tech e.g. radios can peacefully coexist and not be rivals. While on the go a Smartphone might do for weather info as it fits in the shirt pocket while at home a larger standard NOAA receiver might be preferable. And no monthly fees or contracts are needed with NOAA wx receivers!
If I'm not mistaken NOAA can also issue Amber alerts and other non-weather emergency info. Feel free to correct me if wrong.
Anyone remember the Weathercube from RadioShack? Over the years there have been many weather-only receivers produced and they continue being produced. Listening to NOAA weather stations is also a way to evaluate VHF band conditions, especially if you are a ham.
If I'm not mistaken NOAA can also issue Amber alerts and other non-weather emergency info. Feel free to correct me if wrong.
Anyone remember the Weathercube from RadioShack? Over the years there have been many weather-only receivers produced and they continue being produced. Listening to NOAA weather stations is also a way to evaluate VHF band conditions, especially if you are a ham.
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I gave a weathercube to my Dad as a Fathers Day present when I was a kid. And yes, when my scanner would receive the Atlantic City NWS station at our home in Bergen County I knew I could punch in 155.13 and receive the Atlantic City PD as well as other distant stations. Also, I was just watching the CBSN Los Angeles stream news station and saw I story about a review of the response to the November 2018 Woolsey Fire that devastated a large area of the Malibu Hills. One of the criticisms was that residents didn't receive proper evacuation warnings because many of them depend of the internet for their cellphones to work (again, in-home mini cell sites that use the internet to access the cellphone network), and the power outages killed the internet. Looking at the NOAA Weatherradio coverage maps of the area it appears residents in Malibu should have good reception.
And yes, spongella, my Midland weather radio does feature the Amber Alert option.
And yes, spongella, my Midland weather radio does feature the Amber Alert option.
FrankRaffa
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In a world so dependant on fragile infrastructure it's almost necessary to have something as simple as radio.
dragon48
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I live 3.4 miles from the Empire State Building and am barely picking up the signal at 162.55. The old transmitter was around 65 miles from me and I used to get an excellent signal. If the new broadcast is indeed coming from the Empire State Building, the power must be very low.
dragon48
Member
Still not great, but much better reception when I move the radio away from my window which I find odd.
Nothing odd about that at all. Radio waves are subject to influence from all sorts of objects, natural and man-made. Signals get blocked, reflected, refracted, etc. as they travel through the air. Sometimes it's only a matter of inches between full quieting and no signal, regardless of distance from the transmitter.
It's back on the air for testing purposes: Has a pretty good signal.
When I was a kid back in the early 80's I remember my parents bought me one of those radios for Christmas because of my interest in weather at the time. I found the weather broadcasts to be so boring I maybe used the radio a handful of times before it ended up in the basement somewhere.
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