Northern Ilinois NOAA Frequencies

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greggk

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Can anyone tell me what preferred frequency should I use for NOAA weather alerts in Northern Illinois/Palatine?

By the NOAA Map, it appears to be KZZ81, Lockport. That is a frequency of 162.425, and is very strong reception. However, when I monitor that frequency, they say it is for severe weather alerting in Chicago, and South/West Suburbs.

Just wondering. Some of my radios do not have FIPS capacity, so I must tune in a channel. Will KZZ81 work? Thanks. Greg
 

greggk

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I thank you for your reply. I did not state in my original post that I wanted to monitor Lake County, IL., as well. The only way to get All I wanted, Cook, Dupage, and Lake was to use the 162.550 frequency. That channel reports for a large area, including Lake Michigan. Am I correct it assuming that the radio will only alert me to those 3 FIPS codes? Thanks again. Greg
 

scansalot52

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The FIPS capable radios will alert on those three provided you select "Multiple FIPS" and not single and program all FIPS for those counties. Some larger counties may have multiple FIPS for one county.
The radios that are not FIPS capable will receive alerts for all counties within the coverage area of the local weather office. For example, Indianapolis office covers 40 counties. Without FIPS, any alert transmitted on 162.55 for any of the 40 counties will be received.
 

greggk

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The FIPS capable radios will alert on those three provided you select "Multiple FIPS" and not single and program all FIPS for those counties. Some larger counties may have multiple FIPS for one county.
The radios that are not FIPS capable will receive alerts for all counties within the coverage area of the local weather office. For example, Indianapolis office covers 40 counties. Without FIPS, any alert transmitted on 162.55 for any of the 40 counties will be received.

Thank you. Two nights ago I used a non-FIPS radio next to my bed as it was a pretty bad night here. The only station I could pull in was 162.550, covering a very large distance, including the Lake. I was up most the night. Today all my FIPS radios are programmed for 3 counties only, but still pulling in 162.550.

This Wednesday when they do the weekly test, I'm lining up all my scanners, portables and base units, plus all my dedicated weather radios, and watch my wife's eyes roll when they ALL go off at once.

Thanks again guys! Greg
 

AggieCon

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Important nws radio information

Greg, how are you?

The poor documentation and programming methods make for a very dangerous situation. I suspect a lot of people are not receiving emergency alerts they think they have their receivers programmed to receive.

It is important to realize that just because you can receive a NWS radio frequency, does not mean that the frequency will broadcast alerts for your location.

On the NWS radio website, make sure that your county is "County Coverage" table with a SAME FIPS code. If it is not, the station will not alert you to warnings in your area, even though you can receive the station.

For example, this station provides reception to De Kalb and La Salle counties, but it does not broadcast alerts for those counties. So if your radio was to automatically stop on this station, you would miss emergency alerts, even if you had the appropriate codes entered.

Therefore, it is important that you lockout all other weather frequencies except for the one that carries the alerts for your county. Even then, be sure to test it to make sure it works.

The implementation varies somewhat between radios. I think you are mostly Whistler still. On the Whistlers, the SAME-FIPS information is applicable only when you are in weather standby monitoring mode. This is when you press the weather button and then "SKIP." You should see "NOAA Weather," the frequency, and "SKIP = Normal" on the screen. Unfortunately, consistent their usual attention to detail, the screen doesn't tell you what mode it is in... Make sure that the frequency listed broadcasts SAME alerts for the counties you have programmed, or else your radio will not activate.

Just because you can receive a NWS weather station, does not mean that the station broadcasts warnings and alerts for your area.

NOAA Weather Radio - Map State Selection

Staff please consider pinning this or putting it in a Wiki so people see it.
 

QDP2012

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...It is important to realize that just because you can receive a NWS radio frequency, does not mean that the frequency will broadcast alerts for your location.

On the NWS radio website, make sure that your county is "County Coverage" table with a SAME FIPS code. If it is not, the station will not alert you to warnings in your area, even though you can receive the station.

For example, this station provides reception to De Kalb and La Salle counties, but it does not broadcast alerts for those counties. So if your radio was to automatically stop on this station, you would miss emergency alerts, even if you had the appropriate codes entered.

Therefore, it is important that you lockout all other weather frequencies except for the one that carries the alerts for your county. Even then, be sure to test it to make sure it works.

The implementation varies somewhat between radios. I think you are mostly Whistler still. On the Whistlers, the SAME-FIPS information is applicable only when you are in weather standby monitoring mode. This is when you press the weather button and then "SKIP." You should see "NOAA Weather," the frequency, and "SKIP = Normal" on the screen. Unfortunately, consistent their usual attention to detail, the screen doesn't tell you what mode it is in... Make sure that the frequency listed broadcasts SAME alerts for the counties you have programmed, or else your radio will not activate.

Just because you can receive a NWS weather station, does not mean that the station broadcasts warnings and alerts for your area.

NOAA Weather Radio - Map State Selection

...

I am not staff, but to get you started, the above information, and a link to this thread, have been added to the Specific Area Message Encoding RR Wiki page, so more people can learn about this, and be guided to this conversation.

Thanks for sharing.
 

AggieCon

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Thanks I cleaned it up a bit but I think you were editing at the same time so I am not sure what all took.
 
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