why you don't "ignore" weather alerts on your BC29

[mr_hankey]

the irony...

after a couple years of messing with Uniden's FIPS code Weather Warn feature on several scanners, i had one going last night for Bexar County.

...sat the scanner on a countertop in "Standby" mode and started watching a movie..

at approximately 7:30pm, the radio goes off and i jump off the couch to go see what it was - FLASH FLOOD WATCH

bah - boring.

i resume "Standby" mode.

about an hour later, the thing goes off again, and this time i'm deep in the movie - jump up, annoyed as hell, and just turn it off as NOAA's automated voice is saying "...for Bexar County..."

well, turns out that was a TORNADO WARNING, and the tornado had been spotted about 2 miles from my house!

altogether now: DOH!

fortunately, it was a small tornado and really didn't last long but MAN i won't turn that thing off next time!

 

[scanfan03]

yikes, that was a close one, I hope I never do that. Of course, I probably wouldn't have had my radio on in the first place in the movie!!!! I hope I don't do that.

 

[INDY72]

During severe weather I keep my weather radios set for all warnings, one scanner on the EOC freqs, and the other one conventional scanning with the SAME alert on. Not to mention the HT1250 right within handsreach.

 

[TXFirefighter112]

Seeing as we are coming up on spring.............again, how much does a decent WX radio cost? the only thing I really need for it to have is SAME and a low cost. I do have a Pro-94 that works, but it doesnt have SAME and I cant listen to WX and Fire at the same time! And bad WX is precisely when you want to be listening to both!

 

[edwftx]

I listen to the scanner during svwx events and monitor the warnings on my computer from the NWS using interwarn.
Interwarn scrolls across the screen as the weather service puts the bulletin out ..just like having a weather wire. google search interwarn for their sites and DLs

 

[TXFirefighter112]

Thanks!

 

[TXFirefighter112]

Interwarn is great! Too bad it isnt free. $50.00 is more than I have to spend right now. So is there another program that is similar and costs less?

 

[INDY72]

Even though people diss it.. Weatherbug is not bad at all.... I just hate the "BUG" alert tones lol! And for the guy wit da 94- Those do have SAME alert features with the FIPS codes......so you can put in up to 15 zones to monitor!

 

[TXFirefighter112]

You sure about that? I do not recall the owners manual saying anything about SAME. The most this thing can do is sound a different alert tone for statements watches and warnings. I would also think that in order to program a region in, I would need an alpha numeric display (unless the regions use numbers for ID) which the PRO-94 does not have.

 

[TXFirefighter112]

Ok, it does mention SAME, but the most that Pro-94 will do is display the alert level (Statement, Watch or Warning), there is no way to program it to only monitor a specific region.

 

[INDY72]

Both the 94, and the 2052 can be programmed with up to 15 FIPS codes.

 

[TXFirefighter112]

The owners manual (http://www.radioshack.com/images/ProductCatalog/Manuals/OME20-524.pdf) makes no mention of FIPS at all. I even ran a search for it and returned with 0 matches. All SAME information can be found on page 36 of the manual.

 

[SCPD]

'shows what milf knows about scanners'

The Pro-94 IS NOT a SAME Weather Enabled Scanner, and it IS NOT a HT replica of the 2052. I own a 94, they don't have it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TXFirefighter112, the Pro-2052 at what 169.99 is SAME enabled, but a SAME enabled Weather Radio with programmable FIPS Codes is like 30 to 60.00 almost anywhere. in addition, a SAME enabled radio without FIPS programmable codes is like 20 to 50.00 at Radio Shack, Fry's, Best Buy ect. a Great Portable WX-SAME radio is the Oregon Scientific (and I don't have the Model off hand) little Yellow Portable thing Very Nice Radio.

SAME=Specific Area Message Encoding
FIPS=Federal Information Process Service

Unless you want to just listen to NOAA over and over on the Service Search of the Pro-94 NOT!

 

[TXFirefighter112]

The Pro-94 does have the ability to decode the type of alert and will sound a different tone for statements, watches and warnings. It is not equiped to distinguish between geographical areas. So I think it's safe to say it's 1/2 SAME capable.

 

[qoatzecotl]

'shows what milf knows about scanners'

The Pro-94 IS NOT a SAME Weather Enabled Scanner, and it IS NOT a HT replica of the 2052. I own a 94, they don't have it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TXFirefighter112, the Pro-2052 at what 169.99 is SAME enabled, but a SAME enabled Weather Radio with programmable FIPS Codes is like 30 to 60.00 almost anywhere. in addition, a SAME enabled radio without FIPS programmable codes is like 20 to 50.00 at Radio Shack, Fry's, Best Buy ect. a Great Portable WX-SAME radio is the Oregon Scientific (and I don't have the Model off hand) little Yellow Portable thing Very Nice Radio.

SAME=Specific Area Message Encoding
FIPS=Federal Information Process Service

Unless you want to just listen to NOAA over and over on the Service Search of the Pro-94 NOT!

OK. The radio uses SAME for the three levels of advisories. L1: Warning. L2: Watch. L3: Statement. Starting on page 38 of the stock manual of my PRO-94, it mentions SAME several times. It doesn't, however, use the FIPS codes. FIPS codes are there to give you SAME alerts only for the area you specify. Without the FIPS codes, it's still a SAME radio in the sense that it tells you the alert level.

The PRO-2052 IS the PRO-94's desktop brother. There are a couple of differences, but for the most part, they are brothers... The PRO-94 isn't an HT at all, anyway. HT stands for Handie-Talkie. The PRO-94 is an HH or portable.

 

[SCPD]

HT, HH, Portable its all almost the same, HT just comes natural. and after I downloaded the manual last nite and Did in fact read the SAME features I too came to the conclusion that I (once again) should eat my foot for breakfast this morning.

However, I do disagree about the 94 and 2052 being Kin, If I were a 94 and had a brother like the 2052 I think I'd have to have an electronic meltdown. I believe the 94 in its first generation days did not track, Trunked and Conventional simaltaniously, I am almost certain that was an upgrade later. in addition, the 2052 carries a big band coverage and does have the ability to be programmed with FIPS. it has PC interface, a Better speeker, ect. maybe one was adopted by the other.

 

[qoatzecotl]

HT, HH, Portable its all almost the same, HT just comes natural. and after I downloaded the manual last nite and Did in fact read the SAME features I too came to the conclusion that I (once again) should eat my foot for breakfast this morning.

However, I do disagree about the 94 and 2052 being Kin, If I were a 94 and had a brother like the 2052 I think I'd have to have an electronic meltdown. I believe the 94 in its first generation days did not track, Trunked and Conventional simaltaniously, I am almost certain that was an upgrade later. in addition, the 2052 carries a big band coverage and does have the ability to be programmed with FIPS. it has PC interface, a Better speeker, ect. maybe one was adopted by the other.

The PRO-2052 couldn't track trunked and conventional, either, at first (download the manual from RadioShack.com and see what I mean. The PRO-94 started doing them BEFORE the PRO-2052 could). It didn't used to have PC control. The PRO-94B now has PC programming. Like I said, there a couple of differences, but they are mostly the same. There are too many similarities to NOT say they are brothers. Both programming and operation are exactly the same... The major difference is remote computer control, but that doesn't mean they're not brothers.

 

[scanfan03]

OK, I think ya'll are getting SAME and 1050Hz mixed up. The Pro-9x scanners do the 1050Hz (tone with display of watch, warning, or statement). The newer Unidens do SAME, which is the FIPS area specific codes, the catch is you can only do the SAME on the scanners if you're not scanning. You have to be parked on the Wx channel and in SAME mode. The 1050Hz is the Wx Priority.

 

[TXFirefighter112]

yay!! thank god for sending someone to free us from our ignorance!!

 

[qoatzecotl]

OK, I think ya'll are getting SAME and 1050Hz mixed up. The Pro-9x scanners do the 1050Hz (tone with display of watch, warning, or statement). The newer Unidens do SAME, which is the FIPS area specific codes, the catch is you can only do the SAME on the scanners if you're not scanning. You have to be parked on the Wx channel and in SAME mode. The 1050Hz is the Wx Priority.

Go here:

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/nwrsame.htm

and download the PDF file. It'll tell you ALL about SAME. FIPS isn't mentioned AT ALL. SAME is what tells you the TYPE of message. FIPS is what tells the radio the LOCATION of the message...

I wasn't confused