Weather Radios

I found the thread on radios but was too overwhelmed with all the info in it. I am looking for information on basic weather radios that I can carry while hiking and backpacking in Colorado this summer. Does anyone carry weather radios, how useful are they for getting short term forecasts? Are they pretty lightweight? If I were to buy one, which would come with the best recommendations? Thanks.

sli74

I have a GMRS radio that has weather built in. NOAA broadcasts on several frequencies, so knowing where you are, and what is nearby is important for getting the correct forecast. I only carry the radio in winter typically, and even then usually only when solo. Then again, I am seldom away from my desk for more than 3 days!!! Other than that, the forecasts are typically pretty accurate, and the money spent on the radios has been worthwhile.

-percious

Oregon Scientific handheld NOAA radio. The battery life is awful. It's great around the house, but not great for the trail. I sometimes bring it with me, but usually not.

I don't know if they are all set up like this [tech junkies chime in please to correct me potentially misleading info], but mine required to be "programmed" for different areas, meaning there is a code or frequency for a particular forcast area. So, if I hike in Worcester County today and go to Coos County tomorrow I have to enter a different code to get the correct forcast for Coos. I found this a bit clumsy and difficult to do. The radio has presets, but you have to remember which one is which! The NOAA website has some great info on weather radios.

If you are worried about the t-storm in CO plan to be below treeline by 3:00pm daily, it's almost like clockwork out there.

I have two, one is a basic unit built into my Motorola FRS radio and it works real well, the other is an Oregon Scientific standalone radio. Strangely, the Motorola unit has better reception, the sound is clearer, and the radio is sturdier. Both are useful for short and longer term (3-5 days) forecasts.

The Oregon Scientific has a clock, alarm, temp guage with freeze alarm -- all of limited use. It does have a useful standby mode where the radio will sound an alarm if there is severe weather in the area. From experience, I can say that this works real well. Gave me about 75 minutes advance warning before thunderstorms/high winds hit when car camping with the family a few years ago.

Last week, I was skiing in Utah (brought the Motorola radios) and the NOAA weather forecast was for the city, 6,000 feet and 8,000 feet in elevation -- real useful.

Summary - both are basic units, wouldn't travel without one of them, but almost always take the Motorola due to it's size and reception.

Edit: these basic radios get the 8 NOAA channels broadcast on. You scroll through to find the best reception, which is usually the local broadcast. No codes are needed though I understand those radios that do have them can give more details for specific areas.

jbreen said:

The Oregon Scientific has a clock, alarm, temp guage with freeze alarm -- all of limited use. It does have a useful standby mode where the radio will sound an alarm if there is severe weather in the area. From experience, I can say that this works real well. Gave me about 75 minutes advance warning before thunderstorms/high winds hit when car camping with the family a few years ago.

Last week, I was skiing in Utah (brought the Motorola radios) and the NOAA weather forecast was for the city, 6,000 feet and 8,000 feet in elevation -- real useful.

Summary - both are basic units, wouldn't travel without one of them, but almost always take the Motorola due to it's size and reception.

Edit: these basic radios get the 8 NOAA channels broadcast on. You scroll through to find the best reception, which is usually the local broadcast. No codes are needed though I understand those radios that do have them can give more details for specific areas.

Click to expand...

I think the "codes" (most likely just tones) are used to mark the warnings so one use a tone-activated squelch (the stand-by mode) to hear only the warnings. You should be able to hear the warnings without the tone squelch--but you will also hear everything else...

And yes, the broadcasts are tailored to the local needs.

Lots of places sell them--from general merchandise to Radio Shack to Ham Radio Outlet. Sorry--don't have a recommendation--haven't looked at models (both my car radio and my 2M HT can receive the NOAA weather broadcasts).

Doug

I think the "codes" (most likely just tones) are used to mark the warnings so one use a tone-activated squelch (the stand-by mode) to hear only the warnings. You should be able to hear the warnings without the tone squelch--but you will also hear everything else...

Click to expand...

Yes, further reading indicates that the codes are called SAME codes used to narrow down the warnings to specific counties rather than just the listening area.

Normally, I just listen to the weather report becuase as was previously posted, it eats batteries.

Jim

My two way radio has a NOAA button right on it -- you press it and get the closest local forecast. There's also an emergency band, tho I've never had to try to use that, thankful.

I like the two way radios to begin with, both with groups (to keep the faster and slower groups in touch) and on some solos (Jack has the other radio for calling from basecamp or the trailhead.)

I've used the weather radio function a few times -- before starting up above treeline and on overnights for a morning report. Kinda handy.

I use a Sony SRF-M80V S2 walkman at night when out on the trail. It weighs 5.2 ounces with headphones, and has the 7 weather channels, normal AM/FM channels, and even gets the TV channels (VHF 2-13). I got mine off the dump, but I've seen them in Wal-Mart for $40 - $50. It has a nice lock feature on it, so when the lock is on, the only thing you can adjust is the volume, the rest of the buttons won't work when pressed. It also has a clock, stopwatch, countdown timer, alarm, and it's water resistant making it very functional.

I also have a Sony Walkman SRF-M37V and I'm very satisfied with it. The reception is adequate, controls are intuitive and user friendly, and it has lots of useful features in a light and tiny package. I substituted lightweight earplugs for the earphones and got the weight below 4 ounces. Best of all, I found it last year in a Walgreens Drug Store in southeast Florida last year for around $15.00.

My close friend Danielle has a Midland 74-250 for which she paid $40.00. It's complicated to operate and bulky. It can only receive NOAA channels, which it often receives poorly or not at all. It was on clearance at Campmor a while ago, but I wouldn't recommend it,

porky pine

Not cheap at all, but Garmin Rino 130 and the new 530 have built in NOAA weather channels. Even the less expensive Rino is close to $300 but if you are in the market for a GPS then it's a consideration.

I have a cheap $15 Grundig combination AM/FM radio with 3 NOAA weatherbands on them. I've used them for bicycle touring mainly but have brought them on some longer backpacking trips. They're no where in the same league as a real NOAA weather radio but they are useful for planning trips, not for up-to-the minute weather as they don't respond to NOAA weather alerts like most of the real weather radios.

However, it's useful if you're in camp and just want to find out the weather for tomorrow or the marine forecasts if you are kayak camping. Plus, you can listen to some music when it's storming outside.

Jay

I have a weather radio that's built into a FRS/GRS handheld and a VHF marine radio that gets the weather channels. I had a midland unit that did just weather and had the SAME feature.

The SAME feature was a waste. Difficult to program and of dubious use in the backwoods, as it requires leaving the radio on. It's an interesting feature but likely best for home weather radio stations in tornado country. The Midland unit also fell apart pretty quickly. The VHF unit gets the best reception, but the FRS unit is OK.

A FRS/weather unit may be best for you.