An NOAA radio is one of the items on our flood preparedness lists, and certainly not a bad idea in general. It is also applicable to many other weather related preparedness scenarios like hurricanes. I found one on a discount website I frequent and was hoping for some feedback from those who have experience with this kind of radio. The one I found is here so if anyone can comment on the maker, or even the specific model, or any of it's features, it would be greatly appreciated. What I like most about it is the battery and crank power options.

I have one similar to this one, and two smaller versions. The larger one is pretty good, gets a clear signal from the nearest NOAA station.

I'm not a fan of crank powered radios even if they have as many power options as this one has. I have a solar charger separate from the radio and use that to keep a set of batteries charged. I haven't seen much use for NOAA weather in general. If it's bad enough AM and even FM stations will broadcast.

I feel Eton is a good, reliable brand. I had this one on my wish list,http://www.amazon.com/NFR160WXB-Microlink-Self-Powered-Weather-Flashlight/dp/B001QTXKB0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392829284&sr=8-1&keywords=eton+fr160; and received it for Christmas. It's become my go-to when I want to listen.

hmmmm, i'm wondering now if we even have an NOAA station nearby, is there any way I can find out?

The crank is definitely a last resort, keeping extra batteries on hand will definitely be a priority, I do wish this had a solar option

I've noticed eton mentioned in many previous emergency radio threads, thought it might be a good choice

Most of the country should be within range of a transmitter. It's been a long time, but I seem to remember a webpage somewhere, probably the National Weather Service website, that showed coverage maps of transmitters.

Many places can pick up more than one transmitter. That could be an advantage when weather approaches from different directions. If bad weather, say a squall line, is approaching from the direction of transmitter A, then listen to that channel to get a bit more forewarning. Other times, transmitter B may have more relevant info for your area. It all depends.

If a weather radio has SAME encoding, it can be helpful to encode your own county as well as the neighboring county in the direction that bad weather usually comes from. That way, you can get earlier warning of bad weather that is likely going to head your way while minimizing warnings for counties that don't involve your own location. This technique is probably most useful for fast changing/moving weather, like thunder storms and tornado warnings.

But regarding that radio you mentioned, I'm not familiar with that particular model, but I've had good luck with Eton in the past. Not really a fan of crank charging, though, although it seems so appealing.

I'm sure you do. NOAA Weather Radio covers virtually the whole nation. Go to http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/. Click on the "Coverage Maps" link.

I think NOAA Weather Radio is a good thing to have. It is a continuous broadcast and is updated frequently.

The AM and FM stations usually just get their info from NOAA, so you are assuming they will update their info in a timely manner, and that they will not screw it up. The NOAA broadcast also often includes detail that the commercial stations sometimes leave out.

Mark... I would suggest a good table stand weather alert radio with SAME county specific warning alerts...unless you need the charger, most of the night stand versions have AA backup, with regular AM/FM and alarm clock functions...I have standardized my hurricane electronics to AAs where possible...I do have an old dynamo crank Grundig FR200 (either Eaton bought Grundig or vise versa) that has done good service, but after the 04 hurricane season, I decided on a digital TV for entertainment and weather updates ...
Martin Forcazio commented that his Midland W300 had suddenly quit, and that he had found others with the same problem, so when my W300 picked up a lot of noise, I purchased a Reecom R1630 (without AM/FM but has alarm clock)... when I programmed it, I noticed that I had entered the frequency for a repeater station and not the main broadcast station.... I checked the older Midland and found that I had done the same there... when I entered the main freq of 162.55mHz both were very clear... so now I have two alert radios....peace of mind

Perhaps it's a coverage limitation or maybe it's that NOAA broadcasts a 100 watt signal while a typical FM station can run at 100,000 watts. There's a serious difference in signal quality. Maybe I'm expecting too much. In any case, get a good antenna.

AM radio runs 250 to 50,000 watts but thats another animal being in the MW band.

NOAA broadcasts on VHF, which may account for the difference you notice. Note that NOAA also broadcasts (at the request of state and federal emergency managers) "All Hazards" emergency info for non weather related emergencies.
A good antenna is a desirable feature on any radio.

Just checked the map, we have coverage across the entire state, even in our area (a bit surprising but welcomed nonetheless). thanks for the suggestion arney and the link aksar

In fact there are TWO stations for our county, one to the west and one to the east

les, i looked on the specs for this radio, it appears to have multiple power sources:

Power Source:
1) Self-Powered Aluminum crank with
Hand Turbine Technology
2) From 3 AAA batteries (not included)
3) AC Power (requires AC to USB adapter, not included)
4) DC Power (charge via included USB cable)

I'm not exactly certain what all that means, very technically challenged these days, but appears it has a usb cable to plug into adapters for either geting power in the car (AC power) or the wall (DC power). DW and DS's I-pods work like this, the USB cables can plug into an adapter for the car or for a standard wall outlet. I'm assuming the AAA batteries are a backup, and the crank is a last resort backup, at least that's how I am looking at it anyway.

just noticed it also has a built-in digital clock and alarm. it could come in handy at scout camp this summer, i am a notorious sleepy head in the mornings

russ, this radio picks up am, fm and the NOAA signals. Between the three i will surely be able to find SOMETHING available for updates

I second the SAME requirement. Being able to use batteries is probably the best for the vast majority of situations. Most radios can run for many days on a single set of batteries, and surely you have a stash of batteries. That's better than using elbow grease at a time when you might be tired and under-nourished. I'd also avoid multi-function radios. Less robust, with more parts to break.

um, two questions:

What is SAME?

Is there a difference between SAME and the NOAA frequencies? If so what is it?

FWIW, there are two NOAA frequencies covering our county. One is in town, 10 miles away. The other is in another town located a bit further away and closer to the border to another state, but is still within about 20 to 30 miles. I know a lot can be different within those distances weather-wise, but it's usually pretty consistently the same in our area.

absolutely bing, the crank is, IMO, a last resort only. I do my best to keep spares of all batteries on hand, eventually i think i'll have to look into standardizing, but for now it's all good. My thinking with this radio is use home power as long as it's available. If power goes out, I'd then go to the battery back-up or AC power, leaving the crank as a last resort.

Yep, I too went through the manual. Just can't fall in love with a crank.

The radio I am getting to like a lot is the CountyComm GP-5 DSP GP radio. AM/FM/SW w/ digital signal processing. Runs on three AA batteries or USB (neither batteries or USB cable are provided). Both FM and AM signals are very clear, I haven't tried shortwave yet.

The radio has a scan function which allows it to scan through the local broadcast and lock in the signals. Then when you roll the tuning dial, it moves station to station and skips the dead air.

Another thing I haven't tried is its recharging ability. As I understand, if you use NiMH batteries and plug into the USB source, it will charge the batteries. I may try that right now.

Charging, a little battery icon shows on the display.

Mark, home power from a wall socket is 120 volts AC (60 Hz alternating current), your car is 12 volts DC (direct current). Typical AA, AAA, C or D batteries are 1.5 volts DC.

haha oops, got it backwards, good thing i am NOT an electrician eh

SAME stands for Specific Area Message Encoding. Basically, it's a system that allows you enter the code for your county (or any county, actually) and your weather radio will only "turn on" and announce warnings that pertain to that county (or counties, since many radios allow multiple counties to be programmed). If you've ever been driving in a car with a fast moving thunderstorm sweeping through a region, you'll hear warning after warning on the car radio as the storm moves through the region. You have no control over which warnings you hear on the car radio, even if the storm is quite far from you. SAME encoding allows you to only hear the warnings for geographic locations you want.

SAME encodings and NOAA frquencies are totally different things, however, your SAME settings will apply to any NOAA frequency you are listening to. Every National Weather Service broadcast warning will include a burst of digital info that may sound like static and I believe that burst is what tells your radio which counties a particular warning applies to, and if it matches your SAME settings, your radio will blare out the appropriate message, otherwise it will stay quiet.

I reviewed the radio here: http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.ph...true#Post264506 .

The Eton radio I have has been a champ, I'm very comfortable recommending the brand. Mine will run for at least thirty minutes on one minute of cranking. I still prefer batteries.

There is just no comparison between the weather information on commercial radio and that available on NOAA weather bands. The dedicated weather channels win hands down. Occasionally TV weather broadcasts will get my attention - better visuals...

To be fair, I just looked at the NOAA broadcast freqs in my area and there are two frequencies, one for the standard NOAA weather broadcast and one for the NOAA marine broadcast -- they are on adjacent channels so I may have tuned into the marine broadcast. While the coverage maps are similar, they aren't the same; the marine has less coverage over land.

Sooo, I'll pull out my weather radio (which just so happens to also have a brand new never used hand crank for charging its internal NiMH battery ) and see how well it works if I tune in the correct station. Then we'll see if I'm eating crow for dinner.

Edit: Sometimes crow tastes good. That said, this is a different radio. It's a Kaito Voyager Pro KA600 and the weather band is channelized -- CH-1 thru CH-7 so there's no guessing. Channel 1 comes through quite well; Channel 2 (marine) is weaker but strong enough. The audio quality sucks but that's prolly a function of a narrow bandwidth and synthetic audio. Still, very good for what is intended.

BTW, the Kaito Voyager has it's own solar panel in addition to the handcrank. It also has an input for 6VDC and both USB In and Out. If you have 120VAC power and the 6VDC adaptor you can charge a cell phone or other USB device as well as the onboard NiMH battery pack. Lots of power options.

Several you may want to look at. I've had all mentioned below for several years.

I'm a weather spotter and have several NOAA weather radios.

I have a Kaito Voyager Pro AM/FM/SW/NOAA(WX) and it has held up well and even survived several downpours, though it is not marketed as even weather-resistant. Has solar charger and hand crank.

I have a Midland Base Campe XT 511 -- AM/FM/NOAA(WX) with FRS-GMRS transmit/receive capability. Has hand crank. GMRS requires a license from FCC.

I have an Oregon Scientific WR110. About 4"x2.5" WX only and battery only. Batteries last several months while unit is on stand-by.

I have a Midland HH50. About 3.5"x1.75" -- Would not recommend this. Something is wrong with this unit as it drains batteries in a few weeks, even when kept in the "off" position.

Plus, as an amateur radio operator, I have two Yaesus --
the VX-7R and VX-8R which both have dual receive and WX bands.