portable weather alert radios

Phil Schuman said:

I'm looking into purchasing a portable weather alert radio
for use in our various outdoor camp activity venues - swim
team, soccer, scouts, etc After some research, I am trying
to choose between the Midland 74-250, and the Oregon
Scientific WR-103....and the Radio Shack handheld -

74-250 & wr-102 both have S.A.M.E. and are about the same
size & price. The 74-250 seems to have AC capability, an
ear phone jack, and a temperature gauge which, as far as I
can tell, the WR-102 does not. I am sort of leaning toward
the 74-250 because of that.

I was also thinking of the WR-8000, but since it does not
have
S.A.M.E., I ruled it out, however, the WR-8000 claims to
"monitor the U.S. Emergency Alert System", which
the other do not. Does anyone know if this matters?
Also, I am assuming that S.A.M.E. functionality
acts like a filter, so in other words, if I did not
want to use it, I could, true?

If anyone has any experience or comments on any of these, I
would appreciate any suggestions or comments - Thanks

The National Weather Service runs both systems.

S.A.M.E. acts like a filter, after you enter the code for
your location. This means you will hear an alert
message only if it relates to that area. Typically
they go by counties (parishes in LA) more or less,
sometimes two for a county. There are 14 codes for
Massachusetts, for example.

There is a set group of short ( two or three letter)
messages used, and they are expanding that to include
some non-weather related emergencies. If you do not enter
the code, you will hear these messages for a larger area.
Some units will allow you to choose which types of
messages to receive.

See: <http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/same.htm> and links from
there for details.

The Emergency Alert System goes out over a variety of media,
including Weather Radio, broadcast radio and TV, cable, with
provisions for deaf people, and non-English speakers, and
various digital media. This replaced the Emergency Broadcast
System. It works with SAME, similar protocol, but state and
local Emergency Operations centers can input messages, and
there are a larger number of possible message types.

This is the current message list:
<http://weather.gov/os/eas_codes.htm#naming>

See: <http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/NWS_EAS.htm> and links from
there for details.

This system is still being implemented.

Can't speak to those specific models, but as far as brands
go, I would rate the Oregon Scientific brand the best,
followed by Midland and then Radio Shack.

Happy trails, Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA Please reply to:
garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

With the goal of dual-duty equipment in mind, I have an
older Radio Shack scanner which, for some reason, receives
cellular telephone calls. I've also programmed in the
weather alert frequencies so my one piece of equipment
provides for entertainment as well as weather information.
BTW, the most fun I've had with my scanner while camping was
listening to an hour of some poor drunk outdoorsman
describing to his father how he ended up with his boat, his
trailer, and his new pickup in 15 feet of water. Priceless!

- Mister Foldee

"Phil Schuman" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm looking into purchasing a portable weather alert radio
for use in our various outdoor camp activity venues - swim
team, soccer, scouts, etc After some research, I am trying
to choose between the Midland 74-250, and the Oregon
Scientific WR-103....and the Radio Shack handheld -

74-250 & wr-102 both have S.A.M.E. and are about the same
size & price. The 74-250 seems to have AC capability, an
ear phone jack, and a temperature gauge which, as far as I
can tell, the WR-102 does not. I am sort of leaning toward
the 74-250 because of that.

I was also thinking of the WR-8000, but since it does
not have
S.A.M.E., I ruled it out, however, the WR-8000 claims to
"monitor the U.S. Emergency Alert System", which
the other do not. Does anyone know if this
matters? Also, I am assuming that S.A.M.E.
functionality acts like a filter, so in other
words, if I did not want to use it, I could, true?

If anyone has any experience or comments on any of these,
I would appreciate any suggestions or comments - Thanks

I purchased a Midland 74-250 a few years back and was
surprised to find that it will not function (monitor for
alerts) while charging and/or plugged into an AC outlet.
After of few weeks of constantly monitoring the batteries
and recharging them, I opted to purchase a Oregon Scientific
WRS101, which can be used as a desktop OR a portable since
it functions either when plugged into AC or on batteries.

I found the programming of the Oregon Scientific to be much
easier to remember.

Last weekend I took the Midland unit with me while camping
in Wisconsin. I had the SAME code and station frequency with
me, but just struggled to remember how to change
codes/stations. I never used it.

On the Midland, you enter several SAME codes if you want to
be alerted for several counties. If you move to a new
location, you have to delete the SAME codes and enter the
new one(s). That is a pain.

On the Oregon Scientific WRS101, you can enter up to 7 or 9
SAME codes, and then are given the option of making each
live or not. I like this much better.

The Oregon Scientific treats the SAME code and Weather
Service channel separately - which makes sense to me. The
Midland had you enter a channel for each SAME code, which
wasn't really what I wanted. I want to tell the radio to
listed to a particular station (the one for my area -
that comes in best), and then to alarm for certain SAME
codes. Simple.

To be honest, I think programming could be made easier for
both, but I'm sure that adds cost.

It looks like the WRS101 has been dropped from their lineup.
Not sure why. It is still available from stores on-line
(such as ambientweather.comambientweather.comOpen ↗ - I have nothing to
do with them, but have recently purchased from them). I'm
not sure if the WR103 behaves similarly to the WRS101. I did
call them and asked if the WR103 functions while plugged
into AC, and was told "yes".

The WR103 instructions, from ambientweather.comambientweather.comOpen ↗ ,
suggest its controls are much like that of the WRS101. It
treats the SAME county codes and channel as separate
activities, which is what I want.

By the way, I recently purchased a second WRS101 - one for
my bedroom upstairs and one for my family room downstairs.

For scouting, I would recommend the Scientific Oregon WR103,
which appears to be more "mobile" than the WRS101.

"Phil Schuman" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm looking into purchasing a portable weather alert radio
for use in our various outdoor camp activity venues - swim
team, soccer, scouts, etc After some research, I am trying
to choose between the Midland 74-250, and the Oregon
Scientific WR-103....and the Radio Shack handheld -

74-250 & wr-102 both have S.A.M.E. and are about the same
size & price. The 74-250 seems to have AC capability, an
ear phone jack, and a temperature gauge which, as far as I
can tell, the WR-102 does not. I am sort of leaning toward
the 74-250 because of that.

I was also thinking of the WR-8000, but since it does
not have
S.A.M.E., I ruled it out, however, the WR-8000 claims to
"monitor the U.S. Emergency Alert System", which
the other do not. Does anyone know if this
matters? Also, I am assuming that S.A.M.E.
functionality acts like a filter, so in other
words, if I did not want to use it, I could, true?

If anyone has any experience or comments on any of these,
I would appreciate any suggestions or comments - Thanks

I have used the WR103 for about 3 years now. I have no
complaints with it, other than it did not come with a AC
adapter. I use 3 AA batts. which in alert mode last about
three to four weeks. Usually less if you have a lot of
alerts. It has a belt clip that you can slide the radio
itself in and out of and the radio has a lanyard. It also
has two alarm clocks on it.

"Phil Schuman" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:<[email hidden]-
gy.com>...

Quoted message said:

I'm looking into purchasing a portable weather alert radio
for use in our various outdoor camp activity venues - swim
team, soccer, scouts, etc After some research, I am trying
to choose between the Midland 74-250, and the Oregon
Scientific WR-103....and the Radio Shack handheld -

74-250 & wr-102 both have S.A.M.E. and are about the same
size & price. The 74-250 seems to have AC capability, an
ear phone jack, and a temperature gauge which, as far as I
can tell, the WR-102 does not. I am sort of leaning toward
the 74-250 because of that.

I was also thinking of the WR-8000, but since it does
not have
S.A.M.E., I ruled it out, however, the WR-8000 claims to
"monitor the U.S. Emergency Alert System", which
the other do not. Does anyone know if this
matters? Also, I am assuming that S.A.M.E.
functionality acts like a filter, so in other
words, if I did not want to use it, I could, true?

If anyone has any experience or comments on any of these,
I would appreciate any suggestions or comments - Thanks

"Phil Schuman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm looking into purchasing a portable weather alert radio
for use in our various outdoor camp activity venues - swim
team, soccer, scouts, etc After some research, I am trying
to choose between the Midland

74-> 250, and the Oregon Scientific WR-103....and the Radio
Shack handheld -

Well, I have went through three SAME radios in the last
year. Here is the problem: I had a basic Midland with SAME,
the 74-200. The problem was that there was no way to block
out specific alerts. Basically, everything comes
in: Floods 15 miles away but in the same county, etc. etc.
It would wake me up. I eventually got the Reecom R-1630.
I thought that I could block out any type of alert I
wanted to. The only type of alerts I care about weather
wise are Thunderstorm Warnings, Tornado Watches, and
Tornado Warnings. However, I want to be able to block
Thunderstorm Warnings out once I get up and unplug
everything. This radio allowed for some blockage of
certain alerts, but not the ones I wanted. I am pretty
sure that all warnings are allowed through. Again, with
heavy rains in my area...flood warnings 15 miles away in
my county would wake me up. I don't live in a flood
area, so I don't need those watches and warnings.
Finally I found a radio that allows you to block out the
individual warnings/watches. It is the ShareCom WRP500
model. I got it from Lee's Electronics. It has went off
and both flood warnings and watches, plus thunderstorm
watches and warnings can be blocked. Even tornado
watches and warnings can be blocked...but I would never
do that. I was thinking about the handheld model by
Radio Shack. After reading the instruction book on line,
there are still certain watches and warnings that you
can't block out. I remember that Thunderstorm warnings
are what got me. You could block out the watches, but
not the warnings. Well, like I said before, I just want
to be able to hear the first warning to get up and
unplug everything and go back to sleep. You can't do
that on this model. In order to stop it from
broadcasting repeat T-Storm warnings, you would have to
shut it off. Well if you shut it off and a tornado
comes, your screwed. Hope this helps.

"Shawn" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have used the WR103 for about 3 years now. I have no
complaints with it, other than it did not come with a AC
adapter. I use 3 AA batts. which in alert mode last about
three to four weeks. Usually less if you have a lot of
alerts. It has a belt clip that you can slide the radio
itself in and out of and the radio has a lanyard. It also
has two alarm clocks on it.

I ordered the WR102 - have not received it as yet - but was
just browsing the manual online, and it appears that the
radio doesn't have an on/off switch ? I could see where it
would not normally make sense for an alert radio, but we
only plan to use it for outdoor trips - bummer -