How do I set my radio for the weather band in my area?

scramblepad Mar 08, 2021 Delete
Local Police,some fire and Ambulance, Sheriff and State Police have switched to digital mode which this scanner does not have the capabilities of decoding. To check to see if it works grab a family radio and have the scanner in search mode in the 460 mhz band. Start talking or keep the family radio transmitting until the scanner stops on the channel and talk to see if you hear anything. Another very active band is the ham radio band on 2 meters [ 144.000 - 148.000 . Scan that band and I am sure you will get activity. Very active is the APRS [automatic packet reporting system ] frequency of 144.390 which will sound like a bunch of buzzing tones because it is not voice but data and you can decode it. Another active part of the ham band is 146.520 which is the calling frequency. Fire / rescue seem to use both digital and analog, in my area analog is used 70% of the time. Why the weather band does not work is a bad sign. You should be able to get at least 1 channel. Try to search the 162.00 - 163.00 band. If you get nothing you may have a bad antenna,cable or a bad connector or all 3. You can check the antenna cable with a ohm meter to see if their is no shorts or opens. Hope this helped some and let me know how things are. Take care for now, Kevin

Do you hear static when you turn on weather? If so there are just none in range of you. There are not weather radio stations everywhere. You would not use a dual band antenna on any CB. Only an antenna designed for the 11 meter band. Which is the 27mhz CB radio band.

You can go here and see if you have NOAA All hazards weather radio coverage in your area.

If the CB radio is working otherwise it is most likely that there is just not a NOAA transmitter near you.

If there is static noise, then it's probably not the weather board. We have had something like this happen in our area....

The closest weather station to here up and quit transmitting. The transmitter died after years of use. So all of a sudden there was not weather station. It was out for months.

If there is no noise at all, then there is probably something wrong with the weather board. I don't mess too much with weather boards my self. You could look at the weather channel selection knob and look and make sure all the wires are connected, also the switch to turn on weather.

Are you sure that the frequencies you programmed are active in your area? Try a weather band search (press Func and Svc) to verify that the scanner is working properly. If you receive one or more NOAA weather broadcast channels then you need to visit www.RadioReference.com and check their database for active freqs in your area. If you cannot receive weather then you have an antenna or receiver problem.

Bill B.
Listening in since the 60's

www.midlandradio.com/comersus/store/catalog/WR-300%20Owners%20Guide.pdf -

there you go!

do you have weather bands on your cb ? you must turn it to the off position (weather bands) or you will here the test signal from
noaa . now you will not get weather alerts.

codes for radio

What you want to do is set your radio to the proper S.A.M.E. (Specific Area Message Encoding) code for your county. You will find this information on the NOAA website which can be found at www.weather.gov/nwr/indexnw.htm. Find your state and it will list S.A.M.E. numbers by county.

Setting the code:
1. Push the CNTY/CH button on your radio. 4th button from the top /2nd up from bottom. This will prompt you to set the county.
2. Push the SET button. Button at bottom right. This will prompt the screen to show a set of 6 numbers flashing with the first number.
3. Under the screen you will see a set of 5 numbers and a 5+ with its corresponding button underneath. Use these for setting the code. For numbers above 5 use the 5+ button (e.g. 7 = 5+2). You will be able to set your radio for 10 different S.A.M.E. if needed. To do this you scroll through each S.A.M.E. number by pushing the CNTY/CH button.
4. After you set the S.A.M.E. number, push SET again to prompt you for the proper channel. The channels are A - G. You will want to have your radio on for this to be able to find the clearest channel. Turn your radio on and push the NOAA button under the screen. Push the CNTY/CH button till you get prompted for the SET CHANNEL. Push the SET button and the channel will blink. To scroll through use the TUN- OR TUN+ buttons and find the clearest channel.

You should be all set! Hope this was helpful.