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gear:wx [2024/07/03 23:37] – [Weather Radio (WX)] Humphrey Boa-Gartgear:wx [2025/11/17 11:03] (current) – coco
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 ====== Weather Radio (WX) ====== ====== Weather Radio (WX) ======
  
-> “One, two, three, four, is it snowing where you are Mr. Thiessen? If it is, would you telegraph back to me?”+> “One, two, three, four... Is it snowing where you are Mr. Thiessen? If it is, would you telegraph back to me?”
  
-**Weather reports** have been an important part of radio usage since Day 1. They now play a hand in guiding travel patterns, agriculture and commerce. Nowadays there are all sorts of ways to get weather updates and alerts off of radio waves, including with a television and your cell phone. Even much of the weather data you read on the internet, only reaches it after first traversing through radio waves. **Big Weather doesn't want you to know this, but with //simple VHF technology//, you can get this lucrative data //anonymously & for free!//**+**Weather reports** have been an important part of radio usage since Day One. They now play a hand in guiding travel patterns, agriculture and global commerce. Nowadays there are all sorts of ways to get weather updates and alerts off of radio waves, including with a television and your cell phone. Even much of the weather data you read on the internet, only reaches it after first traversing through radio waves. **Big Weather doesn't want you to know this, but with //simple VHF technology//, you can get this lucrative data //anonymously & for free!//**
  
-Since weather radio is a very broad category of radio, where on the spectrum to find the weather varies from region-to-region. In most places, you can find it on the popular AM/FM and TV stations. However, more raw forms of the data can be found in other places.+Since weather radio is a very broad category of radio, where to find weather reports on the spectrum varies from region-to-region. In most places, you can find it on the popular AM/FM and TV stations. However, more raw forms of the data can be found in other places.
  
 ===== North America ===== ===== North America =====
  
-In this part of the world, you have access to **NOAA Weather Radio**, which is a pool of **seven VHF frequencies**, where the United States, Mexico and Canada, have all agreed to centralize a bunch of their weather alerts. If you see a walkie-talkie, AM/FM radio or emergency radio anywhere in this part of the globe, and it says it has weather radio on it, that means //it can receive those seven frequencies//. Many programmable radios can be made to listen to these stations as well. Since so many types of radios can pick up these frequencies, we do not recommend buying a dedicated weather radio, and putting your money towards a more versatile radio.+In this part of the world, you have access to **NOAA Weather Radio**, which is a pool of **seven VHF frequencies**, where the United States, Mexico and Canada, have all agreed to centralize a bunch of their weather alerts. If you see a walkie-talkie, AM/FM radio or emergency radio anywhere in this part of the globe, and it says it has weather radio on it, that means //it can receive these exact seven frequencies//. Many programmable radios can be made to listen to these stations as well. Since so many types of radios can pick up these frequencies, we do not recommend buying a dedicated weather radio. Instead, put your money towards a more versatile radio, like a [[gear:radio#dual-band-vhfuhf-radios|handheld dual-band]] or [[gear:scanner|police scanner]].
  
 ==== The Seven Frequencies ==== ==== The Seven Frequencies ====
  
-The seven frequencies, commonly referred to as **WX1-WX7**, do not actually go by those names. They are just labels that manufacturers use, and the frequencies they are assigned to vary between units. The frequencies are as follows:+The seven frequencies, commonly referred to as **WX1-WX7**, do not actually go by those names. They are just labels that manufacturers use, and the frequencies they are assigned to vary between units //(what some call "WX7" others will call "WX1")//. The frequencies are as follows:
  
   * **162.400 MHz**   * **162.400 MHz**
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   * **162.525 MHz**   * **162.525 MHz**
   * **162.550 MHz**   * **162.550 MHz**
 +
 +Each NOAA local broadcast station operates on one of these overlapping frequencies, so that no two neighboring stations share the same frequency. The way that this is set up, is a North American resident will be within range of at least one station operating on any of these seven frequencies at any given moment.
 +==== Encoded Data on NOAA Channels ====
 +
 +NOAA weather alerts on these channels are preceded by audible imposing tones. These are tones for [[wp>Specific Area Message Encoding]], or **SAME**. Some (not all) NOAA-compatible weather radios have the option for the listener to set the county and type of alert they want to hear alerts for, and squelch out the rest. These tones contain the metadata for the alert, such as the relevant county, which the SAME-equipped radio interprets. If you're using [[radio:sdr|SDR]] on your computer, you can [[https://www.rtl-sdr.com/tag/same/|decode these strings]] yourself.
 +
 +  * [[https://www.weather.gov/fwd/sameweatherradios|SAME explanation at Weather.gov]]
 +  * [[https://www.weather.gov/marine/wxradio|SAME event codes at Weather.gov]]
 +
 +==== Canadian Marine Weather ====
 +
 +The Canadian Coast Guard runs a service known as the **continuous marine broadcast**, on five nearby frequencies overlapping five shore-broadcasting channels from the marine VHF band:
 +
 +  * **161.65 MHz** (Marine VHF Channel 21B)
 +  * **161.75 MHz** (Marine VHF Channel 23B)
 +  * **161.775 MHz** (Marine VHF Channel 83B)
 +  * **161.85 MHz** (Marine VHF Channel 25B)
 +  * **162 MHz** (Marine VHF Channel 28B)
 +
 +This is for **marine weather** on the coasts and lakes specifically, as well as other important notices for mariners and sea freighters. These same alerts also get played on some of the main seven frequencies above. Sometimes they are referred to as **WX8-WX12**, which like the other "WX" designations, is unofficial. Regardless, these five extra channels are sometimes included on weather radios.
 +
 +  * [[https://www.dxinfocentre.com/cmb.htm|List of CMB stations by region]]
 +
 +==== USCG/NWS Alerts & Maps ====
 +
 +The **US Coast Guard** also broadcasts various marine weather alerts, occasionally on the nearby marine VHF channels, but also some HF frequencies as well. Some of the HF channels are also shared with [[wp>SITOR]] and [[wp>Radiofax]] **National Weather Service** broadcasts //(text alerts and maps!!!)// [[https://www.rtl-sdr.com/tag/rtty/|which you can]] also [[https://www.rtl-sdr.com/tag/weather-fax/|decode yourself]] with SDR.
 +
 +  * [[https://www.weather.gov/marine/uscg_broadcasts|List of USCG Marine Weather Frequencies]]
 +
  
  
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