weather radio

[cwflatt]

I am looking for a weather radio to take into the backcountry. All the cheap ones I have tried can not pick up a signal in town much less out in the woods. I have checked several websites with little results, so I thought I would consult the experts here.

[scottmphoto]

I have a hand-held police scanner that picks up the NOAA weather channels. I also have a set of those 12-mile range walkie-talkies that has them built in as well. So far, I have not been anywhere that I can't pick up a signal (I have had some weak signals though). I am sure that the radios that I have do have their limits.

I will suggest that you check out this company --> Emergency Essentials at the link below.

 

http://beprepared.com/category.asp_Q_c_E_404_A_name_E_Radios%20and%20Communication

 

 

They might have something that you can use.

 

 

[Pack212Scouter]

We bought 4 sets of the Midland-GXT850 radios for our Pack this Spring. We had bought some cheaper "5-mile" ones, but returned them for these as the cheaper ones were useless at any range over a couple hundred yards. They are excellent 2-way radios and come with both NOAA weather radio and weather alert warning, which I have used and they work great. I highly recommend these. The rechargable battery life is excellent, lasting about 12 hours with heavy use or over 48 hours of monitoring time. They can also use regular AA batteries if the rechargable goes dead. We now require our Webelos and campout leaders to take these with them.

 

Ours were purchased from Amazon and they gave us zero grief with the exchange.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Midland-GXT850VP4-22-Channel-26-Mile-2-Way/dp/B000P0RPY4/ref=pd_bbs_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1215975873&sr=8-5

(This message has been edited by pack212scouter)

[milwscout580]

I have a handheld weather radio from RadioShack. It works really well, even in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. This particular one is gray, a little bigger than the size of a deck of cards, with a shorter, stubby antenna. My RadioShack weather radio is way better than my first one, which was from Midland (that one wouldn't work a lot and it was difficult to program).

 

If you are having trouble picking up signal in the city, are you sure you are tuned to the correct station for your area? There are 7 different frequencies for weather radios, so make sure you are on the correct one. Also, not every area is covered by a weather radio frequency yet. When you are "in town", are you in a fairly populated location? If not, it might be possible that your area doesn't have a broadcast tower near you.

[eagle90]

I agree with milwscout580 about the Radio Shack Weather Radio. It certainly does work in the northwoods at Lefeber Northwoods Camp.

 

I have also used it in the Boundary Waters and down at Sea Base two weeks ago.

 

Dale

 

 

[insanescouter]

My police type scanner from radio shack (pro-97) picks up NOAA radio just find most places I go ... a few places I do need my larger magnetic car mount antenna to pick it up.

 

Scott Robertson

http://insanescouter.org

 

Helping leaders one resource at a time....

[Eagletrek]

Dittos of the Radio Shack hand-held. Bought it over twelve years ago and it's still going strong.

[Owl62]

I have a little Sony radio that has AM/FM/TV and NOAA weather capabilities. About the size of a pager, runs on one AAA battery and works well (needs an earphone or external speaker, cost about $30. I have carried it for several years and it realy works well.

 

I also have a set FRS radios that have integrated NOAA weather station reception. We use these sometimes.

 

For summer camp, I have a little tabletop Midland weather alert radio that works on regualr electricity or a 9 volt battery. I keep it in my tent on a small table. It has wether alert. To big for backpacking though.

 

 

[Frank17]

I have a small portable weather radio I purchased over 20 years ago from Radio Shack. It runs off a (V battery, has 3 switched for the 3 different weather channels and a volume control. Never a problem, and have used it all over the US including remote areas in CO, PA, AZ, and MT, where my cell phone was completely dead..

[kenk]

I own both the yellow Midland portible weather radio and the silver Oregon Scientific portible weather radio.

 

I MUCH prefer the silver Oregon Scientific WR601, finding that its much more user friendly. I've found that everytime I work with the Midland radio I need to pull out the manual since its use is just not that obvious.