Weather Radios in the T@b?

jkjenn

Is anyone using a weather radio in the T@b? I am wondering how well they perform with all of the potential for interference. It would be nice to be able to count on when there is no data connection.

T@Buhura

I don't have a dedicated Wx radio, but I do use a small handheld HAM radio that lets me tune into NOAA/NWS Wx broadcast frequencies - the usual 162mhz ones - and works well to receive their stream while off the beaten path "indoors [T@B]". You should be fine with the standard wx radio as well.

Verna

Ask Michigan Mike when he gets back. He picked up one at Walmart on his trip. He's trying to stay ahead of a snow storm right now, and isn't listening to it right now. 

I picked up up a dedicated one for the T@B and my sister picked up one for her RV, too. They're made by Midland, easy to use, (but I haven't set mine up yet). They have battery back up, also. 

DurangoTaB

We carry Motorola walkie-talkies, with NOAA weather radio, in the truck/T@B.  But in this part of the country you don't always get a station (the radio searches/roams for the closest strongest signal).  Note under Colorado, the only transmitter in the Four Corners area is Durango...so if you're camping in this huge area, you're not likely to get NOAA weather.  In these mountains weather forecasting is a little checking weather before we leave, checking WiFi/4G web sites on the road if possible, and knowing some basic weather forecasting/regional patterns...
     ref: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/coverage/station_listing.html

Nomad

No data connection is a problem when weather rears it's ugly head. I start scanning for local radio stations but many times can't receive many stations either. So, am interested in this.
Only had to outrun really bad stuff a couple of times but sometimes there's just no escaping it like yesterday - heavy rain, pea-sized hail. Same again early this morning.

Photomom

I can tell you that we have a small one that works fine in the car or house when we are close enough to a station. It does not work at all in the central Adirondacks, even outside standing on a car holding it up in the air. Reception has a lot to do with how close you are to the station, and of course what kind of antenna you're using. 

JandJ92010

We have one of those older ones that look like a cube, I think I got it at a Radio Shack, tunes to the National Weather Service, it has always picked up the local channel even when we're in a valley.

jkjenn

My old one fell apart so I ordered a small Midland earlier this afternoon. It is small enough to take hiking.

DurangoTaB said:

We carry Motorola walkie-talkies, with NOAA weather radio, in the truck/T@B.  But in this part of the country you don't always get a station (the radio searches/roams for the closest strongest signal).  Note under Colorado, the only transmitter in the Four Corners area is Durango...so if you're camping in this huge area, you're not likely to get NOAA weather.  In these mountains weather forecasting is a little checking weather before we leave, checking WiFi/4G web sites on the road if possible, and knowing some basic weather forecasting/regional patterns...
     ref: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/coverage/station_listing.html

Thanks! This was a concern. I do get free Travel Assist with my new vehicle and it pushes location based alerts but I am guessing it runs off of the Sprint network, so my confidence is low. It pushed a freeze alert last night. I usually try to stay a breath to local weather and Storm Prediction Center Outlooks and Meso discussions, too.

I think you always have to be careful with mountain weather. I thought I might hook up the T@bif it looked like the forecast was bad and have a few drive through car washes located to retreat to in case of a bad hail storm.

Hans111

We carry one. We're in the midwest and there are plenty of tornado, hail, severe T-storm warnings during camping season. Who knows if it will work when we need it, but I figure it's worth risking twenty-five bucks.

Nomad

Jenn - So when can we expect that "Car Wash Hideouts" app. Green symbols for those that will protect both your T@B and TV, red for those that will enclose only one or the other :-)

mickietucs

I have a small battery operated Skywave radio (from CCRANE) that has a few features such as SW, AIR and WX. Been able to pick up local weather forecasts in most areas on the WX feature. But it's range isn't huge (for instance can't seem to get it in Marble Canyon at the moment). Nice little radio though. 

RollingLagrima

I know it is kind of "old school" but I have a small handheld CB with 12v cigarette plug set on weather, magnetic base antenna on the roof of my tv when driving long distances. I drove across the country from FL to CA in February of 2015. I was glad to have the weather updates and more amused by the trucker radio traffic...

jkjenn

RollingLagrima said:

I know it is kind of "old school" but I have a small handheld CB with 12v cigarette plug set on weather, magnetic base antenna on the roof of my tv when driving long distances. I drove across the country from FL to CA in February of 2015. I was glad to have the weather updates and more amused by the trucker radio traffic...

I had a CB with a weather radio band in my Wrangler. Not a bad idea...maybe eventually.

RollingLagrima

Jenn. Check Amazon. There are new, slick, portable (not hard wired) "plug and play" in your cig receptacle CB setups. That is where I found mine.

jkjenn

RollingLagrima said:

Jenn. Check Amazon. There are new, slick, portable (not hard wired) "plug and play" in your cig receptacle CB setups. That is where I found mine.

Thanks. That's actually what I had, but I did install a legitimate antenna.

My Midland came and boy, is it tiny!

Ratkity

I've been very interested in a decent weather radio of some sort. I've been through several from the small Wx only all the way to the crank/solar-charge your phone-make-you-coffee type. All have been wanting.

Can it be the simple CB of old is my answer??  Can it still get weather in odd geography or do I need an antenna that's a danger to low-flying aircraft (forget drones, those would be toast! LOL).

jkjenn

Ratkity said:

I've been very interested in a decent weather radio of some sort. I've been through several from the small Wx only all the way to the crank/solar-charge your phone-make-you-coffee type. All have been wanting.

Can it be the simple CB of old is my answer??  Can it still get weather in odd geography or do I need an antenna that's a danger to low-flying aircraft (forget drones, those would be toast! LOL).

I think on the east coast, you are mostly OK. The problem with the intermountain west is the vast distance served by a tower and the topography.

mickietucs said:

I have a small battery operated Skywave radio (from CCRANE) that has a few features such as SW, AIR and WX. Been able to pick up local weather forecasts in most areas on the WX feature. But it's range isn't huge (for instance can't seem to get it in Marble Canyon at the moment). Nice little radio though. 

These seem to get really good reviews from the outdoors crowd and I may eventually invest in one.

Joe

The marine hand held radios typically have all the weather channels.  Even if you are nowhere near water you can still receive the weather channels on the handheld radios.  I use one from Icom.  

I also carry a VHF/UHF radio which requires a ham radio license to transmit, but requires no license to listen.  Many communities utilize ham radio operators to report on weather conditions to the national weather service (i.e., SKYWARN) and I listen to reports real time.  With a license you can also talk to the local ham radio operators and ask questions about conditions and low water crossings etc...

And of course with a ham radio license and the proper gear, you are NEVER out of touch.  You don't have to worry about being out of range of cell towers.  It's a lot of fun to communicate with people all over the world while boondocking.

Joe

One other note about CB radios.  They are very limited on power which limits you with respect to range.  Legal limit is 5 watts output.  With a ham radio license the legal limit is 1500 watts.  For V/UHF, most ham radios operate in the 50 - 75 watt range.

jkjenn

Weather radio came in handy last night as there were tornado warnings in the area. The challenge with Weather warnings is they list the county and then you have to figure out which could ty you are in for the night. A campground was directly in the path of the storm. I hope it turned OK.

Nomad

Ya, kind of a pain figuring out counties. I try to get a local radio station tuned in when it looks like weather, they usualy talk about towns.
Bad weather all across the midsection. Lots of flooding in NE/KS as there was last year about this time. One of the reasons I choose a little more northernly route this year.

Verna

That's where state maps come in handy since they do list counties. At least NOAA gives mile markers on Interstates now, and those are shown on state maps, too. 

Nomad

If you have a cell connection, can't beat the weather apps with all their alerts and things ans shows everything in relation to you.

Mr_Mrs_Gnome

@PXLated, what weather apps do you find most helpful?

Nomad

These are the ones on my home screen...

jkjenn

My lite TV antenna was the ticket and the AccuWeather radar.

Nomad

For weather overview I use WunderMap - You can tap on those shaded boxes and get the alerts...



Storm gives me more detail - Stats, forecasts, averages, etc for a location. RadarScope if the storm is close and I want to track it.

jkjenn

Weather radio does not get a signal on my current location but I have data. I suspect reception in the SW is hit or miss.

wizard1880

Doesn't all the t@bs with the Jensen stereos have built in weather radio?  Am I missing something?

JeffroNC

Posting here on this old thread due to the topic.  After going through the storm at uCamp this year with no alerts on any of my phone apps, I am shopping for a weather radio. What is the latest recommendation on these?

Marceline

wizard1880 said:

Doesn't all the t@bs with the Jensen stereos have built in weather radio?  Am I missing something?

Yeah my Jensen AWM975 has weather band and I use it. Maybe it's not available on the new units?

Here are the instructions from the manual:

Tuning to Weatherband

Press and hold the AM/FM/WB button (11) to access the Weatherband. The indication "WB"

will appear on the display panel, along with the current number and channel indication: "CH01",

CH02", "CH03", "CH04", "CH05", "CH06" or "CH07". Use the TUN/TRK control (12) to tune to

each of the seven channels until you find the weatherband station broadcasting in your area.