Radio Shack 20-404 - Manual (Page 14)

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Weather Features
The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has
allocated channels for use by the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Regulatory
agencies in other countries have also allocated channels
for use by their weather reporting agencies.
The NOAA and your local weather reporting agency
broadcast the local forecast and regional weather
information on one or more of these channels.
Listening to a Weather Channel
Press to hear your local forecast and regional
weather information. WEAthEr appears for about two
seconds, then the scanner starts searching the weather
bank.
Press PSE to stop searching the channels. SRCH
disappears and MAN appears. To change the channel
manually, press e or d.
n
Note: Your scanner incorporates weather alert as
one of its features and is an extremely sensitive high
quality receiver on the weather frequencies. However,
the included flex antenna is optimized for general
purpose scanning. If you use this scanner as your only
means for receiving weather alerts, please make sure
you are receiving a clear signal on the flex antenna
or switch to an external antenna that gives you clear
reception of a local NOAA weather broadcast.
Weather Alerts
Receiving All Weather Alerts
To program the scanner to search for weather alerts every
two seconds, set a weather channel as the priority channel.
1. Press .
2. Select the weather channel you want to set as the
priority channel.
. Press and hold ENT then PRI/ALERT. P ChAnnEL
is displayed momentarily. Then P
CH
flashes and
000.000
0
(or the previously-stored frequency)
appears.
4. Press ENT to store the priority channel. The display
flashes twice. Press TUNE/CLEAR to cancel.
. Press PRI/ALERT during scanning or searching to
turn on the priority feature. PRI appears.
If the scanner detects a 1050 Hz weather alert tone on
the programmed channel, the scanner sounds the alert
tone and ALErt flashes. Press any key to turn off the
alarm.
Receiving Alerts for Specific Areas
About SAME Signals
The National Weather Service precedes each weather
alert with a digitally encoded SAME (Specific Area
Message Encoding) signal, then a 1050 Hz tone. The
SAME signal includes a FIPS (Federal Information
Processing Standard) code and an event code that
corresponds with the type of alert being sent.
The FIPS code format is:
Subdivisions State County
0-9
(0=entire area)
01-50
(00=all states)
XXX
(000=all counties)
Example: 048439
(0=All; 48=Texas; 439=Tarrant County)
A current list of FIPS codes is located at
www.NWS.NOAA.gov/NWR.
SAME Standby Mode
In SAME Standby mode, your scanner monitors weather
channels for SAME alerts for up to seven areas you
specify by entering the FIPS codes.
To program your scanner for SAME Standby mode:
1. Press .
2. Press PGM to access the FIPS code entry mode.
. Use e or d to select the desired FIPS code storage
location.
4. Use the number keys to enter the FIPS code, then
press ENT to store the code.