West Marine VHF500 Specifications download pdf (Page 21)

WEATHER ALERT

Weather Alert is a safety function that allows the radio to monitor the

local weather channel for NOAA Weather Alert broadcasts, while

allowing you to listen to other channels.

The traditional weather feature receives weather broadcasts (usually

within a 50-mile radius) then sounds an alarm if the emergency tone is

transmitted. This means that people who live outside an affected area

are often alerted even when their area is not affected, causing many of

them to ignore potentially real emergency/weather warnings that can

save lives.

ABOUT S.A.M.E. WEATHER ALERT

In 1994, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

began broadcasting coded signals called FIPS (Federal Information

Processing System) codes along with their standard weather

broadcasts. These codes identify an emergency and the specific

geographic area (such as a county) affected by the emergency.

The VHF500 was developed with the SAME (Specific Area Message

Encoding) technology. This allows your radio to receive, interpret, and

display the information about the codes so you can determine if the

emergency might affect your area.

Each FIPS code identifies a specific geographic area (defined by the

National Weather Service), so your radio sounds an alert only when an

emergency/weather emergency is declared in those locations. This

helps you more efficiently track the emergency/weather conditions in

and around your area.

When the VHF500 receives a weather alert:

• It sounds an alert siren.

• A description of the alert appears.

The alert descriptions your radio can display are based on a list of

specific weather alert types published by the NWS (National Weather

Service). For a list of all the alert descriptions that your radio can display.

Please see the NWR-SAME EVENT CODE section of this manual.

Caution:The NWS uses sophisticated weather models to determine an

alert’s effective time. However, the end of an alert does not

necessarily mean that the related weather emergency is over.

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West Marine VHF500 Specifications Page 21