Governmental Weather Radio Services
| Frequency | Old name | New name |
|---|---|---|
| 162.4 MHz | WX 2 | WX 1 |
| 162.425 MHz | WX 4 | WX 2 |
| 162.45 MHz | WX 5 | WX 3 |
| 162.475 MHz | WX 3 | WX 4 |
| 162.5 MHz | WX 6 | WX 5 |
| 162.525 MHz | WX 7 | WX 6 |
| 162.55 MHz | WX 1 | WX 7 |
The United States, Canada and Bermuda operate their government weather radio stations on the same band.
Notable weatheradio services include:
- United States - NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards
- Canada - Weatheradio Canada
The original numbering was from the order in which the frequencies were assigned, with 162.55 at first the only frequency, then 162.4 and 162.475 added later to prevent RF interference. The others mainly came into use in the 1990s in less-populated rural, areas and as fill-in broadcast translators relaying an existing station or sending a separate, more localized broadcast into remote or mountainous areas, or those areas with reception trouble. The newer numbering is based on the order of the frequency numbers themselves.
Canadian broadcasts are also transmitted on travelers' information stations on FM and AM, especially near national parks. Bermuda has only one station dedicated purely for weather, on 162.55 MHz from Hamilton, now operated by the Bermuda Weather Service. It has a second station, however, for marine conditions and forecasts, ZBR, at 162.400 MHz.
All stations transmit a 1050 Hz tone immediately before issuing a watch or warning, and this serves to activate the alert feature on many older radios. Except for Bermuda, all U.S. and later Canadian stations transmit WRSAME codes a few seconds before the 1050 Hz tone that allow more advanced receivers to only listen for certain warnings that carry a specific code for the local area, and often to have an option to only sound the alarm for serious warnings by default, and other alerts at the user's discretion (for example, a flash flood watch could be ignored by a person living on the top of a hill, while a tornado warning is an immediate emergency in all cases). However, disabling the alarm will still show a scroll on the display.
Read more about this topic: Weather Radio
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