BCD160DN Weather Operation & SAME Alerts

Summary: How to use Weather Scan and Weather Alert on the BCD160DN, and how to set up SAME county alerts.

What It’s For

The scanner can find a local NOAA weather broadcast and alert you when a SAME alert is sent on a NOAA weather channel. Weather features are aimed at the US. There are 7 weather channels: 162.4000, 162.4250, 162.4500, 162.4750, 162.5000, 162.5250 and 162.5500 MHz.

The WX Operation Menu

Menu, WX Operation: Weather Scan, Weather Alert, Program SAME, Set Delay Time, Set Attenuator, WX Alt Priority. Press SCAN/srch to return to scanning when you’ve finished.

Weather Scan

The scanner scans the preprogrammed weather channels and stops on the first good signal. If the signal is lost it looks for another. Start it from Menu, WX Operation, Weather Scan, or in Scan or Search mode press FUNC and hold wx/0 for 3 seconds. Press SCAN to exit.

In Weather Scan you can:

• Turn the scroll control to search for another weather channel.
• FUNC then wx/0 to start Weather Alert (choose Alert Only, SAME 1-5 or All FIPS), and again to go back to Weather Scan.
• FUNC then ifx/4 for IFX; FUNC then att/7 for the attenuator (or Menu, WX Operation, Set Attenuator).
• Yes/E to store a frequency.
• FUNC then MENU for the Weather Operation menu.

Weather Alert

Turns on alerts and decides which signals trigger them. It mutes the scanner and scans only the weather channels. Choose one of seven options:

• Alert Only – sounds the alert siren when it detects the 1050 Hz weather alert tone, then opens squelch and stays on that channel.
• SAME 1-5 – sounds the siren for the counties you’ve programmed in that group, then stays on the channel.
• All FIPS – sounds the siren for any programmed county, then stays on the channel.

The scanner also displays the alert type. Warning: alert notifications play at full volume.

Program SAME Groups

SAME (Specific Area Messaging System), from the US National Weather Service, lets you hear alerts only for the counties you’re interested in. The scanner receives SAME alerts within about 50 miles of where you use it, and you can programme up to 5 groups of 8 FIPS codes (40 codes).

FIPS codes are six digits, in the format nSSCCC: n is a sub-county designator (use 0 for the entire county), SS is the state code and CCC is the county code. For example, Tarrant County, Texas is 048439. Some large counties may eventually be subdivided (1-9), giving codes such as 148439. To find your code, call the NWS toll-free on 1-888-697-7263.

1. Menu, WX Operation, Program SAME.
2. At Select SAME, choose a group (1-5).
3. Edit Name to change the default SAME X name.
4. Edit County, choose a code number (1-8), and at Edit FIPS Code enter the code and press Yes/E.
5. Repeat for other code numbers. Press MENU twice to choose a different group, and once more to save and exit.

Other Weather Settings

• Set Delay Time – seconds to wait after a transmission ends during weather scan: -10, -5, -2, 0, 1, 2 (default), 5, 10 or 30.
• Set Attenuator – 20 dB; default Off. FUNC + att/7 also toggles it.
• WX Alt Priority – the scanner checks the weather channels every 5 seconds for a 1050 Hz alert while it carries on scanning or searching. If an alert arrives you hear a loud warble and then the weather audio. WX shows on the display. FUNC + wx/0 toggles it in Scan and Search modes.

Event Codes

The manual lists the SAME event codes the scanner recognises (for example TOR Tornado Warning, SVR Severe Thunderstorm Warning, FFW Flash Flood Warning, HUW Hurricane Warning and TSW Tsunami Warning), each marked as a Warning, Watch or Advisory, plus “unrecognized” codes for events it doesn’t know.