BCD436HP/536HP Weather Operation & SAME Alerts

Summary: How to use Weather Scan and Weather Alert, set up SAME county alerts, and review weather alerts on the BCD436HP and BCD536HP.

Weather Channels

Both models have 7 weather channels: 162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525 and 162.550 MHz. Weather is US/Canada-oriented.

Weather Options

Menu, WX Operation: Set Delay Time (-10 to 30 seconds; default 2), Set Attenuator (20 dB; default Off), Set Audio AGC, Program SAME, WX Alt Priority, Weather Scan, Weather Alert, Review WX Alerts.

Weather Scan

Hold on any channel and press Func + press and hold 6 (WX), or start it from the WX Operation menu. The scanner scans the weather frequencies and stops on the first good signal; when it’s lost, it looks for another. Turn the scroll control to change channel. Weather Alert and SAME alerts don’t work during Weather Scan. In Weather Scan you can use Func + 4 (attenuation), Func + 7 (IFX), Func + E/yes (Quick Search) and Func + Menu (Weather menu).

Weather Alert Priority

WX Alt Priority lets the scanner check the weather channels every 5 seconds for a 1050 Hz alert while it keeps scanning or searching. If an alert arrives you hear a loud warble and then the weather audio. Toggle it from Hold mode with Func + 6 (WX). The WX icon shows when it’s on. It doesn’t operate in Tone-Out.

Weather Alert

Hold on a channel, press Func + press and hold 6, then Func + Menu and choose Weather Alert:

• Alert Only – scans all the weather channels and sounds the siren on the 1050 Hz alert tone; press any key to stop the siren, which opens squelch on the weather channel.
• SAME 0-4 – sounds the siren for your programmed counties, showing Warning WX, Watch WX or Advisory WX and the decoded event code. Press any key to listen.
• All FIPS – the same, for any county.

The scanner mutes and scans only the weather channels in this mode. Warning: alerts play at FULL volume.

Program SAME

SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) lets you hear alerts only for the counties you choose. Alerts carry the type, severity and affected locations. You can program 5 groups (SAME 0-4) of 8 FIPS codes (40 codes). For each group: Edit Name and Edit County (Code 1-8, enter the FIPS code and press E/yes). To find FIPS codes, call the National Weather Service toll-free on 1-888-697-7263 or use the NWS National Weather Radio site for the US and possessions.

Review WX Alerts

Weather alerts are always recorded. Menu, WX Operation, Review WX Alerts replays and reviews WX/SAME alert events, which are dropped after the alert time expires. In Weather Alert, recording starts when the scanner receives an alert.

Event Codes

The manual includes a table of the SAME event codes the scanner decodes (for example TOR Tornado Warning, SVR Severe Thunderstorm Warning, FFW Flash Flood Warning, HUW Hurricane Warning, TSW Tsunami Warning and EAN Emergency Action Notification), each marked as a Warning, Watch or Advisory, plus a set of “unrecognized” codes (watch, emergency, statement and warning) for events it doesn’t know.