Hi folks. First of all, a reminder that this post will be updated so, please check back from time to time, as they may be new information from other listeners including myself on the weekly and monthly tests of our WX radios with the alert function. It is February 7 and 23 years ago today, I got my first WX radio. I know I’ve told you about that one 364 days ago, but I wanted to repeat it again because it’s a cautionary tale (of sorts) about being out of the loop and having nobody to rely on except the store. Plus, I had been away for 10 years and I had never owned a WX radio until this day in 2001.
I knew what Weatheradio Canada was and I knew what Weather Radio was, but I had no idea that there were seven channels, let alone 3. I had forgotten that Toronto was on a specific frequency and my radio didn’t have an alert button, so I couldn’t turn it to standby. It was also an AM/FM radio and it was rather finicky, with a scrolling volume that you could turn up and down, but every time I did that when the radio was on it would crackle. I almost forgot, it was one of those radios which had the volume and the on/ off switch as the same nob. Remember the old transistor radios which also had the scrolling volume which also doubled as the on-off switch?
The reception was also abysmal, even hearing Toronto was a challenge at times. I couldn’t take the radio with me because it was so bad and I was afraid to take it with me on my trips out of town, when I would go to St Catharines or Hamilton on the bus, as I was afraid I wouldn’t get anything. I had bought it in the hope that when Talking Yellow Pages was gone, I would have more options for detailed weather information besides the telephone. Nope and it took a year for me to get a better radio, which had a tone alert. It was an improvement and I got it on March 27th 2002, also at RadioShack in Toronto. It cost a bit more and it had a plug attached to it, as well as taking a 9 V battery for when the power went out.
With the second WX radio I was able to sleep with a radio on like I did at my parents place, when Toronto XMJ 225 was on the TV. I did the same with the other junk radio, but I had to recharge the AAA batteries every day and that is another thing. For quite a while, I had no shortage of trouble, because I had no real reliable way of charging batteries, or getting the right batteries for a charger as it took three cells (AAA cells) and I had to have six, or even 12 to even things out. I couldn’t use the same batteries for my discman and it was not easy to listen to Weatheradio Canada consistently. That is, until March 2002 when I was able to get my second radio which was both bigger, as well as better. It was great for home use, but not necessarily a good unit for going out and on the road. For one thing, it was not small enough for a backpack to fit comfortably and you could not detach the plug . Also, there was no headphone jack to listen to the broadcast privately and while on the bus, that is kinda important and I will probably talk about my first WX radio with a headphone jack during the summer, which was also a bit of a problem. I took my second radio with me to Hamilton in 2004 and that is when I realized that there was no Weatheradio Canada WXR specifically located in and for Hamilton, unlike the telephone ATAD.
Anyway, I am glad I have much better receivers these days and I know what I am getting into, when I purchase a new one. Now that I think of it, I haven’t purchased a new WX radio since 2017 when I got the EH54VP in Barrie and had a case of food poisoning the next day. Anyway, no food poisoning involved with these alerts that are radios will send us.
From The Author:
Buffalo KEB98 (162.550 MHz) (RWT) 11:00 AM EST.
Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 12:01 PM, (RMT) 12:04 PM EST, Niagara VAD 320 (162.475 MHz) (RWT) 12:04 PM, (RMT) 12:05 PM EST.
John Cadieux:
Rwt 2 12 24 730pm wxj40 162.400 wng5750 162.5250 kzz40 162.4500
Gary Ranson:
Required Weekly SAME test received
XLK497 Middleton, Nova Scotia 162.550 MHz
12:00 PM ADT – 7 February 2024
Sangean CL-100
VE1HFM
Required Monthly SAME test received
XLK497 Middleton, Nova Scotia 162.550 MHz
12:01 PM ADT – 7 February 2024
Sangean CL-100
VE1HFM
Bill Curry:
Required Weekly SAME test received
Required Monthly SAME test received
XLW573 Yarmouth, Nova Scotia 162.475
12:13 PM – 7 February 2024
Jacques Pannetier:
Monthly and Weekly Test Report!
KIG60 162.400MHz Mt. Mansfield, VT: RWT at 11:37AM
XLM300 162.550MHz Montréal, QC: RWT, immediately followed by RMT at 12:03PM
XLR412 162.475MHz Sherbrooke, QC*: Missed.
(Eastern time)
Notes:
-Signal strength is weak from Vermont, 0 to 1 bar on the Midland WR400.
-Finally Sherbrooke could be heard, at last! But at times drown in a sea of static… and unfortunately at the worst possible time, during the test.
-1050Hz test: Passed, with XLM300’s Monthly Test.
*: Save Environment Canada’s weather radio transmitters! XLR412 Sherbrooke QC is among the original 48 transmitters all across Canada that are considered for decommission.
Show your support for your weather radio (and alert!) service! Call or send an e-mail to:
Environment Canada Weatheradio: radio@ec.gc.ca
Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault: Phone: 613-992-6779 E-Mail: ministre-minister@ec.gc.ca
Voilà!