As a new resident of Texas (Georgetown) and also doing lots of motorhome traveling; I would appreciate recommendations, and thoughts, on good radios for use in the motorhome and (perhaps) separately in the house.
We have one of these in the house and one in the coach. We have always used Midland.
Amazon.com: Midland WR120EZ NOAA Weather Alert All Hazard Public Alert... (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00176T9OY/ref=sr_ob_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1451311607&sr=8-7&refinements=p_76%3A2661625011)
We also use the Weather Underground app on our phones. It has an all hazard radio feature as well.
I have a weather radio by midland but have found that my iPhone works better and is always with me.
We were visiting relatives in a mobile home park in Cameron Park (Sacramento, CA) on Christmas Eve. We had opened our Xmas presents to each other, a couple of new iPhone 6s pluses and had them on the coffee table while snacking. It started to really hail so I opened Storm, my favorite iPad weather app, and watched as the cell approached. We looked out the window and suddenly, all the phones in the room started screaming for about ten seconds followed by an emergency announcement that a tornado was close by and to take shelter. It also warned to evacuate if in a mobile home park. We opened the front door and it was about a mile away coming at us. Not a huge twister like Texas has but was tearing off roofs as it touched down. Still trying to figure if it was a message from Verizon or the iPhone app. Here is the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YJwlQPHyz0
Pierce
Wow, glad you were safe
I just checked with Verizon, our wireless provider and they are the ones that issue the emergency alerts. They transmit the alerts to the phones listed here. An excellent service to know about when on the road or at home. Other wireless providers have a similar service. Go to your provider's website to make sure your phone is included and is activated for the notices.
Wireless Emergency Alert Capable Devices | Verizon Wireless (http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/wireless-emergency-alerts-compatible-devices/)
Pierce
We got the same great feature while in Canton, TX, during the Monsoons , and tornadoes a couple of days ago, and our phones were not TX based. Then they started going off when the flooding started, too. We sure appreciate that service while we are on the road, too.
Amber alerts come through the same based on where you are.
Howdy all,
Thanks for all the great info.
The use of the phone apps caught me by surprise. We'll definitely get radios for the coach & house but it really sounds like the phones are going to be the best solution since they know where we are.
We both have Verizon phones so I'm checking them out now. Sometime back we got an Amber Alert on one of the phones so apparently we may already have that capability on one phone at least.
Thanks again,
In our home in Bellville, we have a Midland (I think) weather/alert radio. We keyed in our county and set the radio to only make noise when there is an alert. We get an amber light during a "watch" event.
Our iPhones (AT&T) are set to alert on disaster/weather events. We have turned off the amber alerts.
We did get a tornado warning on the iPhone while parked at a Texas DOT rest area between Waco and Fort Worth. I think the phone was in "Do Not Disturb" mode and I don't recall that I had done anything special to get alerts.
I recently added the Code Red app to the phone to get emergency alerts. Our county began using Code Red for county alerts. The Code Red app allows some customization of alerts. Also, it provides a way to see all the alerts in the lower 48.
I have a Midland W300 that we don't use still in the box in new condition anyone interested in purchasing at a good price +shipping pm me.
Roland
A pair of GMRS two way radios are a good choice for any RV. We use ours for backing into campsites, toad to RV communication if doing a area reconnoiter, etc, etc. They also have all the NOAA weather channels built in. NOAA constantly transmits weather on at least one of the weather channels in your area.
Do the research as some have more of a learning curve to operate, have longer range, etc. Models that come with a charge station have an advantage as you never have dead batteries when you need the radio most.
Here are a wide choice with reviews at Amazon.com: Amazon.com: gmrs radios (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Agmrs+radios&keywords=gmrs+radios&ie=UTF8&qid=1451413526)
Pierce