Kate Bauer wrote: > > Jackie recently mentioned her weather radio, which contains an "alert" > beeper. I'm in the market for a radio and would appreciate hearing what > folks recommend (also the best sources). As most of my paddling will be > considerably inland, I unfortunately won't get to take advantage of the VHF > systems. > What sort of range do the small handheld weather radios have? Your question sort of generated a mini-FAQ (I'm an academic -- hard to shut me up!): 1. RANGE: For inland use, the range will be highly variable -- more a function of terrain -- intervening hills, etc. The weather channels are in the same general frequency range as marine VHF, so their reception is limited essentially to line-of-sight. OTOH, on the *open* coast (no tall intervening headlands), the range for the little "weather radios" is mainly a function of the location of the transmitter -- I've gotten usable reception from a transmitter over 50 miles away -- but more typical is maybe 25 - 30 miles, for the units you describe. 2. WHY a WEATHER RADIO?: A handheld *marine VHF transceiver* will generally have better specs -- and I've received weather routinely on 21B in Canada (same as WX 4) at a range of 50 miles from a well-placed transmitter, as well as on the other "weather" channels. Considering the relatively low cost of simple marine VHF transceivers, the lack of a license fee (in the US), and the ability to transmit a Mayday call in an emergency, I think a handheld VHF is the best investment. If you plan use it in International waters (including Canadian), licensing is required. In either event, knowledge and practice in correct radio use is mandatory (my strong opinion). 3. HOW GOOD IS THE INFORMATION?: Depends on how detailed you need it to be. A. Re: fronts: I have 25 plus years of experience living on the coast of Oregon, and 3 seasons yakking on the coast of Vancouver Island, BC (including a week in the Charlottes). During that time I think I've been made aware of rapidly moving incoming fronts *which actually materialized in the general time frame the weather people said they would* maybe a half-dozen or a dozen times. I do not think the information and/or models the weather folks have available (for the *West Coast* of North America, anyway) is accurate enough to use as your *sole* source of weather info. (Not enough observers or instruments out west of the coast.) In the Charlottes, for example, fronts arrived 12 - 18 hours later than predicted, and were typically much less intense (leser winds) than predicted. I believe the weather folks consciously err on the dramatic side to avoid missing a possibly dangerous front -- a wise policy, I suspect! B. OTOH, the info on the *generalized weather pattern* is VERY good, in my experience, and can help you select good windows for long crossings or "going outside." I'm not knocking the weather services or their staff -- I just think we expect too much from them -- predicting the sort of detailed weather we would like is very difficult. 4. BOTTOM LINE: The range of the weather radio is probably not the "weak link" in the system -- it's probably the "quality" of the information -- in the Pacific Northwest, anyway. YMMV in other parts of the globe ... -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sat Feb 28 1998 - 16:58:46 PST
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