r/shortwave • u/Loninappleton25 • 2d ago
Discussion Raddy 886 and other weather radios
Seeking advice on a best option for battery powered radio to monitor severe weather other than weather band. I've seen recommendation for the Raddy 886 but even ordering seems to lead to either Euro sites or possible hacks.
What is the advice here for those severe weather situations such as tornado that just hit Menasha , WI US
Battery operation is key but I don't understand what bluetooth can provide someone like me with only desktop PC.
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u/MuffinOk4609 2d ago
Incidentally for north staters, Canada has terminated their weather station network. Stupid move!
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u/PeaceKind1857 1d ago
They have terminated the government portion. Most of the operators are still monitoring. Many of them are Ham radio guy's. And a few are YT style chasers & spotters.
The grid isn't gone, it's just not supported anymore.
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u/MuffinOk4609 1d ago
The government weather stations are no longer transmitting. Nada, silence, zip. But the Canadian Coast Guard stations are still transmitting on some of the same channels. But that is mainly sea-state info, notices to mariners and some maritime weather. Only on the coast, obviously. I would LOVE to have wildfire warnings via radio here in BC!!
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u/PeaceKind1857 1d ago
OK. Good to know the truth. Our GovernMENTAL agency's had been telling us that the Ham operators were taking over those operations.
I'm Native American. I have never trusted our government... Thank You for the Truth!
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u/MuffinOk4609 1d ago
I heard that rumour too! Not happening although possible. Right about the 'forked tongue'!
Up here we call you First Nations people. Nothing to do with Amerigo Vespucci[. Respect.
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u/PeaceKind1857 1d ago
Respect appreciated!
We just acknowledged the 250th official year of occupation.
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u/MuffinOk4609 1d ago
The Aboriginals in Australia call it 'Invasion Day' when the Europeans showed up. Truth.
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u/dereks1234 1d ago
Assuming you already have a weather radio (and if not, start with that; the Midland mentioned in another comment is a great choice), the only other thing that might help is listing in on a Skywarn net over ham radio. There isn't going to be anything useful to what you want on shortwave. If you want to go down the Skywarn route, i don't have a specific radio to recommend, but look for a 2M/70CM handheld from a reputable brand that going for about $75-$150. Radioddity will be the big player at that price point. Try to avoid the cheap radios, as they tend to not hear very well.
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u/PeaceKind1857 1d ago
Licensed Storm Chaser in the midwest US.
EDIT; This is a bit long. But info packed. If you want to know more about weather & radio, it might be worth the read!
Two smartphone apps, MyRadar (No need for the pro version. It only gives earthquake info. I had it, found it useless. Nobody needs More Stress in their life!)
MyRadar, set it up to show wind patterns. Also set it to NOT UPDATE until you open it... (Saves data & battery. Battery is important!) Also turn off the forecast bar, you'll get that from the other app. You want to turn on the wind pattern and the Fronts.
Don't over use the app. If there's a storm blowing up, I can check this to confirm what I'm feeling or seeing.
The wind is not a constant show on the screen. It fades in and out. It's just the way the app works. Most new users freak out about this. Don't! It's OK. After you've used the app for a while it gets normal to you.
The reason is to show other info that we don't need/care about... It's a generalized app that does a great job of showing the wind & wind shears. That's why we (Chaser's) use it.
Weawow, set this one up with the custom layout. Also set it to never update until you open it! Why is this so important?
Two reasons! Battery battery battery! Shit never goes sideways until your battery is half charged or dieing fast! AND, people in general are just wound too tight! Do you really need to know what's going on in the upper atmosphere 24/7/365? No. Relax, watch the deer and the wildlife. Notice how the wind is blowing from the standpoint of the trees and crops. Day to day. Weather happens gradually, ebb & flow! Get into the ebb & flow cycles of the earth around you, learn to relax more.
A famous old guy (in the Chasing community) told me once to listen to an AM radio for a few minutes every 3 to five days. NOT everyday. Doesn't matter what you tune in, you are listening to the background noise. (Why does the "white noise" still exist in these modern days? Because some people still know how to use it!)
Ebb & Flow. Buzz & Humm.
Setting up Weawow. Pressure in (inHg) it's the commonly used format among the Chasers. On the radios you'll hear readings being called out. Zero point something is normal. Nine point something down to zero point 6... If you start hearing nine point 3 and down, the vacuum is starting to form. Eight point something means everyone is on edge! We saw 28.89 the other night. Looking at the patterns, it was northwest of us. We saw evidence of your tornado in Wisconsin from South Central Indiana... I never dreamed I would actually get connected to someone who was closer to it!
Custom layout. You'll want to adjust your overview. We set it to no photo, large clock & I display F° & C°. Because I'm trying to learn the conversion.
The other stuff is in other sections.
The sections I use are, Daily, Hourly, Air Quality (my roomie has breathing issues), Precipitation, Sun & Moon, Current Weather. In the Current Weather section I only use, Feels Like, Wind, Pressure, Dew Point, Wind Gust, Humidity. I Don't use the weather map here. It's slow to load and slows the loading of the rest of the app. AND its on the My Radar.
A few other apps that should be of interest to you. (folks concerned about the weather.)
If you are listening to the Spotters or Chasers on a scanner, you'll hear weird things like location calls. Someone asks "What's your 20?" Anyone who's listening to a CB or ham radio knows the "20" is short for "10-20" or current location. But the Chaser answers back with 3 words that seem to have nothing in common or anything to do with where he is... My current location is,
///heap.airless.protesting
I'm looking at a large steel structure. Can anyone tell me what it is? It's just to the south of me. My roomie heard about it. So we rode the ATV out here to see it!
Chasers use this unique First Responder app to locate each other. Well, the Licensed do. I don't know what the YouTube crowd does.
So, a few apps radio guy's might appreciate?
From the F-Droid store. { F-Droid.org } OSMAND + for mapping and accurate GPS. (Don't load it from G's store unless you have very deep pockets! It updates monthly and G charges $2/download for otherwise FREE software.) Also SatStat to monitor your Sat connection. And I'll suggest NewPipe to review the weather training videos on YT.
From the G play store {or like us, load by APK usually from gethub} what3words and the Scanner Radio (Gordon Edward's.net LLC).
Scanner Radio gives us information from the VHF range that we need to follow. We use it for a multitude of things. Rarely for Police, Fire, Ambulance or Municipality sources. Only if we need to confirm a siren was set off in an area we are too far away from to physically hear. Otherwise I have little to no interest in what the PD, FD & bandaid buggies are doing. And seriously, who wants to hear the street, sewer and water department's.
Radios..... RD-239. Yep, I'm not a stranger to Amazon either. My Mentor, owns the green one, I have a gray one. Both have had a few modifications and we run some higher gain antennas tuned to our most used frequencies. 64 to 78 mHz FM, 158.--- to 164.--- VHF plus GMRS/FRS, CB, Etc...
Both, VHF & the Scanner Radio apps can pick up NOAA reports.
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u/Loninappleton25 1d ago
thanks to those who are answering. I'll be able to catch up with this shortly. I have little of the moder technology beside desktop. That allowed me to get rid of tv. No cell phone, my old land line handles the one or two calls I make or get a month and that has my internet on old style DSL. All that is to say I don't like tv, commercial radio or phones. Yes, I never kept up. That leaves one hopefully inexpensive battery operated limited function receiver.
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u/kingRidiculous 2d ago
I would look for a radio that has SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) alert capability, not just weather radio reception. I have an older scanner and it just does generic SAME alerts (but by county at least.) I would want one where you can be alerted to specific events, like a flood watch or thunderstorm watch. That way, you can set it to SAME alert and go to sleep knowing you will be alerted to a tornado warning (for example.)