NOAA wather radio comes to White County

BY DALE ELLIS    10/26/2001

Managing Editor

                    Dedication
White County Judge Bob Parish

White County citizens now have an extra measure of protection when severe weather threatens. County officials, along with the National Weather Service, recently completed installation of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) transmitter, located on Russell Mountain Road in the north part of the county.

The transmitter broadcasts continuous weather information 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week, including immediate and long-range forecasts for the area, as well as temperatures and weather conditions from around the state. Weather condition information is updated hourly, and in the event of severe weather, the National Weather Service office in Little Rock sends out the appropriate bulletins and alerts.

The local transmitter, which broadcasts on a frequency of 162.4000 megahertz, can be picked with a radio specially tuned to the NWS frequencies.

A recent development in weather radio technology is what is known as Specific Area Message Encoding (S.A.M.E.) technology, which triggers an alert to radios tuned with a six-digit FIPS code, which identifies the state and county the radio is intended to receive warnings for.

Older model radios or those with out S.A.M.E. technology will receive any warnings they are in range to pick up, whether that specific area is affected or not.

A Wal-Mart spokesperson said the local store stocks three different radios, ranging in price from $16 to $35. The spokesperson said none of the radios incorporate S.A.M.E. technology.

Radio Shack, located on East Race in Searcy, stocks six different models which range from $30 to $80. under the Radio Shack label, including one handheld with S.A.M.E. technology. In all, four models incorporate the newer technology, while two are of the older style. One even features a clock that sets itself with the U.S. government's atomic clock via radio signals from WWV, the government's time station. Two models feature an external antennae connection for even greater range.

"I'm glad they got the tower up and running," said showroom manager Margie Altom. "We've sold a lot of these radios that people have returned because they couldn't get a signal here. Now they can."

Altom said interest in the radios has been high, especially during severe weather season.

"In the spring, people were buying them left and right," she said. The biggest sellers she said are the models with S.A.M.E. technology.

White County Judge Bob Parish said he was happy to get the system on line. It has been in planning and construction for nearly two years, according to T.L. Farrow, an engineer with the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth. White County became actively involved in its part to bring the service to the area earlier this year.

Parish, who has a weather radio in his office at the county courthouse, said the system works well. An alert was triggered by severe weather Wednesday as a cold front moved through the state and Parish said the transmitter worked exactly as it was designed to work.

"I highly encourage all schools, hospitals, and larger factories to put a receiver in their office," said the judge. "That way, when the National Weather Service triggers and alert they can notify their people."

Parish noted that, although several areas have severe weather sirens that sound when the area is threatened, not everyone in the county is in earshot of a siren. Until the NOAA transmitter came on line late last month, many people would have no warning of impending disaster.

"I think this is a great plus for everyone in the rural areas who can't hear the sirens," he said. "If people will get a NOAA radio and set it up, they will have something to alert them in times of severe weather. It's like having your own personal weather siren."

The transmitter was paid for partially with capital improvement funds from White County and partially with left over grant money from previous disasters in the county.

The weather transmitter is set up next to a radio transmitter tower that belongs to local radio station KABK-FM. Owner Ken Madden said the county agreed to maintain the site in exchange for being allowed to locate the transmitter and place an antennae on the radio station's tower.

The county also built a security fence around the transmitter site.

Parish said he would like the county to one day have its own towers, but for now the arrangement with KABK works well. Madden credited former owner Ron Davis with laying the groundwork for the transmitter to be located at the site.

"Ron owned the site when all of this first came about," Madden said. "We're just happy to be in a position to help the county residents in this way."

Farrow said the transmitter is located at an elevation of 704 feet above sea level, and the antennae is placed 150 feet up the tower. He said a 30 day test period of the transmitter is scheduled to end November 11.

"It is in a completely operational status now," Farrow said, "but we have to run the test period to make sure everything is operating properly and the station is not interfering with any other transmitters."

He said the $80,000, 1000 watt transmitter is designed to cover a 40 mile radius, which includes all of White county and portions of Stone, Independence, Woodruff and Cleburne counties.

"That depends on the terrain though," Farrow noted. "The mountain ridge to the northwest blocks the signal and holds it down to about 30 miles probably, but it gets out about 50 miles to the southwest where the terrain flattens out. It covers a pretty wide area."

Farrell said the goal of the National Weather Service is to achieve 100 percent population coverage, a difficult task due to the type of terrain found in Arkansas.

"We currently have about 92 percent of the population covered and our signal reaches 80 to 85 percent of the area of the state," he said.

"This is a good buy for the county," Parish said. "This will save lives out here in the rural areas, and you just can't put a price tag on that."

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