Uniden WX100 English Owners Manual - Page 4

INTRODUCTION About Your Radio Traditional weather radios receive NOAA's weather broadcast (usually within a 50-mile radius) then sound an alarm of any emergency code which was transmitted along with the broadcast. This means that people who live outside an affected area are often alerted even when their area is not affected, causing many of them to ignore potentially real weather warnings that can save lives. In 1994, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began broadcasting coded signals called FIPS (Federal Information Processing System) codes along with their standard weather broadcasts from stations in your area. These codes identify an emergency and the specific geographic area (such as a county) affected by the emergency. The WX100 was developed with the S.A.M.E. (Specific Area Message Encoding) technology. This allows your radio to receive, interpret, and display the information about the codes so you can determine if the emergency might affect your area. Only S.A.M.E. compatible weather radios are able to take advantage of this new technology. Each FIPS code identifies a specific geographic area (defined by the National Weather Service), so your radio sounds an alert only when a weather emergency is declared in those locations. This helps you more efficiently track the weather conditions in and around your area. Your new radio is equipped with the following features: s PLL Control 7 Preprogrammed Weather Channels s Programmable Weather Alert with S.A.M.E. Technology s Liquid Crystal Display for Alert Description s Alert Type Indicators s Broadcast Volume Control s Alarm Clock s Backlight Display s External Antenna Connector s External Speaker Connector s External Alert System Terminals 1