Radio Shack 12-250 User manual

Cat. No. 12-250
OWNER’S MANUAL
Please read before using this equipment.
7 Channel WRSAME
Weatheradio®with Alert

2
©1999 Tandy Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.
RadioShack, Plug ’n Power, and Weatheradio are registered
trademarks used by Tandy Corporation.
X-10 is a registered trademark of X-10 (USA) Inc.
WARNING:To reduce the risk of fire or shock
hazard, do not expose this product to rain or
moisture.
CAUTION
RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK.
DO NOT OPEN.
CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF
ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE
COVER OR BACK. NO USER-SERVICE-
ABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING
TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL.
This symbol is intended to alert
you to the presence of uninsu-
lated dangerous voltage within
the product’s enclosure that might
be of sufficient magnitude to con-
stitute a risk of electric shock. Do
not open the product’s case.
This symbol is intended to inform
you that important operating and
maintenance instructions are
included in the literature accom-
panying this product.
!
!

3
DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY
This device complies with Part 15 of the
FCC Rules
.
Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
(1) this device may not cause harmful interference,
and (2) this device must accept any interference re-
ceived, including interference that may cause undes-
ired operation.
This equipment has been tested and found to comply
with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to
Part 15 of the
FCC Rules
. These limits are designed
to provide reasonable protection against harmful in-
terference in a residential installation. This equipment
generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency en-
ergy and, if not installed and used in accordance with
the instructions, may cause harmful interference to
radio communications.
Product: 7 Channel WRSAME
Weatheradio with Alert
Model: 12-250
Responsible Party: RadioShack
100 Throckmorton
Fort Worth, TX 76102
Phone: [phone]

4
However, there is no guarantee that interference will
not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment
does cause harmful interference to radio or television
reception, which can be determined by turning the
equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to
correct the interference by one or more of the follow-
ing measures:
• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
• Increase the separation between the equipment
and receiver.
• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit
different from that to which the receiver is con-
nected.
• Consult your local RadioShack store or an expe-
rienced radio/TV technician for help.
Changes or modifications not expressly approved by
RadioShack may cause interference and void the us-
er’s authority to operate the equipment.

5
FEATURES
Your RadioShack 7 Channel WRSAME Weatheradio
is the next generation of weather alert technology.
Your Weatheradio uses SAME (Specific Area Mes-
sage Encoding) circuitry to provide more complete in-
formation about weather conditions in your immediate
area, letting you avoid hearing alerts for geographical
areas that do not interest you.
Your Weatheradio’s features include:
SAME Operation — lets you program up to 15 differ-
ent geographical codes into the Weatheradio’s mem-
ory, so the Weatheradio sounds an alert only when a
weather emergency is declared in any of those loca-
tions.
7 Weather Channels — let you select the frequency
for your local National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration (NOAA) weather broadcasts.
Selectable Alert Function — lets you set the Weath-
eradio so it sounds an alert when it receives a weath-
er emergency broadcast from NOAA. You can also
set the Weatheradio so it does not alert you when it
receives some types of warnings.
8-Character Liquid Crystal Display — the Weath-
eradio’s large, easy-to-read display clearly shows a
description of the type of alert in progress (such as a
tornado warning, flood watch, and so on).
Alert Status Indicators — help you determine at a
glance the type of alert the Weatheradio is receiving.

6
Adjustable Display Backlight — helps you read the
display in low light situations. You can set the light to
turn on for about 10 seconds when you press a key,
or remain on until you turn it off.
Alert Volume Control — lets you adjust the volume
of an alert so you will be sure to hear it.
External Alert Terminals — let you connect an ex-
ternal controller system (such as a Plug ’n Poweror
X-10system) to the Weatheradio, then set that sys-
tem to indicate an alert based on signals received by
the Weatheradio. This lets you hear or see the alert in
a location (such as the garage) that might be some
distance from where you installed the Weatheradio.
External Antenna Connector — lets you connect an
optional external antenna to the Weatheradio to im-
prove reception in remote areas.
We recommend you record your Weatheradio’s serial
number here. The number is on the bottom of the ra-
dio.
Serial Number:

7
CONTENTS
How Your Radio Works .................................................... 8
When a Weather Alert Occurs ...................................... 9
New Alert Types ..................................................... 10
NWS Weather Alert Descriptions ................................ 10
Understanding FIPS Codes ........................................ 17
Obtaining Your Area’s FIPS Code(s) ...................... 18
Preparation ..................................................................... 19
Powering the Weatheradio .......................................... 19
Connecting the Weatheradio to AC Power ............. 20
Installing the Backup Battery ................................. 21
Using the Built-In Antenna .......................................... 22
Choosing a Location and Mounting the Weatheradio . 23
Connecting the Weatheradio to an External System .. 25
Programming the Weatheradio ................................... 26
Testing the Weatheradio ............................................. 31
Manually Testing the Alert Tone ............................. 32
Testing the Alert Siren/Display ............................... 33
Operation ........................................................................ 35
Listening to a Weather Broadcast ............................... 35
Using the Alert Function ............................................. 36
Setting the Alert Volume ........................................ 37
Changing/Checking the Alert Pattern .................... 37
Enabling/Disabling Alert Tones .............................. 39
Using the Weatheradio’s ‘All Signals’ Code ........... 41
Reviewing Overlapping Alerts ................................ 42
When a Test or Demo Alert Occurs ....................... 43
Using the Backlight ..................................................... 44
Troubleshooting ............................................................ 45
Care and Maintenance ................................................... 48
The FCC Wants You to Know ...................................... 49
Specifications ................................................................ 50

8
HOW YOUR RADIO WORKS
Traditional weather radios simply receive NOAA’s
weather broadcast (usually within a 50-mile radius)
then sound an alarm if any emergency code 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 warn-
ings that can save lives.
In 1994, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration (NOAA) began broadcasting coded sig-
nals called FIPS (Federal Information Processing
System) codes along with their standard weather
broadcasts from stations in your area. These codes
identify the type of emergency and the specific geo-
graphic area (such as a county) affected by the emer-
gency. Your Weatheradio receives, interprets, and
displays information about the codes so you can de-
termine if the emergency might affect your area. Only
SAME-compatible weather radios (such as this
Weatheradio) 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
Weatheradio sounds an alert only when a weather
emergency is declared in that area. This helps you
more efficiently track the weather conditions in and
around your area.

9
WHEN A WEATHER ALERT
OCCURS
When the Weatheradio receives a weather alert:
• it sounds an alert (siren or beep)
• a description of the alert appears
• an indicator on the front of the Weatheradio lights
Note: If the Weatheradio receives more than one
weather alert at the same time, it displays information
about each alert.
The alert descriptions your Weatheradio can display
are based on a list of specific weather alert types pub-
lished by the NWS. For a list of all the alert descrip-
tions that your Weatheradio can display, see “NWS
Weather Alert Descriptions” on Page 10.
Caution: The NWS uses sophisticated weather mod-
els to determine an alert’s effective time. However,
the end of an alert does not necessarily mean that the
related weather emergency is over.

10
New Alert Types
Your Weatheradio is designed to recognize all com-
mon weather alert types currently used by the NWS.
However, the NWS occasionally creates and broad-
casts
new
alert types (for which the Weatheradio’s
memory does not contain a specific, corresponding
description). If your Weatheradio receives a signal for
a new alert type, it is preset (if the alert function is
turned on) to display UNKNOWN, the alert description
(EMERGENC, STATEMNT, WARNING, or WATCH),
and
TUNE TV, then sound a siren alert.
NWS WEATHER ALERT
DESCRIPTIONS
Your Weatheradio can display these NWS weather
alert descriptions. For easy reference, this list also
shows the type of alert (siren or beep) that sounds
during each alert.
Weather/Alert
Description You See You
Hear
Avalanche warning AVALANCH
WARNING Siren
Avalanche watch AVALANCH
WATCH Siren

11
Blizzard warning BLIZZARD
WARNING Siren
Civil danger warning CIVIL
DANGER
WARNING
Siren
Civil danger watch CIVIL
DANGER
WATCH
Siren
Civil emergency — turn
on the TV for information
or, if no information is
available on TV, call your
local NWS office
TUNE TV Siren
Note: TUNE TV might also indicate the Weatheradio
has received a signal for a condition not defined in the
Weatheradio’s memory (see “Testing the Alert Siren/
Display” on Page 33).
Coastal flood
warning COASTAL
FLOOD
WARNING
Siren
Coastal flood
watch COASTAL
FLOOD
WATCH
Siren
Weather/Alert
Description You See You
Hear

12
Emergency action
warning EMERGENC
ACTION
WARNING
Siren
Emergency action
termination EMERGENC
ACTION
TERMINAT
Beeps
Evacuate
immediately EVACUATE
IMMEDIAT Siren
Fire warning FIRE
WARNING Siren
Flash flood statement FLASH
FLOOD Beeps
Flash flood warning FLASH
FLOOD
WARNING
Siren
Flash flood watch FLASH
FLOOD
WATCH
Siren
Flood statement FLOOD Beeps
Flood warning FLOOD
WARNING Siren
Flood watch FLOOD
WATCH Siren
Weather/Alert
Description You See You
Hear

13
Hazardous material
warning HAZARD
MATERIAL
WARNING
Siren
Hazardous material
watch HAZARD
MATERIAL
WATCH
Siren
High wind warning HIGH
WIND
WARNING
Siren
High wind watch HIGH
WIND
WATCH
Siren
Hurricane statement HURRICAN Beeps
Hurricane warning HURRICAN
WARNING Siren
Hurricane watch HURRICAN
WATCH Siren
Immediate evacuation
warning IMMEDIAT
EVACUATE
WARNING
Siren
Law enforcement
warning LAW
ENFORCE
WARNING
Siren
Weather/Alert
Description You See You
Hear

14
Local area emergency LOCAL
AREA
EMERGENC
Siren
National information
center NATIONAL
INFO
CENTER
Siren
Periodic national test NATIONAL
PERIODIC
TEST
Beeps
Practice/Demo DEMO
MESSAGE Nothing
Radiological hazard
warning RADIOLOG
HAZARD
WARNING
Siren
Radiological hazard
watch RADIOLOG
HAZARD
WATCH
Siren
Required monthly test MONTHLY
TEST Beeps
Required weekly test WEEKLY
TEST Beeps
Severe thunderstorm
warning SEVERE
THUNDER
WARNING
Siren
Weather/Alert
Description You See You
Hear

15
Severe thunderstorm
watch SEVERE
THUNDER
WATCH
Siren
Severe weather
statement SEVERE
WEATHER Beeps
Shelter in-place warning SHELTER
IN-PLACE
WARNING
Siren
Special marine
warning SPECIAL
MARINE
WARNING
Siren
Special weather
statement SPECIAL
WEATHER Beeps
Test message TEST
MESSAGE Nothing
Tornado warning TORNADO
WARNING Siren
Tornado watch TORNADO
WATCH Siren
Tsunami warning TSUNAMI
WARNING Siren
Tsunami watch TSUNAMI
WATCH Siren
Weather/Alert
Description You See You
Hear

16
Unrecognized code
ending in S UNKNOWN
STATEMNT
TUNE TV
Siren
Unrecognized code
ending in W UNKNOWN
WARNING
TUNE TV
Siren
Unrecognized code
ending in A UNKNOWN
WATCH
TUNE TV
Siren
Unrecognized code
ending in E UNKNOWN
ENERGENC
TUNE TV
Siren
Volcano warning VOLCANO
WARNING Siren
Volcano watch VOLCANO
WATCH Siren
Winter storm warning WINTER
STORM
WARNING
Siren
Winter storm watch WINTER
STORM
WATCH
Siren
Weather/Alert
Description You See You
Hear

17
Note: An authorized service center can add memory
for up to 5 additional weather/alert descriptions to
your Weatheradio’s memory. Contact your local Ra-
dioShack store for more information.
UNDERSTANDING FIPS CODES
For the purpose of broadcasting weather information,
the NWS has divided the United States into regions
by state and county (or parish, where applicable) then
assigned a 6-digit FIPS code to identify each county
or parish. For example, the code for Tarrant County,
Texas, is 048439.
The first digit in a FIPS
code identifies the
county subdivision, the
next two digits identify
the state, and the last
three digits identify the
county or parish.
Note: Most FIPS codes begin with 0, which means
the code represents an entire county. The NWS, how-
ever, plans to eventually subdivide some large coun-
ties. When that happens, each subdivision will be
assigned a digit from 1–9, resulting in codes such as
148439, 248439, and so on.
Your Weatheradio can receive all SAME alert signals
broadcast within about a 50-mile radius of where you
installed it. To receive SAME alerts and broadcasts
048439
State
County Subdivision
County/
Parish

18
about weather occurring only in particular counties
within that area, you can program up to 15 FIPS
codes into the Weatheradio’s memory. For example,
this lets you avoid hearing an alert that applies to an
area within a 50-mile radius but not necessarily to
your county or parish.
Obtaining Your Area’s FIPS Code(s)
To obtain the FIPS code for the location where you in-
stalled your Weatheradio, contact your local Ra-
dioShack store or call the NWS toll free at 1-888-
NWR-SAME (1-888-697-7263). If you call the NWS,
follow the instructions you hear.
Note: If you are close to a county or parish line, you
might want to obtain the codes for the nearby coun-
ties or parishes.
Hint: Since you can program up to 15 FIPS codes
into the Weatheradio’s memory, you might want to
obtain the codes for other local areas that you fre-
quently travel through (as long as those areas are
within a 50 mile radius of your location and within an
area covered by your local NWS broadcast station).
That way, you can program those codes into the
Weatheradio and receive broadcasts covering those
locations, too.

19
PREPARATION
POWERING THE WEATHERADIO
Your Weatheradio uses standard AC power for nor-
mal operation and one 9V battery (not supplied) for
backup power when AC power fails or is temporarily
disconnected. For the best performance and longest
life, we recommend a RadioShack alkaline battery.
Cautions:
• Use only a fresh battery of the required size and
recommended type.
• Do not use a rechargeable battery in your Weath-
eradio.
Notes:
• A fresh backup battery will power the Weathera-
dio for up to 1 hour with the weather broadcast
turned on, or up to 8 hours in alert standby mode
(see “Using the Alert Function” on Page 36).
However, we recommend you always connect the
Weatheradio to AC power for normal use.
• If the backup battery becomes weak, your
Weatheradio might not sound a tone when an
emergency or test alert is broadcast. Test your
radio's reception periodically (see “Testing the
Weatheradio” on Page 31), and replace the bat-
tery if the tone does not sound.

20
Connecting the Weatheradio to
AC Power
1. If the Weatheradio’s display is on, rotate VOLUME
to the right until it clicks to turn off the Weathera-
dio.
2. Plug the Weatheradio’s power cord into a stan-
dard AC outlet.
Caution: Your Weatheradio’s power cord has a
polarized plug (one blade is wider than the
other). If you have difficulty inserting the plug into
the outlet, do not force it! Turn the plug over and
try again.