Radio Shack 12-259 User Manual

www.radioshack.com

OWNER’S MANUAL —
Please read before using this equipment.

Thank you for buying the
RadioShack Portable
Handheld NWR-Same
Weatheradio
Specific Area Message
Encoding (SAME) circuitry to
provide more complete
information about weather
conditions in your immediate
area, letting you avoid hearing
alerts for geographical areas
that do not interest you. There
are 10 location codes that can
be programmed for multiple
location warnings. The
warnings are indicated by

WARNING, STATEMENT, and
WATCH.



. It uses

SM

DC 6V Jack

Portable Handheld

NWR-SAME

Weatheradio

TR/HM — Select
data receive
modes: travel or
home.

— On/Off

º



12-259

IMPORTANT

If an icon appears at the end of a paragraph, go to the box on that page with the

!

corresponding icon for pertinent information.

© 2003 RadioShack Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

RadioShack and RadioShack.com are trademarks

used by RadioShackCorporation.

!

Ô — Note

How Your Weatheradio‚ Works

CONTENTS

How Your Weatheradio

Works ............................... 2

Preparation ....................... 3

Installing Batteries ........ 3

Using AC Power ........... 4

Power Up Reset ........... 4

Turning Power

On and Off .................... 5

Attaching the Belt Clip .. 5
Programming the

Weatheradio ............... ...... 6

Setting the Alarm .......... 7

Setting the Clock .......... 8

Selecting Temperature

Display Mode ................ 8

Selecting a Channel ..... 9

Selecting Alert Mode .. 10

Enabling/Disabling Missed

Alert Reminder ............ 11

Enabling/Disabling Signal

Loss Reminder ........... 13

Understanding the FIPS

Code .................. ......... 13

Response Location

Selection ................. .... 15

Enabling/Disabling Alert

Tones .......................... 17

Receiving Weather Alerts 20

Viewing Signal

Strength ...................... 21

Locking Key ................ 21

Selecting Travel

/Home Mode ............... 21

Troubleshooting ............. 23

FCC Declaration of

Conformity ............. ......... 25

The FCC Wants

You to Know ................... 25

Care ............................... 27

Specifications ................. 27

HOW YOUR
WEATHERADIO
WORKS

Traditional weather radios simply
receive the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
weather broadcast (usually within a 50­mile radius), then s ound an al arm if any
emergency code w as trans mitted along
with the broadcast. This means that
people outside an affected area are
often alerted even though their area is
not affected, leading some to ignore
weather warnings that apply to their
own area.

In 1994, NOAA began broadcasting
signals called FIPS (Federal
Information Processing System) codes
along with their standard weather
broadcasts. These codes identify the
type of emergency and the specific
geographic (such as a country)
information about the codes, so you
can determine if the emergency mig ht
affect your area. Only SAME­compatible weather radios are able to
take advantage of this technology.

Each FIPS code identifies a specific
geographic area defined by the
National Weather Service (NWS), so

2

your Weatheradio sounds an alert

•

e

only when a weather emergency is
declared in that area. This helps you
more efficiently track the weather
conditions in and around your area.

PREPARATION

INSTALLING BATTERIES

1. Pull down the latch on the battery
compartment cover and then
remove the cover.

2. Install three AA batteries (not
supplied) as indicated by the
polarity symbols (+ and –) marked
inside.Ô.

3. Replace and secure the cover.

Full battery power is indicated on the
display as
weak,
are not allowed until you replace the
batteries. Ô

j. When battery power is

² appears. Further operations

Ô BATTERY NOTES Ô

• Dispose of old batteries
promptly and properly.

• Do not burn or bury
batteries.

• Use only fresh batteries of
the required size and
recommended type.

• Do not mix old and new
batteries, different types
of batteries (standard,
alkaline, or rechargeable),
or rechargeable batteries
of different capacities.

• If you do not plan to use
the weatheradio for a
month or mor e, remove
the batteries. Batteries
can leak chemicals that
can damage electronic
parts.

Ô NOTE Ô

Be sure to turn off th
power first and then
replace the batteries
in less than 1 minute
as to keep the set
clock time. If it takes
more than 1 minute
to replace, the clock
time may be reset.

Preparation

3

Preparation

Ô NOTE Ô

The backlight is on
when receiving an alert
message, or for any key
operation.

USING AC POWER

Your Weatheradio can also use 6V,
300mA AC/DC adapter with plug size H
(not supplied) for normal operation.
With AC connected, normal operation
is allowed even if there are batteries in
unit.

1. Open the rubber DC 6V jack cover.

2. Insert the AC/DC adapter’s barrel
plug into
the adapter into a standard AC
outlet.

DC 6V jack. Then plug

POWER UP RESET

When powered on for the first ti me after
installing batteries, all LCD segments
turn on for one second. The device
starts to search for the best (strongest)
weather channel. Reset the
Weatheradio
following the steps below.Ô

1. Remove the batteries and/or
disconnect AC power.



to default settings by

2. Hold down
batteries or reconnect to AC
power. Hold down WX until USER

SETUP

sounds.

4

WX and re-inser t

appears and a short beep

3. Release WX and press MENU.

DEFAULT ON appears briefly, and

USER SETUP appears.

then

4. Remove batteries and/or
disconnect AC power. Reinsert to
begin use.

TURNING POWER

N AND OFF

O

Press and hold down G for two
seconds to turn the Weatheradio
and off. Ô



on

ADJUSTING VOICE AND
T

ONE VOLUME

1. Press WX to turn on broadcast.

2. Repeatedly press e or d to adjust
the volume to the desired listening

VOLUME: and the volume level

level.
appear.

Ô NOTE Ô

If power is off, weather
alert messages are not
detected.

Preparation

3. Press

4. Repeatedly press e or d to adjust

WX to turn off the weather

broadcast.

the alert tone volume to the
desired listening level.
and the alert tone level appear.

TONE VOL:

5

ATTACHING THE BELT CLIP

Insert the clip into the hole at the back
of the weatheradio until it clicks. To
remove the belt clip, press the button
on the tip of the clip and pull it out.

ATTACHING THE WRIST
S

TRAP (NOT SUPPLIED)

Slide the wrist strap’s small loop under
the bar at the back of the weatheradio.
Then pull the strap’s larg e loop th rough
the small loop and fasten it.

Ô NOTE Ô

• The weatheradio
does not receive alert
signals during

Programming the Weatheradio‚

programming.

• If you press MENU or
do not press a key for
45 seconds while
programming, the
weatheradio saves
all valid entries you
made and exits
programming mode.

6

PROGRAMMING THE
WEATHERADIO

Your Weatheradio is pre-programmed
with seven NOAA broadcast
frequencies (channel s 1-7). Depending
on your location, you might need to
select a different channel.



Your Weatheradio
any weather alert broadcast within
about a 50 mile radius. The first time
you use your Weatheradio
for the strongest channel and receives
all SAME alert signals broadcast within
a 50 mile radius of its location. Ô

is preset to rece ive





, it scans

1. Press MENU. The following
functions can be set:

SET ALARM SET CLOCK
TEMPERATURE SELECT CH
ALERT MODE ALT REMINDER
SIG REMINDER AREA SELECT
TONE DEFEAT

2. Press e or d to scroll through
functions. Press g to select a
function to modify. Press f to go
back to the previous mode or to
exit.

SETTING THE ALARM

1. Press MENU. Then press e and d
until

SET ALARM appears.

2. Press g. É and alarm tim e appear.
The first time you activate the
alarm, the alarm time shows 12:00

AM

. Ô

3. Press g. The hour digits flash.
Repeatedly press e or d to set the
desired hour.

4. Press g. The minute digits flash.
Repeatedly press e or d to set the
desired min utes.

Ô NOTE Ô

• Repeatedly press e
or d to enable or
disable the alarm.
The alarm is enabled
with

É on and

disabled with

flashing.

É

Programming the Weatheradio‚

7

5. Press g. AM or PM flashes.

Repeatedly press e or d to make
your selection.

6. Press g to confirm. One long beep
sounds. Press

MENU to exit.

Ô NOTES Ô

Setting the Alarm

• The alarm duration
is one hour under
standby mode and
is only five seconds
during NWS alert
broadcast.

Setting the Clock

• Hold down MENU
to view the clock
time during NWS
alert broadcast.

Programming the Weatheradio‚

At the set alarm time, the



Weatheradio

generates an alarm.

Press any button to stop the alarm.Ô

SETTING THE CLOCK

1. Press MENU. Then press e or d

SET CLOCK and Ì appear.

until

2. Press g. The hour digits flash.
Press e or d to set the hour.

3. Press g. The minute digits flash.
Repeatedly press e or d to set the
minutes.

4. Press g.
Repeatedly press e or d to
choose the desired format.

5. Press g again to store the time. A
long beep sounds to confirm the
entry.

6. Press

AM or PM flashes.

MENU to exit. Ô

8

SELECTING TEMPERATURE

l

.

ISPLAY MODE

D

1. Press MENU. Then press e or d

TEMPERATURE appears.

until

2. Press g. The current temperature
reading flashes.

3. Press e or d to select the desired
temperature display mode (

°F or

°C).

4. Press g to confirm the setting.
Press

MENU to exit. Ô

SELECTING A CHANNEL

1. Press MENU. Then press e or d

SELECT CH appears.

until

2. Press g. Ô

3. To automatically search for
channels, press g when AUTO
appears.
appear . If there is an ava il abl e
channel, CHANNEL, and the number
of the curre ntly selected channels,
and
available channel,

AVAILABLE

number of the last selected

CHANNEL and SEARCHING …

AVAILABLE appear. If there is no

NO CHANNEL,

, BACK TO CHANNEL, and the

Ô NOTE Ô

Selecting
Temperature
Display Mode

The current temperature
is updated about every
30 seconds.

Selecting a Channe

• If Auto mode was
selected previously,

AUTO appears. If

Manual mode was
selected previously,

MANUAL appears.

• During manual
channel selection,
the weather
broadcast turns on
so that you can verify
a station exists on
the selected channel

• The Weatheradio
automatically
searches for and
tunes to the
strongest weather
broadcast channel in
your area if you
select AUTO.

Programming the Weatheradio‚

9