- DL manuals
- Radio Shack
- Weather Radio
- 12-250
- Owner's Manual
Radio Shack 12-250 Owner's Manual
Summary of 12-250
Page 1
Cat. No. 12-250 owner’s manual please read before using this equipment. 7 channel wrsame weatheradio ® with alert.
Page 2: Warning:
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. Cauti...
Page 3: Declaration Of Conformity
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 ope...
Page 4
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 b...
Page 5: Features
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...
Page 6
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 ...
Page 7: Contents
7 contents how your radio works .................................................... 8 when a weather alert occurs ...................................... 9 new alert types ..................................................... 10 nws weather alert descriptions ................................ 10 unde...
Page 8: How Your Radio Works
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 a...
Page 9: When A Weather Alert
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 inf...
Page 10: New Alert Types
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 weather...
Page 11: Blizzard
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...
Page 12: Emergenc
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 f...
Page 13: Hazard
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 ...
Page 14: Local
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 si...
Page 15: Severe
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 ...
Page 16: Unknown
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 volca...
Page 17: Understanding Fips Codes
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 unite...
Page 18
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 a...
Page 19: Preparation
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. Caution...
Page 20: Ac Power
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...
Page 21: Volume
21 installing the backup battery 1. If the weatheradio’s display is on, rotate volume to the right until it clicks to turn off the weathera- dio. 2. Press the tab on the battery compartment cover then lift up the cover to remove it. 3. Snap a 9v battery onto the battery terminals inside the compartm...
Page 22: Cautions:
22 cautions: • dispose of an old battery promptly and properly. Do not burn or bury it. • always remove an old or weak battery. Batteries can leak chemicals that can destroy electronic parts. Note: replace then battery also appears if no backup battery is installed and the weatheradio is connected t...
Page 23: Ext
23 to connect an external antenna to the weatheradio, connect one end of the adapter cable to ext ant on the back of the weatheradio then connect the other end to the antenna. Choosing a location and mounting the weatheradio you can set your weatheradio on any flat surface (such as a shelf or counte...
Page 24
24 note: make sure the weatheradio is away from ob- structions such as metal cabinets or bookshelves. (higher frequencies are noticeably affected by ob- structions.) do not place the weatheradio near any metal surface such as a refrigerator, a metal door or wall, or a water pipe hidden behind a wall...
Page 25: Connecting
25 3. Align the keyhole slots in the mounting bracket with the screws on the wall. Then press the weatheradio toward the wall then downward to secure it. Connecting the weatheradio to an external system your weatheradio’s alarm out jacks let you con- nect it to an external module interface (plug ’n ...
Page 26: Alarm
26 when the weatheradio’s alert function is turned on and it receives an nws alert broadcast, the weath- eradio sends a 7.5vdc signal to the connected mod- ule interface, and an alert sounds on both the weatheradio and the connected system. To remove the wires you connected to your weath- eradio’s a...
Page 27: Volume
27 your weatheradio is preprogrammed to receive broadcasts for the fips code stored in its first memo- ry location (called single mode), and is prepro- grammed with the seven national noaa broadcast frequencies (channels 1–7). Depending on your loca- tion, you might need to set the weatheradio to it...
Page 28: Weather
28 3. Press weather (if necessary) to turn on the weather broadcast, then rotate volume so you can hear the broadcast as you make your selec- tion. Note: if you do not press a key for about 45 sec- onds during steps 4–8, the weatheradio exits the programming mode and saves only those changes stored ...
Page 29: Single
29 note: if you receive a noaa broadcast on more than one channel, the one with the best reception might not be the one broadcasting information for your location. Contact your local radioshack store or the nws to find out which frequency noaa is using to broadcast from the station nearest your loca...
Page 30: ------
30 or, to add or change a code in a different posi- tion, repeatedly press until you see the first unused memory location or the code you want to change, then press . ------ appears. 9. Use the number keys ( 0 – 9 ) to enter the 6-digit fips code you want to store. Notes: • if you make a mistake whi...
Page 31: Mode
31 descriptions appear (see “nws weather alert descriptions” on page 10). 11. When you finish, set mode to operate . The cur- rent alert status appears (see “using the alert function” on page 36). Testing the weatheradio for your weatheradio to be effective, you must place it where it can receive an...
Page 32: Off
32 manually testing the alert tone to manually test the weatheradio’s alert tone, turn off the weatheradio, hold down off , turn on the weath- eradio by turning volume to the left until it clicks, then release off and press alert . The weatheradio sounds the alert tone. Then, as the tone sounds, wal...
Page 33: Off
33 testing the alert siren/display 1. Turn off the weatheradio. 2. While holding down off , turn volume to the left until it clicks to turn on the weathera- dio. Testmode appears. 3. Press a number key to select the desired setting. The weatheradio tunes to the corresponding channel, and one of the ...
Page 34: Testmode
34 your weatheradio can also perform these test functions while testmode appears: • if you press alert , the weatheradio continu- ously sounds its alert siren. Press alert again to turn off the siren. • if you press yes , statement, watch, and warning light at the same time. • if you press no , stat...
Page 35: Operation
35 operation to turn on the weatheradio, turn volume to the left until it clicks. Weather then alrt (alert) on ap- pears. Note: volume also controls the weatheradio’s audio broadcast volume. To set the alert volume, see “set- ting the alert volume” on page 37. To listen to a weather broadcast, see “...
Page 36: Mode
36 to listen to a weather broadcast, make sure mode is set to oper- ate , press weather , then adjust volume to the desired listening level. To turn off the weather broadcast, press weather again. Using the alert function to set the weatheradio to sound an alert when the nws broad- casts a warning, ...
Page 37: Alert
37 to set the weatheradio so it does not sound an alert, hold down alert for 2 seconds until weather alrt off appears. The weatheradio beeps twice. Setting the alert volume to set your weatheradio’s alert volume, turn on the alert tone (see “manually testing the alert tone” on page 32), then rotate ...
Page 38: (Continuous) Alert
38 (continuous) alert — the weatheradio sounds an alert and displays an alert description until the alert’s effective time expires. To turn off the alert sooner, press off . To turn on the nws voice broadcast, press weather . Note: when the weatheradio’s alert ends or you turn it off, you hear the n...
Page 39: Mode
39 4. Press again to store your selection, then set mode to operate . The current alert status ( weather alrt on or weather alrt off ) appears. Enabling/disabling alert tones you can turn on or off the alert tone for certain weath- er alert types received by your weatheradio. For ex- ample, you can ...
Page 40: Mode
40 follow these steps to enable or disable alert tones. 1. Set mode to program . Note: if you do not press a key for about 45 sec- onds during steps 2–4, the weatheradio exits the programming mode without storing any change. To continue, set mode back to oper- ate , then start over at step 1. Flash ...
Page 41: Select
41 2. When your weatheradio displays weather alert information for an alert type you want to change, press to enable the alert tone (if the tone is not already sounding) or to disable it (if the tone is sounding). When there are no more alerts being displayed, select check appears. 3. To view each a...
Page 42: Notes:
42 to reset the weatheradio to use the “all signals” code again, follow the steps under “programming the weatheradio” on page 26, setting the weatheradio to its single mode in steps 5 and 6, and storing 99 in the first memory position in step 9. Reviewing overlapping alerts your weatheradio can stor...
Page 43: Nws Alert Type
43 when a test or demo alert occurs the nws sends out weekly test signals you can use to confirm that your weatheradio is working properly. To find out the specific test schedule in your area, contact your local noaa or nws office. Those offices are usually listed in the telephone book under us gove...
Page 44: Using The Backlight
44 using the backlight your weatheradio’s backlight automatically turns on while you listen to the weather broadcast and for about 10 seconds each time you press a key. For ex- tended use in low light situations, you can set the backlight so it remains on until you turn it off. Note: you can turn on...
Page 45: Troubleshooting
45 troubleshooting if your weatheradio is not working as it should, these suggestions might help you eliminate the problem. If the weatheradio still does not operate normally, take it to your local radioshack store for assistance. Problem(s) suggestion(s) no power. Make sure the weatheradio is conne...
Page 46: Weather.
46 no weather broad- cast when you press weather. Make sure the telescoping antenna is fully extended. See “using the built-in antenna” on page 22. If you connected an external antenna, make sure that it is connected properly and the tele- scoping antenna is lowered. See “using the built-in antenna”...
Page 47: Weather
47 the radio is not responding properly to nws weather alert broadcasts. Make sure you programmed the correct fips code(s) into the weatheradio’s memory. See “programming the weatheradio” on page 26. Make sure weather alrt on appears. If not, press alert. See “using the alert function” on page 36. M...
Page 48: Care and Maintenance
48 care and maintenance your radioshack 7 channel wrsame weathera- dio is an example of superior design and craftsman- ship. The following suggestions will help you care for your weatheradio so you can enjoy it for years. Keep the weatheradio dry. If it gets wet, wipe it dry immediately. Liquids mig...
Page 49: The Fcc Wants You to Know
49 the fcc wants you to know your weatheradio might cause tv or radio interfer- ence even when it is operating properly. To determine whether your weatheradio is causing the interfer- ence, turn off your weatheradio. If the interference goes away, your weatheradio is causing it. Try to eliminate the...
Page 50: Specifications
50 specifications frequency coverage (mhz): channel 1 ................................................... 162.400 channel 2 .................................................. 162.425 channel 3 .................................................. 162.450 channel 4 .........................................
Page 51: Notes
51 notes.
Page 52: Limited Ninety-Day Warranty
811080940c 04a99 printed in china limited ninety-day warranty this product is warranted by radioshack against manufacturing defects in material and workmanship under normal use for ninety (90) days from the date of purchase from radioshack company-owned stores and authorized radioshack franchisees a...