Midland HH54 Portable Emergency Weather Alert Radio User Manual
Instructions
- Place 3 AA alkaline batteries or the optional battery pack into the battery compartment on the backside of the radio. The LCD will display 12:00 AM.
- Press the ON/OFF button for 3 seconds to turn the unit on into standby mode and program the settings.
- Program the weather channel for your area:
- Press the MENU button once.
- Press the DOWN arrow until CHANNEL is displayed on the LCD.
- Press the SELECT button.
- Press the DOWN arrow until you hear the broadcast of your station.
- Press the SELECT button to save your station and exit back to Menu mode.
- Press the MENU button to exit back to standby mode.
- Press the WX/SNOOZE button to listen to the weather broadcast. Use the UP/DOWN arrows on the side of the radio to adjust the volume to a desired listening level. To exit the weather broadcast mode press the WX/SNOOZE button again.
Note: When in weather mode and the volume is adjusted and volume is displayed you must press the WX/SNOOZE button twice to exit back to standby mode. You are now able to receive weather alerts for your area and surrounding areas. To narrow the alerts to just your county, see page 4 to program the S.A.M.E code for your county and/ or surrounding counties.
Installing the Belt Clip
To install the belt clip, slide the clip down into the slot on the back of the radio until the belt clip latch clicks. To remove the belt clip, press the lock tab down, then gently pull the belt clip up toward the top of the radio.
HH54 Features and Controls
Start Over Programming: If you want to start over while programming, press the MENU button continuously until it “backs out” of the programming mode. If no buttons are pressed for about one minute the radio will exit the menu mode Invalid Button Press: When you press a button that is not correct for programming the button will beep twice. A single button beep indicates a valid button press.
Set the Clock
- Press the MENU button to open menu options.
- Press the UP arrow to scroll through the menu until TIME is displayed. Press the SELECT button.
- Press the UP arrow until the current hour is displayed. ( Note AM/PM changes as you scroll through the hours.)
- Press the RIGHT arrow to save current hour and advance to minutes.
- Program the minutes the same way.
- Press the SELECT button to store the current time. Press the MENU button to exit menu mode.
Set the Sleep Alarm
- Press the MENU button to open menu options.
- Press the UP arrow to scroll through the menu until ALARM is displayed. Press the SELECT button.
- Press the UP arrow until the current hour is displayed.
(Note AM/PM changes as you scroll through the hours.) - Press the RIGHT arrow to save current hour and advance to minutes.
- Program the minutes the same way.
- Press the SELECT button to store the current time.
- Press the MENU button to exit menu mode.
- To temporarily silence the sleep alarm, press the WX/SNOOZE button. This will advance the alarm time by 9 minutes. To silence the alarm for the remainder of the day, press the MENU button.
Set the Channel
- Press the MENU button once.
- Press the DOWN arrow until CHANNEL is displayed on the LCD. Press the SELECT button.
- Press the DOWN arrow until you hear the broadcast of your station. Then Press the SELECT button to save your station and exit back to Menu mode.
S.A.M.E (Specific Area Message Encoding) County Codes
You can program the HH54 Portable Emergency Weather Alert Radio with up to 9 S.A.M.E. county codes. The National Weather service divides the United States by state and county (or parish) and assigns a six digit code number called a FIPS (Federal Information Processing System) code, also known as a S.A.M.E. county code. This will eliminate any alerts that are not within these 9 areas of interest. Warnings, watches, advisories and statements, about 80 different types, will activate the weather radio for only your programmed specific area. The S.A.M.E. message the NWS sends contains information pertaining to the period for which the alert is valid. NWS can set the active time of the alert from 15 minutes up to 6 hours. When the designated time has passed, the weather radio display message and light will automatically reset to their normal appearance.
Getting the S.A.M.E County Code
You can program S.A.M.E. codes to the HH54 Portable Emergency Weather Alert Radio in three different ways but first, determine the counties you are interested in and be prepared to write them down:
Call the National Weather Service Toll Free
Number at 1-888-NWS-S.A.M.E or (1-888-697-7263) When you call the NWS toll-free number, automated instructions will guide you to obtaining the six-digit S.A.M.E. County Code(s) you need by entering your state and county name through a “touch-tone” telephone keypad. Be sure to write it down for future reference. The automated telephone system will also give you the option to enter “another combination” which will enable you to obtain additional S.A.M.E. Codes for surrounding counties.
- Visit the National Weather Service website at www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/indexnw.htm.
The above internet link will take you to the NWS website. From there you will need to click on your state, find your county, and record the “S.A.M.E. code” which will be listed to the right of your county. Do the same for any other counties in which you are interested. - Visit the Midland Radio Corporation website at www.midlandradio.com/Products/ Be-Weather-Aware
- The above internet link will take you to the Midland Radio Corporation Be Weather Aware landing page.
- From there, click on SAME codes for states, counties and territories under the Emergency Preparedness section. This will take you to the NWS website. From there you will need to click on your state, find your county, and record the “S.A.M.E. code” which will be listed to the right of your county. Do the same for any other counties in which you are interested.
Please Note: In Canada you can visit the Environment Canada website at: http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/msb/ weatheradio/transmitter/index_e.cfm to obtain the CLC code for your region.
A Single S.A.M.E. County Code:
- Press the MENU button to open menu options.
- Press the UP arrow to scroll through menu options until “S.A.M.E. SET” is displayed, then press SELECT button.
- Press the UP arrow to scroll through: “SINGLE”, “MULTIPLE”, or “ANY.”
- Display “SINGLE”, then press the SELECT button. “S.A.M.E.01”will be displayed. (Note if you are programming a single S.A.M.E. County Code, only the “01” setting will be used.) Press SELECT.
- Using the UP arrow, find the first digit of your S.A.M.E. County Code. Press the RIGHT arrow to save the digit and automatically advance to the next digit.
- Program all digits of your S.A.M.E. County Code in the same way.
- Press the SELECT button to store your S.A.M.E. County Code. Press the MENU button to close the programming menu.
Multiple S.A.M.E. County Codes:
- Press the MENU button to open menu options.
- Press the UP arrow to scroll through menu options until “S.A.M.E. SET” is displayed, then press the SELECT button.
- Press the UP arrow to scroll through: “SINGLE”, “MULTIPLE”, or “ANY.”
- Display “MULTIPLE” as explained, then press SELECT. “S.A.M.E.01” will be displayed, indicating you will be programming your first S.A.M.E. County Code at weather radio menu location “01.”
- After programming your first S.A.M.E. County Code, press the SELECT button then the “UP” arrow to advance to “S.A.M.E. 02.” Program all of your S.A.M.E. County Codes in the same way as above.
- When finished entering all your codes, press the MENU button to close the programming menu.
Travel/Home Modes
The HH54 gives you the option of home or travel mode, making it easy to take the radio from home onto a road trip or vacation without having to reprogram your settings Here are the basic differences between travel and home mode:
- Home Mode: In this mode the radio uses your default settings for response location. So, if you have chosen multiple S.A.M.E counties and programmed in three, these will be the counties the radio will alert for. In addition your channel selected during the quick start set-up will be saved as a home default as well, unless you manually change it through the menu while in home mode.
- When you switch to travel mode, these settings will be saved for when you return back to home mode.
- Travel Mode: In this mode the radio automatically scans to the first available weather channel with a broadcast signal strong enough to use. If later the signal becomes too weak to use the radio will automatically resume scanning to find a usable signal.
- This ensures no matter where you go you will always be locked onto the weather channel for that area. As for the S.A.M.E settings, the radio automatically disables Single and Multiple options so the radio will only alert for Any counties within range of where you are. To activate travel mode, press and hold the TR/HM button for 3 seconds. To return to home hold TR/HM again 3 seconds.
Choosing an Alert Type
- Press the MENU button to open menu options.
- Press the UP arrow to scroll through menu options until “ALT TYPE” (Alert Type) is displayed, then press the SELECT button.
- Press the UP arrow to scroll through the following (3) alert types: “DISPLAY”, “VOICE”, or “TONE”.
- Press the SELECT button to choose the Alert Type you want.
- Press the SELECT button to store your S.A.M.E. County Code. Press the MENU button to close the programming menu.
Alert Type Description
- DISPLAY When the DISPLAY alert type is chosen, only a text alert will scroll on the display. There will be no audible alarm.
- VOICE When the VOICE alert type is chosen, the alert tone will sound for 8 seconds, then you will hear the voice of the weather broadcast for 5 minutes.
- TONE When the TONE alert type is chosen, the alert tone will sound for 5 minutes, or until you press any button.
Reviewing Alerts
The HH54 Portable Emergency Weather Alert Radio can store up to 10 different Weather/Hazard alerts (with overlapping effective times) in its memory. If the weather radio receives a new alert while any previous alert is still in effect, it automatically displays the new alert. You can review all alerts still in effect by pressing the UP arrow to scroll through the weather radio’s active alert memory. A double beep indicates the end of the list. “NO MESSAGE” will be displayed if no alerts are active. Also, when the radio receives an alert the corresponding LED will be lit- RED= Warning, Orange= Watch and Yellow= Advisory
Display Backlighting
The HH54 has 2 settings for controlling the backlighting
on the display. Choose between BLT NORM or BLT ON.
With BLT NORM the backlight turns on whenever any
button is pushed and will turn off after 5 seconds. With
BLT ON, the backlight comes on and will stay on continuously until you turn it off manually through the menu.
Reception
- The typical weather reception distance will range from 25-50 miles depending on the location and conditions of weather, terrain, etc… Also, some weather stations operate at much higher power levels than others and have their transmitting towers on the top of high buildings or hills. If reception in your area is not good, try different locations to find a place of good reception.
- If weather stations cannot be heard on any channel, contact your local National Weather Service office to verfiy the station is on air and also verify the CHANNEL and location of the weather station.
- All National Weather Service stations periodically transmit test signals. You can find out when your local NWS station broadcasts test signals by calling the NOAA National Weather Service Forecast Office (listed under “Weather” in the Federal Government section of the telephone book). During the weekly test signal, the local NWS station will give a list of counties covered by their transmitter. The NWS test signal allows everyone with weather radio receivers to verify the operation of their equipment. The following test signals may be sent by the NWS during testing: required weekly test, required monthly test, system demo, and national periodic test. During a test, the yellow advisory LED will light up and the “Weekly Test” or “Monthly Test” message will be visible on the display. The radio will not sound an audible alert tone to avoid giving the impression of an actual alarm. The visual response to the test is confirmation that your radio is working properly.
- Mobile home reception is difficult due to the metallic structure preventing reception. Put your HH54 near a window.
Troubleshooting
Alert Type Description
NO POWER Make sure the batteries are installed correctly into the radio observing polarity as you install them.
NO SOUND Check volume to ensure it is turned up to an audible level.
NO WEATHER BROADCAST WHEN YOU PRESS THE WX/ SNOOZE BUTTON
Ensure the radio is set to the NWS weather channel in use for your area. Contact NWS to ensure they are presently broadcasting.
If in a metal structure, make sure you are close to a window.
THE RADIO IS NOT RESPONDING PROPERLY TO NWS WEATHER ALERT BROADCASTS
Check to see that you have programmed in the correct S.A.M.E county codes.
Check with the NWS that the tower is broadcasting.
THE ADVISORY LIGHT HAS BEEN ON FOR A WHILE
If your advisory light is on and continues to stay on, the radio will automatically reset this function within 6 hours.
REFRENCE LINK
https://midlandusa.com/pages/hh54-weather-radio-help
