What is a SAME weather radio?
Updated October 6, 2026
Short answer
A SAME weather radio sounds an alert only for the counties or areas you program into it. SAME stands for Specific Area Message Encoding. It filters NOAA Weather Radio warnings to the area you choose.
How does SAME work?
NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards broadcasts National Weather Service warnings, watches and forecasts 24 hours a day. SAME codes are six-digit codes for a county or part of a county. NOAA lists them per state on its NOAA Weather Radio website.
You enter the codes for your area into the radio. The radio then sounds an alert only for those counties. Radios on our shortlist store 25 or 26 county codes.
Which frequencies does it receive?
The stations broadcast on seven frequencies between 162.400 and 162.550 MHz. Each NOAA Weather Radio transmitter broadcasts on one of the seven frequencies. A radio has to be set to the frequency of a nearby transmitter. NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards has more than 1,000 transmitters covering all 50 states and adjacent coastal waters.
What does Public Alert mean?
Weather radios with the Public Alert logo meet the CTA-2009 standard for public alert receivers. The Midland WR120B, Midland WR400 and Reecom R-1650D are all Public Alert certified from the specs. A weather radio with battery backup keeps listening for alerts when the power goes out. All three take AA batteries as backup.
Which SAME radio fits which home?
The Midland WR120B is the plain choice with a trilingual display and a 90 dB siren. The Midland WR400 adds AM/FM with dual alarms and 4 presets. The Reecom R-1650D shows each alert's remaining effective time with a countdown and keeps 25 alerts in memory.
- Midland WR120B: weather band only with 25 county codes and 3 x AA backup
- Midland WR400: adds AM/FM and a USB output to charge a phone during outages
- Reecom R-1650D: 26 county codes and a standby time Reecom rates at over 185 hours on 4 x AA batteries
From our shortlist
Dedicated NOAA SAME alert radio with a 90 dB siren and jacks for a strobe or bed shaker.
Tabletop SAME alert radio with AM/FM and a USB output to charge a phone during an outage.
SAME radio with AM/FM that counts down how long each alert stays in effect.
Related questions
Where do I find my SAME code?
SAME codes are six-digit codes for a county or part of a county. NOAA lists them per state on its NOAA Weather Radio website. You program those codes into the radio. The Midland WR120B and Midland WR400 store up to 25 county codes and the Reecom R-1650D stores 26.
Does a SAME radio work in Canada?
NOAA Weather Radio is a US service. Weatheradio Canada shut down in March 2026. Environment Canada now points to its WeatherCAN app. The Midland WR120B and Midland WR400 list an Environment Canada weather band in their specs. That service no longer broadcasts.
Does a SAME radio keep working in a power outage?
A weather radio with battery backup keeps listening for alerts when the power goes out. The Midland WR120B takes 3 x AA batteries as backup. The Midland WR400 and the Reecom R-1650D take 4 x AA. Reecom rates the Reecom R-1650D for over 185 hours of standby on those batteries. Batteries are not included with any of the three.
More questions
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