Modification - adding a radio

It just so happened that when we purchased our hand held two way radios one of the added features was a weather radio button. We have use it and does work well. We purchased a pair of Motorola radios that have a range of 12 miles. Radios were fairly cheap, however we were required to purchase an FCC license for them, $80 for five years! Ouch! Have had occasion to use them three miles away and worked fine. Don't know about the 12 mile range.
That might be another way to go if you need two way radios and want a weather too. That's my two cents!

Midwest Dave
Quad Cities USA

Originally Posted by wbmiller3

does that wooden plate over the hole where the radio goes just pry off?

I'm a little late, but for future reference I found that the blank plate was just a *VERY* snug press fit. I found it easier to push out from the back than to pry out from the front. I just pressed alternately on both ends to wiggle it out.

Bill,
Thanks for the NOAA site. A map of Pennsylvania shows we are a little or no reception area at home. I will print out their list of reception frequencies.
However, on the road, camping, it would be nice to know a bad storm is coming. I still remember taking down a tent, grabbing everything, hopping in the car and on the road when a nasty storm hit at 3 am in the midwest. We still are so pleased we heard that distant thunder and went. Of course, in the TM we would probably just stay put.
I was referring to cheap stand alone radios. Guess I should spend some money?

[wbmiller3]

Installed my weatherband radio this weekend. Got fine reception through the TM antenna.

In my 2001 trailer the hole was filled by a wooden block that seemed to be press fit in, with a thin plywood "plate" stapled to it.

Installation was easy. The only problem I had was that after about six hours of play (we were listening to an audiobook) the CD drive seems to have failed That will be my next project.

Our dealer installed our radio for us as he was putting a new part in the refrigerator to get it to stay on using gas. Would he have automatically connected to the TM antenna? How does one know if the radio is connected to the antenna?

Originally Posted by Bill

Catawbalea -

The NOAA Weather Band channels are WAY outside the commercial AM and FM bands. (They are on VHF frequencies above 162 MHz, FWIW.) It is quite possible that the TM's built-in amplified antenna will not respond to these frequencies. I don't have any specs on the TM antenna, but would love to find some ...

On the other hand, if you are talking about a free-standing radio with its own built-in antenna, then you may be right - it's just a cheap radio.

You may indeed be too far away - NOAA stations are pretty much everywhere, but in Pennsylvania, for example, each one seems to cover an area of only about 50 miles around big cities. You can find a listing of NOAA stations, as well as coverage maps, at the NOAA web site
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/listcov.htm

Bill

Sorry for the late reply, but I was tied up most of the weekend. The amplified antenna on the TM looks almost identical to the one that is installed on my conversion van. The one on the van does AM and FM radio plus TV. I am not sure if that is true on the TM antenna.

[commodor47]

Originally Posted by Catawbalea

Our dealer installed our radio for us as he was putting a new part in the refrigerator to get it to stay on using gas. Would he have automatically connected to the TM antenna? How does one know if the radio is connected to the antenna?

The installer should have connected the antenna. The antenna connector is the same as the one found in a car. Without the connection your radio probably would not pick up any stations. You could pull the radio forward enough to check the connections . . . if you have the installation/removal instructions.

[commodor47]

Originally Posted by wbmiller3

The only problem I had was that after about six hours of play (we were listening to an audiobook) the CD drive seems to have failed That will be my next project.

Sounds like the system overheated and the CD player shut down. Try it again once the unit has cooled down. Our home CD player is sensitive to heat and humidity and will shut down to protect itself. There isn't much room above the refrigerator (in the TM) for heat dissipation.

Let sleeping dogs lie. I am not going to put my paws on that radio to slide it out. From what you say, we probably wouldn't get anything. FM works well, AM doesn't, but along with NOAA I don't get AM well at home either. Thanks for the input.

I get both AM and FM reception as well in the TM as I do in the TV. But we only use it to play CDs.