Radio

NOAA Weather Radio, SKYWARN monitoring, scanner notes, and future amateur radio operations

Weather communications layer in development

The radio side of Celina SkyWatch supports local weather awareness through NOAA Weather Radio, scanner monitoring, SKYWARN net awareness, and eventual amateur radio participation.

The priority is responsible receive-first monitoring: listen, learn the local procedures, document the frequencies, and only transmit on amateur radio frequencies after proper licensing, training, and net-control direction.

NOAA Weather Radio Live Audio

KEC56 Dallas — 162.400 MHz

Primary NOAA Weather Radio starting point for much of the eastern side of the DFW area, including Collin County.

Internet relay stream provided through the NOAA Weather Radio streaming community. If the player does not load, try the external feed: Broadcastify KEC56 Dallas.

KEC55 Fort Worth — 162.550 MHz

Useful backup/alternate NOAA Weather Radio transmitter for the western side of the metroplex and some North Texas counties.

Internet relay stream provided through the NOAA Weather Radio streaming community. If the player does not load, try the external feed: Broadcastify KEC55 Fort Worth.

Do not rely on internet audio streams for life safety. Streams can lag, fail, go offline, or be interrupted by network/power problems. A dedicated NOAA Weather Radio receiver with battery backup is the proper alerting tool.

NOAA Weather Radio Frequencies

Use	Station	Frequency	Notes
Primary local starting point	KEC56 Dallas	162.400 MHz	Best first choice to try from Celina / Collin County.
Backup / alternate	KEC55 Fort Worth	162.550 MHz	Try this if Dallas reception is poor or if comparing alert coverage.
Other possible North Texas reception	Regional NWR transmitters	162.475 / 162.500 MHz	Possible alternates depending on receiver, antenna, terrain, and exact location.

SAME Codes for Weather Radios

County	SAME / FIPS Code	Why it matters
Collin County	048085	Main county code for Celina if your location is in Collin County.
Denton County	048121	Useful adjacent/overlap code if you want Denton County alerts as well.
Dallas County	048113	Optional broader metro-area awareness, not necessarily needed for routine alerting.
Tarrant County	048439	Optional western metro-area awareness.

Nearby SKYWARN / Amateur Radio Frequencies

These are monitoring references, not a transmit plan. Transmitting on amateur radio frequencies requires the proper FCC amateur radio license. During severe weather, follow net-control direction and local SKYWARN procedures.

Area	Primary	Alternate / Tertiary	Notes
Collin County	147.1800 MHz PL 107.2	146.7400 MHz PL 110.9	Most relevant SKYWARN monitoring set for Celina / Collin County.
Denton County	146.9200 MHz PL 110.9	145.1700 MHz / 147.3800 MHz PL 110.9	Useful because Celina is near the Collin/Denton county area.
Dallas County	146.8800 MHz PL 110.9	146.9600 MHz PL 110.9 442.0750 MHz PL 110.9	Dallas-area monitoring; note that 442.0750 MHz is 70 cm, not 2 m.
Tarrant County	146.9400 MHz PL 110.9	146.7600 MHz PL 110.9 444.1000 MHz PL 110.9	Fort Worth / Tarrant County SKYWARN monitoring.
Grayson County	147.0000 MHz PL 100.0	147.2800 MHz PL 107.2 146.520 MHz simplex	Useful north-of-Celina awareness, depending on storm motion and reception.

WX5FWD Radio-Over-IP References

System	Reference	Purpose
EchoLink	WX5FWD / 372418	Fort Worth/Dallas SKYWARN radio desk conference reference.
IRLP	0010	Linked SKYWARN reflector reference.
AllStar	516220	Linked SKYWARN hub reference.

Monitoring Priorities

Area	Status	Purpose
NOAA Weather Radio	Active reference	Official watches, warnings, forecasts, and emergency weather information.
NWS Fort Worth / Dallas products	Active on homepage	Area Forecast Discussion, radar, satellite, and broader forecast context.
SKYWARN nets	Monitor first	Listen for trained spotter reports and local net procedures during severe weather.
2m / 70cm amateur repeaters	Future transmit capability	Transmit only after proper amateur radio licensing and local procedure familiarity.
RTL-SDR monitoring	Exploratory	Receive-only monitoring, NOAA, aviation weather, and general RF learning.
APRS weather	Longer-term	Possible future packet/APRS weather reporting after the core station is stable.

SKYWARN Reporting Philosophy

The goal is not to be dramatic on the air. The goal is to provide useful, concise, ground-truth information when conditions warrant it.

A good report should be specific, measured, and limited to what can actually be observed: measured wind gusts, hail size, flooding, wall cloud or funnel observations, damage, visibility, and exact location.

Personal station data should be clearly identified as personal weather station data, not as official airport or National Weather Service observations.

Example Future Weather Report Format

Once licensed, trained, and operating under an active net, a concise report might sound like:

“Net Control, this is [CALL SIGN] in Celina. Measured 48 mile-per-hour wind gust at my personal weather station, pea-size hail beginning, heavy rain, no damage observed. Location is near Celina, north Collin County.”

That style of report is short, concrete, and avoids speculation.

Safety and Operating Notes

Safety before signal

Do not deploy, adjust, or troubleshoot outdoor antennas during thunderstorms.
Do not transmit on amateur radio frequencies without the proper license.
Do not self-dispatch into dangerous weather.
Do not treat internet audio streams as official alerting infrastructure.
Do not treat personal station data as official warning information.
Outdoor antenna systems require serious attention to grounding, bonding, lightning protection, and local code.
During dangerous weather, the safest radio setup may be indoors, battery powered, and disconnected from outdoor antennas.

Build Phases

Phase	Focus	Status
Phase 1	Weather station online, website live, official NWS feeds embedded	In progress
Phase 2	NOAA Weather Radio receiver and internet stream references	In progress
Phase 3	Scanner / SDR monitoring and local frequency validation	Planned
Phase 4	SKYWARN training and local net familiarity	Planned
Phase 5	Technician license, VHF/UHF station, safe antenna and power setup	Future
Phase 6	APRS/weather integration or packet experimentation	Longer-term

Official and Reference Links

Radio information on this page is for personal weather-awareness and hobby documentation. This site is not an official emergency communications channel. For watches, warnings, and emergency guidance, use the National Weather Service, local emergency management, NOAA Weather Radio, Wireless Emergency Alerts, and trusted broadcast sources.