Free WX Radio Program in Delaware County

We are pleased to announce that the Delaware County Emergency Management Agency (DCEMA) recently received a grant to provide free weather radios to the community.  The program's mission is to enhance public safety by making critical weather alerts and warnings available to weather-vunerable homes and structures, and to help persons who would otherwise be unlikely to obtain a weather radio on their own.  The best defense against dangerous weather is awareness, preparation and advanced notice.

This is a great idea and a wonderful project that will help protect folks in our community !

Muncie Area Amateur Radio Club is proud to support DCEMA by volunteering our time and service.  We thank Jason Rogers, Director of Delaware County EMA, and his agency for making this program happen and inviting us to help out.


MAARC will be assisting the EMA Office by accepting requests and distributing WX radios.  There are a very limited number of radios available, but we'll see to it that they make it out into the community.

According to Director Rogers, "the target audience for these radios is anyone in our community that is not able to purchase them on their own and/or persons living in mobile homes or in storm dangerous homes/structures. We will be continuing a target audience blitz on distribution ... I look forward to working with you and the Muncie club in the future and think your participants would be great assets to our program."

What are we doing ?

The club is collecting a list of people in Delaware County who would like a free WX radio.  There is a very limited quantity available, we will distribute them on a first-come, first-served basis until we run out.  If more become available, we'll do it again.

Once we have enough people signed up, the club will submit the list to DCEMA and deliver the radios.  For any folks needing a little extra help, we will also set up the radio, program it and provide basic hands-on instruction on how to use it.

Who is eligible for a free radio ?

Anyone who lives in Delaware County.  Persons who live in other counties should contact their EMA office about this grant program.  If you're not sure how to do that, send us a message and we'll see if we can help.

MAARC club members are eligible to request a radio for their families, but please firmly keep in mind the mission of this program.  We want to see these radios in the hands of folks who can't easily obtain one on their own, and we want to see them protecting weather vulnerable homes and structures. 

How can I help ?  How do people sign up ?

The only information required to sign up for a free radio is the recipient's:

• Full Name
• Address
• Telephone Number

MAARC members-- along with anyone in the community-- may submit sign up requests by sending the information above to the club via email (wb9hxg@gmail.com) or by telephone at (765) 273-3101.

Again, please remember that only a small quantity of radios are available at this time.

Questions ?
Feel free to send them in as outlined above.  Robert, KB7ZGB is coordinating this for the club and is our liaison with DCEMA for this project.  For information about Delaware County EMA, visit their website at http://www.dcema.com.

About NOAA Weather Radio

Local NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards Station: KJY93 162.425 MHz in Muncie
Delaware County Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) code: 018035

NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Service office. NWR broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Delaware County EMA strongly recommends the utilization of an emergency alert radio that is capable of receiving information from the "All Hazard Radio Network". The emergency alert radio is capable of providing important weather related information such as tornado watches or warnings. In addition to urgent weather related information the all hazard radio is capable of relaying information such as "AMBER ALERTS" and chemical spills/releases in your area.

What kind of weather radios are being distributed ?

Midland WR-120 All Hazards Weather Radio

Midland WR-120 Desktop Weather Alert Radio

• SAME Localized Reception
• 25 Programmable Counties
• Color Coded Alert Indicators
• Alert Override automatically switches over to warn you of impending danger
• Alarm Clock with Snooze
• Silent programming
• Single, Multiple, or Any S.A.M.E program settings
• User Selectable Warning System -Voice, Display, or Tone alert types
• 10 Reviewable Alerts
• Public Alert Certified
• Receives over 60 Alerts
• Uses 3AA Alkaline batteries for emergency power back-up
• All Hazards Alert - In addition to important weather announcements your radio will also receive other emergency announcements such as Amber Alerts, Civil Emergencies, Wildfires, etc.