First Alert Radio — Model WX-167

We have this information on our Web site because the City of New York has given several hundred of the WX-167 radios Schoharie Valley residents, not because we recommend this particular model. We've not evaulated the various weather alert radios and have no view on the overall usefulness of any particular brand. If I though one were superior, or useless, I'd tell you so. - Lester

All of the weather warning radios given to us by the City of New York and distributed by emergency and fire service personnel come programmed with the weekly test turned OFF. Therefore, until the radio is reprogrammed, it will not receive the test. Additionally, some came without instructions.

There are several imortant things to understand about weather radios.

  • Some may have a small switch inside, to be set for either rechargable or non-rechargable batteries.
  • There are several kinds of alert service and monitors and you may need to do more than just turn it on.
  • If you have problems or questions regarding the set-up or operation of the WX-167, you may call the First Alert Customer Service department at 800-345-7462 or visit their website at www.simacorp.com.

Quick Start Guide

The following information was provided by the Schoharie County Emergency Management Office and National Weather Service

1. Select a place for the radio

Place the unit where you are most likely to hear its alert tone and see the message indicator lights. Place the radio near windows or other openings for best reception. Keep away from sources of interference. Although not always necessary you may get the best reception by installing an external antenna outdoors and connecting it to the external antenna coax connector on the back of the radio.

2. Connect Power - Standard 120V AC outlet

  1. Plug the AC adapter cord into the 9V AC input jack on the back of the unit.
  2. Plug the adapter into the wall outlet.

3. Set-up and Language Selection

When the radio is first powered up, the LCD screen will illuminate and the four lights located above it will light up for 3 seconds and it will beep 3 times. Note: The radio will prompt you to select a language the first time you program it. You will not be required to do so when programming the radio at other times.

  1. When powered up, the radio will prompt you to HOLD PROGRAM TO SETUP RADIO in English then in Spanish. Press and hold the PROGRAM key for 5 seconds.
  2. The LCD screen will display ENGLISH. Use the FUNCTION knob to toggle between English or Spanish language. Select your language choice and press the NEXT (“>”) key to save your selection. After setting the language selection proceed to Step 2 in Setting the Clock and Calendar section.

4. Setting the Clock and Calendar

  1. When powering up the radio, you will be prompted to HOLD PROGRAM TO SETUP RADIO. Press and hold the PROGRAM key for 5 seconds.
  2. The SET DATE/TIME menu will be displayed. Press the NEXT (“>”) key to enter the SET DATE/TIME menu.
  3. SET YEAR will be displayed on the screen. Turn the FUNCTION knob to select the current year.
  4. Press the NEXT (“>”) key and SET MONTH will be displayed. Turn the FUNCTION knob to select the desired month.
  5. Press the NEXT (“>”) key and SET DAY will be displayed on the screen. Turn the FUNCTION knob to select the correct day of the month.
  6. Press the NEXT (“>”) key to enter the TIME ZONE menu. Turn the FUNCTION knob to set the Time Zone to Eastern — 0500.
  7. Press the (“>”) key and DAY SAVING will be displayed on the screen. Turn the FUNCTION knob to select either Daylight Savings ON or OFF. Set to ON if it is currently Daylight Savings time in your location.
  8. Press the NEXT (“>”) key and CLOCK will be displayed next. Turn the FUNCTION knob to select between the 12-hour or 24-hour clock systems.
  9. Press the NEXT (“>”) key and SET TIME will be displayed. Use the FUNCTION knob to scroll to the current time.
  10. Press the SAVE key to save all of the settings for your clock/calendar and return to normal operation.

5. Selecting the Weather Band Channel

To receive alerts for your area, you must select the correct weather channel. There are 2 NOAA Weather Radio transmitters in the Schoharie county listening area to choose from.

  • The Stamford, NY transmitter is at a frequency of 162.400 MHz.
  • The New Scotland, NY transmitter is at a frequency of 162.550 MHz.

Select one of these 2 transmitters by listening to each and choosing the one with the best reception at your individual location in the county. To select the best transmitter channel for your listening area:

  1. Press the radio ON button to hear the voice broadcast. Adjust the volume knob as needed.
  2. Press and hold the PROG key until SET DATE/TIME is displayed on the screen.
  3. Turn the FUNCTION knob until SET WB CHANNEL is displayed on the screen.
  4. Press the NEXT (“>”) key to enter the WB Channels menu.
  5. Turn the FUNCTION knob to select the correct channel for your area. Make sure you can hear the voice clearly.
  6. Press the SAVE key to save the channel and return to normal operation.

6. Setting the Specific Area Message Encoding (S.A.M.E.) location

To select your S.A.M.E. location, select New York State, Schoharie County and the county subdivision ANY (0) at the menu prompts as described below.

  1. Press and hold the PROG key until SET DATE/TIME is displayed on the screen.
  2. Turn the FUNCTION knob to select the SETUP LOCATIONS menu.
  3. Press the NEXT (“>”) key to enter the SETUP LOCATIONS menu. SET LOCATION 01 will be displayed on the screen.
  4. Press the NEXT (“>”) key to enter the SELECT STATE menu. Turn the FUNCTION knob to locate New York State.
  5. Press the NEXT (“>”) key to enter the SELECT COUNTY menu. Turn the FUNCTION knob to locate Schoharie County.
  6. Press the NEXT (“>”) key to enter the SELECT SUBDIVISION menu. Turn the FUNCTION knob to scroll to ANY (0). This will receive all alerts broadcast in the entire county.
  7. Press the NEXT (“>”) key when you have selected the subdivision of your county.
  8. Press the SAVE key to save your S.A.M.E. location and return to normal operation

Important Note! Be sure to Set the Alert Volume Switch
If the alert volume switch is in the OFF position, the siren will not sound.
Set to Lo or Hi as desired.

7. Basic Operation

Press the Radio ON button to hear the weather channel broadcast or alert voice message. Press the Radio OFF button to turn off the radio. Press the Radio OFF button to silence the siren when an alert is received.

Note: Radio will alert in the OFF position, as long as green POWER light is on and radio is tuned to the correct weather channel.

8. Installing batteries

The WX-167 uses batteries for backup purposes in the event of an AC power failure. Do not run the radio continuously on battery power since your signal reception may be affected.

The NYC Department of Environmental Protection has provided and properly installed rechargeable “Ni-Cad” batteries in your radio already. Follow these instructions if you need to replace your batteries in the future. If you replace with alkaline batteries, set the battery selector switch in the battery compartment to “Alkaline” by sliding the switch to the right.

The WX-167 uses 5 AA non-rechargeable alkaline or rechargeable Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cad) or Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries. Use the slide switch located inside the battery compartment to select the battery type. To select “Alkaline” when alkaline batteries are installed, push the switch to the right. To select “Ni-Cad” when using rechargeable batteries, push the switch to the left.

  1. Turn the unit upside down. Locate the battery compartment door tab.
  2. Press down on ARROW and slide cover open in direction of arrow.
  3. Insert the batteries into the battery compartment. Be sure to follow the polarity markings.
  4. Place the batteries in the battery compartment and replace the cover.

Warning!

When the switch located in the battery compartment is set to “NiCad”, the internal battery charger automatically charges the batteries. Charging non-rechargeable batteries can cause fire or explosion! When using alkaline batteries, set the switch to “Alkaline”

9. Event Blocking

To reduce unwanted alerts, such as weekly tests, the WX-1 67 features the ability to block specific alerts. The WX-167 is programmed at the factory with some events blocked. By default the National Weather Service Required Weekly Test (RWT) is blocked.

To prevent the blocking of the NWS RWT:

  1. Press and hold the PROG key until SET DATE/TIME is displayed on the screen.
  2. Turn the FUNCTION knob until SETUP BLOCKING is displayed on the screen. Press the NEXT (“>”) key to enter the SETUP BLOCKING menu.
  3. The screen will display a 3-letter message code followed by either the words “BLOCKED” or “NOT BLOCKED”.
  • For example: RWT-BLOCKED
  • The full text name of the message will scroll across the screen.
  • For example: ...Required Weekly Test..
  1. Use the FUNCTION knob to scroll through the list of events. Press the NEXT (“>”) key to select RWT.
  2. Use the FUNCTION knob to toggle between the BLOCKED and NOT BLOCKED options. Select the NOT BLOCKED option.
  3. Press the SAVE button to set your blocking options.
  4. Press the PROGRAM key to return to the main menu.

Note: Blocking an event disarms the siren and remote output only. The LED light indicators and text message will still appear when the event is received.

If you have problems or questions regarding the set-up or operation of the WX-167, you may call the First Alert Customer Service department at 800-345-7462 or visit their website at www.simacorp.com.

The city of New York has a maintenance vendor for radios they supplied. Home Safe may be contacted at 800-607-6763.

Schoharie County Emergency Management can be contacted to assist with reception: 518-295-8344.