What is SAME and how did it evolve?
A special feature of the NOAA Weather Radio system that evolved in the 1960’s was the transmission of a single tone at 1050 Hz prior to the broadcast of any message about a life or property threatening event. This became known as the Warning Alarm Tone (WAT). Special receivers were made by several companies to remain electronically on and receiving the broadcast signal, but with the speaker muted. When this type of radio detected the WAT, it automatically turned on the speaker allowing the message to be heard without the need for the owner/user to do anything. In the Spring of 1974, the largest recorded outbreak of tornadoes in the nation’s history occurred. Conclusions of a survey following the disaster recommended the expansion of the Weather Radio network and to designate it as the only Federally operated broadcast system to communicate life and property threatening information “directly” to the public. This system was also tasked to disseminate nuclear attack warnings and other nat
