NOAA Weather Radio station WXJ-76 in Champaign, serving east central Illinois on a frequency of 162.550 MHz, will be out of service for an extended period of time, effective immediately.

This outage is due to a damaged coaxial cable, which connects the radio transmitter to the antenna. In addition, a new tower location must be secured to prevent future damage to cabling, which could result in additional future long-term outages. The station will remain offline as the National Weather Service works to relocate the weather radio transmitter to a new tower. 

We have started the process of identifying possible new tower locations for the transmitter. If you have a tower location suggestion, preferably within Champaign County, please contact NWS Lincoln Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) Chris Miller at chris.miller@noaa.gov.

Once a new tower site is identified and a lease agreement is in place, we will install the transmitter and antenna, and begin system testing to ensure the associated signal is performing at an optimal level. While the entire process could take up to six months, we are working to get the NOAA Weather Radio broadcast online as soon as possible.

Several nearby NOAA Weather Radio transmitters also serve portions of the WXJ-76 listening area. None of these cover Champaign County (fringes of the county may receive a signal at times, but not reliable enough to use warning alarm tones).  Maps are available by county (click images to enlarge), or by looking at the table below the maps (the table lists which counties are covered by these other transmitters). Only the channel number needs to be changed on your radio receiver. Your county number will not change (though if you have multiple counties programmed into your receiver, some may not be available on the new transmitter). 

Champaign County	Coles County	De Witt County
Douglas County	Edgar County	Ford County
Moultrie County	Piatt County	Vermilion County

As always, we HIGHLY recommend that people have multiple ways to receive weather warnings and information.  Forecasts, watches and warnings for Central Illinois can also be found on:

• NWS Lincoln webpage:   http://www.weather.gov/Lincoln
   
• Mobile devices:   mobile.weather.gov
   
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/NWSLincoln
   
• Twitter:   https://twitter.com/NWSLincolnIL
   
• AlertSense: A service provided by Champaign County can relay emergency alerts and weather warnings via text message to cell phones or email to any email address. These alerts are provided free of charge, however standard text messaging rates and other charges may apply. To sign-up, go to: http://www.champaigncountyema.org/
   
• Smart Phones:    Most smart phone users receive Tornado Warnings and Flash Flood Warnings from the National Weather Service through the Wireless Emergency Alerts technology provided by nearly all cell phone providers. This feature is enabled on most cellular devices, with no setup or software to download. The emergency messages are broadcast through cell towers at no cost to the consumer.

If you have any comments or questions, please contact our Meteorologist-in-Charge, Ernie Goetsch at ernest.goetsch@noaa.gov or Warning Coordination Meteorologist, Chris Miller at chris.miller@noaa.gov .

We will provide updates on the status of the Champaign NOAA Weather Radio transmitter through Public Information Statements as well as on our web page and social media, as more information becomes available.