Maxon Wx-1 Weather Receiver

MAXON WX-1 WEATHER RECEIVER

CW EVALUATION

Early-warning device

MOTORCYCLISTS ARE, BY NATURE, A stoic lot. We have to be, mostly because we’re so totally at the mercy of the weather. We endure summer’s furnace-like heat, winter’s icy grip and spring monsoons because it comes with the territory. On a motorcycle, there’s no place to hide.

But the weather often moves like a clumsy boxer, sometimes telegraphing its punches days in advance. And Maxon’s WX-1 weather receiver can provide a motorcyclist with early warning, tipping him to where the blow will fall, so he can soften it, or dodge it completely.

The WX-1 is a 9-volt-batterypowered radio receiver with three presets that correspond to the frequencies the National Weather Service uses to transmit reports and forecasts ( 162.550, 162.475 and 162.400 MHz). It has a 50-mile range, and with dimensions roughly equal to that of a Tom Clancy paperback novel, the WX-1 should fit conveniently in a saddlebag or tankbag.

Convenience is the WX-l’s main attraction, too, considering you can get much of the same information from a number of other sources. Just push the chrome bar marked “weather” on the radio’s top, and you get a constant stream of local, regional, marine and agricultural weather reports and forecasts, repeated and updated continuously. And since the NWS broadcasts 24 hours a day from 238 stations in the United States and Puerto Rico, you can be relatively sure of receiving the information anywhere in the U.S.

Such news comes in handy, because it allows a rider to determine what clothing to wear and take along with him, and how to pack it. For instance, if the disembodied voice on the WX-1 predicts thunderstorms along your route, you know to pack a rainsuit. You also know to put it on top of everything else in your luggage, so you can get to it quickly, instead of having to rummage through your belongings. Likewise, you can rethink your itinerary if it seems to be heading toward a violent front.

Obvïously, the WX-1 ($29.95 from Maxon Systems Inc., 10828 NW AirWorld Drive, Dept. 777, Kansas City, MO 64153; [816] 8911093) can't shield you when the rain’s falling sideways, or coax a warm sun out from under a blue norther. But it can help you prepare to deal with such climactic aberrations. Or, to paraphrase a quote often attributed to Mark Twain, you can listen to someone talk about the weather, and then do something about it. After all, just because we're stoic doesn’t mean we have to sit there and take it.