Disclosure: If you buy using an affiliate link on this page, we may earn a commission.
EmergencyRadio.org

KEC86: NOAA Weather Radio for Pensacola, Florida

KEC86 is the NOAA Weather Radio transmitter at Pensacola (transmitter at Milton), broadcasting on 162.400 MHz at 1000 watts. It carries the National Weather Service Mobile office's broadcast and covers 5 counties, each listed below with the SAME code an alert radio needs to wake for that county and stay quiet for the rest.

CallsignKEC86
Frequency162.400 MHz
TransmitterPensacola (transmitter at Milton), Florida
Power1000 watts
Forecast officeNWS Mobile
StatusNormal (NWS data, July 2026)

Marine radios often label 162.400 MHz as WX2, but WX channel numbers vary by brand - go by the frequency.

Counties KEC86 covers

CountyStateSAME code
BaldwinAlabama001003
EscambiaAlabama001053
EscambiaFlorida012033
OkaloosaFlorida012091
Santa RosaFlorida012113

Program the six-digit code into your radio's SAME location list - the SAME code guide walks through it, and how alert radios work explains what the radio does with it.

A radio that will use this code

KEC86 alerts are only useful inside a radio you can program the s codes above into. Two that do it, for two different jobs.

At home, always on

Midland WR120B. Mains desk radio with battery backup. Program the SAME code from the table and it stays silent until your county specifically is warned, then wakes you.

Check current price (Amazon)

In the bag or the car

Midland ER310. Crank, solar and USB, with a flashlight. Receives KEC86 the same as anything else; it does not do SAME alerting. The one still working on day three of an outage.

Check current price (Amazon)

Hearing KEC86

Any receiver that tunes 162.400 MHz FM can listen: scanners, VHF ham radios, marine sets, or a software-defined receiver. What those do not do is wake you at 3 a.m. - for that you want a dedicated radio with SAME alerting, covered in the buyer's guide.

Every Florida transmitter, county and SAME code: NOAA Weather Radio in Florida. Or look any county up with the finder.

Sources: