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KJY86: NOAA Weather Radio for South Boston, Virginia

KJY86 is the NOAA Weather Radio transmitter at South Boston, broadcasting on 162.525 MHz at 1000 watts. It carries the National Weather Service Blacksburg office's broadcast and covers 10 counties, each listed below with the SAME code an alert radio needs to wake for that county and stay quiet for the rest.

CallsignKJY86
Frequency162.525 MHz
TransmitterSouth Boston, Virginia
Power1000 watts
Forecast officeNWS Blacksburg
StatusNormal (NWS data, July 2026)

Marine radios often label 162.525 MHz as WX7, but WX channel numbers vary by brand - go by the frequency.

Counties KJY86 covers

CountyStateSAME codeNote
CaswellNorth Carolina037033
GranvilleNorth Carolina037077NORTH&CENTRAL
PersonNorth Carolina037145
CampbellVirginia051031E AND CENTRAL
CharlotteVirginia051037
City of DanvilleVirginia051590
HalifaxVirginia051083
LunenburgVirginia051111ALL
MecklenburgVirginia051117WEST &CENTRAL
PittsylvaniaVirginia051143E & CENTRAL

A county marked with a note (for example partial coverage) is served for that portion only. 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.

Hearing KJY86

Any receiver that tunes 162.525 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 Virginia transmitter, county and SAME code: NOAA Weather Radio in Virginia. Or look any county up with the finder.

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