Looking for a weather radio, the kind that is always on but doesn’t alert until the Emergency Alert System and local weather warnings have been sounded. Don’t need a two-way or anything else just weather alerts.
Any of them stick out from the pack, I know Midlands and the like but have no experience with any of them. This will be kept in a central part of the house specifically for tornado warnings.
I have the midland wr-100 and it is on constantly, but doesn’t sound unless there is a watch/warning. We’ve had it for the last 7 or so years iirc, it works well.
(Not affiliated with the seller just first one I saw that matches the one at home)
http://www.amazon.com/Midland-WR100-Weather-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B0001OHH0Q
I have that same one and wish it had the option to pick which alerts to sound. Getting woken up once at 3AM for a damn severe thunderstorm watch is one time too many. I really only care about tornado warnings to be honest about it…
I’ve got the same on that Costellow linked too mounted on wall of RV work’s good but as said I don’t need to be warned of just thunder storm…just severe wind or tornado(s)
Thanks for the replies guys. Looking at the Midlands.
But now I’ll search around to see if I can find one that only alerts for straight line winds/tornadoes if such a thing exists.
Check into your area to see if your local wx radio supports specific area message encoding (same). Some places I have lived in had it, and it cuts down on warnings that aren’t nearby.
I live in Weld county Colorado and the tornado warning everywhere from I-25 to Nebraska to Wyoming set my radio off.
Edited to add:
http://www.oregonscientific.com/us/en/Emergency-Portable-Weather-Radio-WR601N-P?gclid=CImz14_FocUCFQcdaQodz30Atw
I bought one of these fifteen years ago. Runs on batteries or DC adapter so it is portable. Supports SAME if your local radio supports it also.
Get an app for your smart phone.
Don’t own one and want something that will work if networks experience outages, etc. Hard to be a radio that runs on batteries/solar/DC adaptor/hand-crank.
I use the Midland WR120EZ. It allows you to customize the alerts, so you can set it to only alert to tornado warnings. I don’t know if it does anything the others don’t, but you can set it to alert to the events that matter to you for the area in which you are located. It is easy to navigate the menu, and the size of the display makes adjusting the settings a simple task. It has a big button that allows you to listen to the weather report anytime you choose, and then silence it when you are done.
That sounds like the ticket!
My wife has a smart phone, so for extra measure had her download an app for tornado alerts in our AO.
I cannot say enough good things about the products from Reecom.
I’ve had one of their R-1650 receivers for about 4 years now. It seems to have far better receive sensitivity than any other type of weather radio I’ve owned. It’s S.A.M.E. capable (of course), has selectable alerts (you can lock things down so tight that you only alert on a small handful of hazards), you can attach an external antenna (I’ve never needed to, but that is a GREAT option), and you can attach an LED alert light (so you can add a very bright, bicycle-type, red flashing light) to activate when the siren comes on (or in place of the siren, if you wish).
All this, and you can use it as an AM/FM clock radio (with two different, programmable wake up alarms) on your nightstand.
The characteristic that blew all the others away though, was how well it receives weak signals. Very pleased with this radio and cannot endorse it strongly enough.
Sent from my VK815 using Tapatalk
Buy a Baofeng UV-5R. You’ll kill several birds with one stone.
$26
You can monitor the local NOAA broadcasts, as well as FM radio stations.
Furthermore, I routinely monitor Skywarn’s broadcasts when the weather gets sporty:
http://skywarn.org/local-skywarn-groups/
If the lights ever go out, you can get on the Ham bands.
Prior to the lights going out, you can use it for two-way comms on MURS frequencies if you don’t have your license. Dial the power back to one-watt, and you’ll be legal for MURS.
These cheap little Chinese radios are so good, and so cheap, no one has any excuses for not getting their ham license for grid-down comms anymore.
http://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-Dual-Band-Two-Way-Radio-Black/dp/B007H4VT7A
Thanks guys, I appreciate all the feedback and first hand experience with specific models/manufacturers.
Keep us posted on your endeavors.
While my recommendation was for a “Jack of All Trades” radio, if you have good experiences with a dedicated WX Radio, I’d love to hear about it.
Best in class is the Sangean CL-100.
MK, what did you settle on?
I actually referred back to this thread last week when I was shopping for a new weather radio. I had both the Midland WR120 & WR300 in my hand. Despite some poor reviews, I settled on the WR300 just because I liked some of its features better.
It’s still pretty early but I really like it so far.
Good find, I have a couple of these on the way. Going to give one to my son. Problem though is that TX on any frequency is subject to FCC fines without a license. To be safe I’m going to disable the TX pad. Much simpler it seems than programing each frequency to disable. Plus would not be concerned with my son using it. I’ll trim the pad on the TX buttons. That can be reversed or it’s still functional by using the included headset.
Haven’t pulled the trigger on one yet. I’ve had a Kaito KA500GRN for years but it is not a dedicated NOAA alerts radio and does not stay on constantly.
Just get a GMRS license and anyone in your family can TX regardless of age… on GMRS freqs. of course.
https://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs
Thanks. I’m not planning on using for TX, just for weather and scanner, not interested in chatting. It’s over the legal FRS wattage so it can’t be used on those frequencies. Rather than tearing it down, I’m looking into a programming process to disable transmitting.