Weather Radio

I had a Midland WR300 for more than a decade. It worked great, and then I realized one day it wasn't alerting any more. I tried the Kaito in your post but returned it. I'm a computer science major but it was way too complicated for me. I just want a simple weather radio that will sit on the shelf unnoticed until something bad's heading my way. I bought another WR300, and that's when I figured out it wasn't the radio, it was my signal. Somehow the signal must have changed, because it doesn't alarm. I added an external antenna, still not helpful. I live in south Cary, midway between the Chapel Hill and Garner stations, but probably not more than 20 miles from either.

So I'm interested to see what others have to say in this thread.
 
DS,

I'm in for interest, been poking around myself as I am in need,

Not a replacement for a good weather radio but Code Red via Pender E.M. is, I think, of great value especially for times you are not inside your house. You've pretty much always got your cell with you.

CodeRed
Pender County is pleased to announce our new Emergency Notification System, CodeRed.
CodeRed enables the Pender County Office of Emergency Management on alert the citizens, of Pender County, of any impending emergency situations in their area.

Please use the button below to Opt-In (register) for this service. In addition, you may also logon to your account if you have already registered. Call 910-259-1210 to register by phone.



Another layer is to save NOAA as a favorite on a police scanner type app for quick deployment..:p
 
For that kind of money, you can get a couple of Baofeng UV5R's, program in the NOAA frequencies and have comms too. As a matter of fact when there is a weather alert in my area, I monitor the local ham weather watch group repeater. Then, I'm getting actual on the ground reports that are relayed to the National Weather Service. It depends on how active your group is.
My phone usually alerts with weather warnings. I think my weather app does too.
If you do get a dedicated weather radio, find one with local alert programming. SAME. It only alerts to warnings in your specific area.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: RJT
I get my mobile weather from either my CB (rare occasions) or one of my VHF radios. The VHF's I can program to scan as many or as few channels as I choose and I have comm's with other boaters and base stations.
 
DirtySCREW said:
What's the best weather radio out there? I've been looking at Kaito KA500s but can't really see the difference between the models on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Kaito-KA500R...506175091&sr=8-19&keywords=weather+radios#Ask


What say ya'll?

DS
Click to expand...

I've had that one for several years now. I love it.

Solar charging is awesome. Hand crank takes longer than what I ever imagined it would. Of course, I just keep batteries in it most of the time. But, the power pack hasn't taken a memory yet, so that's good.

Been thinking about getting a couple more.
 
I have a Reecom R1630. I bought it because, like @MostWanted, I had a Midland WR300 that stopped alarming. I found several reports of other people having the same problem. The radio looked as if it was working normally, but it never alarmed, not even for the weekly test broadcast. The Reecom has worked well for several years. I would not trust a Midland WR300.
 
Pack72 said:
I have a Reecom R1630. I bought it because, like @MostWanted, I had a Midland WR300 that stopped alarming. I found several reports of other people having the same problem. The radio looked as if it was working normally, but it never alarmed, not even for the weekly test broadcast. The Reecom has worked well for several years. I would not trust a Midland WR300.
Click to expand...

@Pack 72, thank you for this. I found one on eBay for $16 shipped. Hopefully this will protect my family.
 
Just don't set it up to alert for a lot of different locations like I did with my first weather radio (because of having relatives living all over the place) unless you want a continual stream of alarms during the summer thunderstorm season :). I quickly reduced mine to just Forsyth and Davidson counties since I live close to the county line.

In case you don't get a manual with yours: http://www.reecominc.com/manual.htm
 
Last edited:
Pack72 said:
Just don't set it up to alert for a lot of different locations like I did with my first weather radio (because of having relatives living all over the place) unless you want a continual stream of alarms during the summer thunderstorm season :).
Click to expand...

Yeah, that can be a bit much, at times, but it is exactly how I have mine programmed.

My reasoning behind it is that if I have the radio programmed to receive alerts 2 counties out, it will give me a bit more advanced warning if some bad sh*t is headed our way.
 
georgel said:
For that kind of money, you can get a couple of Baofeng UV5R's, program in the NOAA frequencies and have comms too. As a matter of fact when there is a weather alert in my area, I monitor the local ham weather watch group repeater. Then, I'm getting actual on the ground reports that are relayed to the National Weather Service. It depends on how active your group is.
My phone usually alerts with weather warnings. I think my weather app does too.
If you do get a dedicated weather radio, find one with local alert programming. SAME. It only alerts to warnings in your specific area.
Click to expand...

I agree!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom