Am/fm Emergency Alert Clock Radio

by First Alert

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 9 x 2.5 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0008551DI
• Item model number: WX-268
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #157,188 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Dual EAS and NWR receivers for round-the-clock emergency coverage.

AM/FM/Weather Band clock radio

AlwaysSet Radio Controlled Clock

Dual alarm setting

Includes new messages for 2004 such as AMBER ALERT and 911 Call Outage.

Meets new CEA-2009 standard for Public Alert devices.

Scrolling LCD text display of message information.

Easy to program using full text programming. FIPS codes are no longer needed when programming your location into the WX-268. Program the state and county to set your location.

Weather Band Channel and NOAA Location Codes

(Specific Area Message Encoding) technology to select the most accurate broadcast for your location.

Automatically sounds a loud alert siren when emergency conditions such as chemical spills, tornados, civil emergencies and more occur in your area.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Design Problem with the WX-268, January 13, 2006

By 

J. Kamienski "Jerry Kam" (Falcon, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Am/fm Emergency Alert Clock Radio (Electronics)

In early Jan 2006 I purchased a WX-268 weather radio. After setting up the unit everything appeared to be fine. . Reception was good. The only feature that I could not test was the alert feature. The next day a weather alert was received but the radio did not alarm. The indicator light on the radio was lit. Further examination revealed that the radio had locked up. It would not respond to any attempt to unlock the unit. Finally, I had to disconnect the power and remove the batteries to completely reset the radio.

I reprogrammed the radio, and waited. Within hours a second warning alert was issued by the National Weather Service. The radio locked up again, requiring removal of all power to reset the radio.

At this point I packaged up the radio and sent it back to Amazon requesting a replacement. Three days later the replacement arrived (Great service from Amazon). Installed batteries, programed it and set it on the shelf waiting for the next alert signal to be sent by the NWS. The weather had been calm and I suspected that the next alert to be sent by the NWS would be their weekly test signal that is sent on Wednesdays. In anticipation of the weekly test signal I reprogrammed the radio to unblock "test" signals.

On Wednesday the test signal was received by the radio and it failed to alarm. It completely locked up requiring removal of power to reset the radio. This was the exact failure experienced by the first radio.

This time I sent the radio back and requested a refund.

The WX-268 has a design flaw. It may be limited to the production run from which my two units were manufactured but that is only conjecture on my part. I am also troubled by the short 90 day manufacturer's warranty.

Based on my first hand experience with this radio and its short warranty I cannot recommend this radio. Two thumbs way down.

Think long and hard before you trust your safety to this radio.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "RADIO RECEPTION ERROR-LISTEN TO BROADCAST", January 1, 2006

By 

B (KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Am/fm Emergency Alert Clock Radio (Electronics)

This was my first weather radio purchase. The day I opened the box we had tornado warnings in the area and 15 minutes after plugging it in I received an alert. I like the atomic clock feature and scrolling text. As far as it alerting to inclement weather it does a fine job...BUT

The second night that I had the radio, somewhere around 3 in the morning, the alarm went off. I did not recall the news saying there was supposed to be any bad weather so I glanced at the radio to turn off the audio and the screen said "Radio Reception Error-Listen to Broadcast." I did just that but there was no weather emergency-in fact it was clear as could be outdoors. I turned it off and approximately 45 minutes later it did the exact same thing. At this point I was concerned and I just flipped the switch to mute the alarm.

I moved the radio to different areas of the house thinking that these error messages could have something to do with a possible weak signal. No matter the location I would the get alerts/error messages-sometimes as much as 5 per day.

I think this radio would be great if it were not for the error messages I have been receiving. I have boxed up the radio and it is on its way back to Amazon for a replacement. I will give this radio one more chance. If the new one does the same thing, I will buy another brand.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Design Flaw - "Radio reception error", February 2, 2006

By 

K. Coomes (Henderson, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Am/fm Emergency Alert Clock Radio (Electronics)

This radio should be taken off the market. The other reviewers are absolutely right. It constantly alarms (usually in the middle of the night) with "Radio Reception Error" message yet there is nothing in the manual about this. Not a clue as to what the problem might be or how to reset or disable it. You have to unplug the device and remove the batteries to reset it and it comes back again within hours. The customer service was no help. All they said was that I would have to send the radio in to them to have it repaired. A brand new radio just out of the box? I don't think so. It is being returned to Amazon for a refund. Too bad, if I could have just turned that one alarm off or disabled it everything else about this radio worked great.