First Alert Public Alert Radio with S.A.M.E

by First Alert

• Automatically alerts you to a wide variety of severe weather and civil emergencies in your area
• Monitors NOAA weather band day and night, receiving a total of 79 emergency civil and severe weather messages
• Utilizes S.A.M.E. to help you avoid non-local alerts, and is programmable to receive warnings for emergencies specific to your area
• Easy-to-read digital LCD screen shows you time and date, and scrolls through message information during emergencies
• Wall mountable, with a battery back-up for power outages, and a manufacturer's 90-day warranty

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8 x 1.8 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000O1QZW2
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Item model number: WX-150
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (130 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,952 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 6, 2007

Product Description

First Alert Public Alert Radio with S.A.M.E

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

167 of 168 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Paid for itself in the first two days of use June 5, 2007

By Nicholas Christo

Amazon Verified Purchase

This radio arrived (and was set up) two days before very heavy thunderstorms with hail and high winds hit my area. It was early evening and the weather looked sunny and clear outside, when this thing goes off for no apparent reason. I thought it was a mistake or false alarm, but when I turned on the cable weather channel the radar showed a huge thunder storm rapidly forming in the West and moving my way. It's very late in the Spring season right now for a storm like this and I wasn't expecting any harsh weather. I had time to get the cars under cover, find the cat & put her inside and bring in the outdoor furniture cushions before the storm hit. In our neighborhood, we lost some big limbs a few trees and some cars were damaged by hail. Fortunately, I had no damage.

The instructions are not very complicated and the set-up was much, much easier than that required for a VCR or TIVO. It has battery back-up in case the power goes off and doesn't take up a lot of space on the night stand or dresser. Also, you can program which alerts you want to hear and limit the alerts to those applicable to only the County you live in. This really cuts down on unnecessary alarms. For example, though we are in an area that can have flash floods, I don't need this warning because I don't go out in heavy rain or flooding anyway. A warning about a storm only is sufficient. I think I might get this radio as a gift for some elderly friends and relatives of mine. It's a good and very unobtrusive watchdog.

78 of 78 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Well Designed March 2, 2008

By Charles F. Myers

Amazon Verified Purchase

This radio can be programmed not to sound alerts which are unimportant to me. For example, I don't want to hear flash flood warnings as I am not in an area prone to flooding. Basically, what I really want are tornado warnings when issued for three specific counties in Tennessee and one county in Kentucky. This radio can do that. (There are some alerts which cannot be blocked, but these are rare, for example a chemical hazard warning.)

The radio is fairly easy to program. It took me about 30 minutes to get everything the way I wanted it. It runs on AC power and has backup power provided by 4 AA batteries (not included). Overall, I rate this as a very effective, well-designed product, and I have just purchased some additional units for friends.

77 of 77 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing More, Nothing Less July 22, 2007

By D. Craig

This little unit is easy to set up and has the SAME functionality which is important to me since I didn't want to hear warnings for places that weren't near to me. Other units I looked at had extra options like AM/FM radio but I didn't need those features. I just wanted something that would wake me up if a tornado was coming my way. This will warn you of many other things and you can set what you want to be notified about. Follow the instructions, it's pretty easy. It also will take rechargeable NiMH or Ni-Cad batteries and keep them charged. Or, you can switch it to accept Alkaline. The battery backup is important to have. Great unit, no complaints.