Midland WR-100C Weather / All Hazards / Civil Emergency Alert Monitor with S.A.M.E.

by Midland

Product Details

Product Manual [402kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 5.5 x 2.2 inches ; 1.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000AMK36
• Item model number: WR-100
• Batteries: 3 AA batteries required.
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,740 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #79 in Electronics > Home Audio & Theater > Radios > Shortwave Radios
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 14, 2003

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Stay alert to the conditions that affect you with Midland's WR-100 weather/all-hazard radio. The unit offers S.A.M.E. technology (Specific Area Message Encoding), which preprograms the device to receive only those warnings that apply to your local area--you can choose state, county, and/or nearby counties. The single-speaker radio offers 25 programmable county codes, access to 7 NOAA weather channels, time/date and alarm functions, and a choice of voice, siren, or tone alert.

In the event of special warning broadcasts, the monitor is automatically activated along with a loud tone, an LED light and an alert message on its 8-character LCD. Emergency weather bulletins include alerts about tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, ice/snow storms, and other severe weather. Other emergencies might include Amber alerts, explosions, fires, or hazardous chemical spills.

The radio uses the supplied AC power adapter or 3 AA backup batteries (not included). Batteries should give you approximately 24 hours of continuous operation; the clock will run for at least 10 days on batteries when the monitor is turned off (using the monitor on/off control).

What's in the Box
Radio, AC power adapter, and a user's manual.

Product Description

This Midland Electronics NOAA weather radio alerts you to potential danger and can be programmed for up to 25 different counties, ensuring that only relevant alerts come through. Common Usage: Weather radio, Weather Resistant: No, Alert Priority: Yes, Channels (qty.): 25, LED Light: Yes, LCD Display: Yes, Batteries Required: Yes, for emergency backup, Battery Included: No, Mounting Type: Freestanding mount, Includes: 12-hour clock display with alarm and snooze option

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

118 of 119 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It works!, March 23, 2005

By 

Rune Horvik (Waldorf, MD, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Midland WR-100C Weather / All Hazards / Civil Emergency Alert Monitor with S.A.M.E. (Electronics)

In retrospect, I wish I had ordered the WR-300, as the WR-100 does not have an AM/FM tuner. When you're hiding out in your bathroom during severe weather (and my WR-100 is located in my master bathroom for convenience), it would be nice to be able to listen to your local radio stations for bulletins. Still, this radio performed flawlessly just a few hours after I opened it up. It woke me up at 1am to tell me there was a tornado watch in my area, and I turned on The Weather Channel and confirmed this.

The manual comes with a set of instructions on how to get the radio up and running. DO NOT SKIP THESE! You should not assume that you know how to use this product intuitively, because it is not a very intuitive product at first. It will become extremely easy to use later, but only AFTER following the instructions in the manual to the letter. SAME codes for your region can be found at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/indexnw.htm#sametable

I bought this radio even though it had a few bad reviews, because I was pretty sure that some of the bad reviews were just operator error. My radio runs just fine plugged into household current, and will run for several days on the 3 backup AA batteries. Keep a pack of spare AA batteries around, because this radio is a real lifesaver and you don't want it to run dry during a power failure.

Two reasons I gave this radio 4 stars instead of 5:
1. No AM/FM radio. If you need that, get the WR-300.
2. When the weather radio switch on the right side is set to "on", every keypress will react with a very loud BEEP! If you use this radio as an alarm clock in a quiet bedroom, you must first turn that switch to "off" and then the unit will operate silently while you adjust your alarm time or activate the backlight to check the time. This is a small nuisance and I wish it had been designed differently. Don't forget to turn that switch back "on" when you're done, or the radio won't sound an alarm in case of an emergency.

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Radio Can Save Your Bacon, June 10, 2006

By 

jr_Tech (Portland OR. area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midland WR-100C Weather / All Hazards / Civil Emergency Alert Monitor with S.A.M.E. (Electronics)

Note: this is a copy of a review that I posted for the WR-100B, which appears to be nearly the same (check both listings for best price).

I live in Oregon, which is not noted for severe storms, but I was really caught "off guard" last week when a severe thunderstorm with a large amount of hail blew through. Severe weather can occur almost anywhere! Shortly after the storm, I ordered one of these weather alert radios to keep me more aware of any local hazard that could pose a threat.

The radio itself is quite sensitive, and provides reception of several more distant weather stations that can not be picked up by less sensitive receivers such as the general purpose (AM/FM/TV/Wx) Sony 410 (see my review of the Sony).

The big deal here is the weather alert function... The radio can be set to be silent until it receives a specially coded message from the NOAA weather station. The radio can be programmed to respond to "codes" from one area or several, so you can adjust your "zone of protection" to suit your needs. When a warning that affects the area that you have programmed in (by setting specific SAME codes) is detected, a loud alarm or flashing light or voice alert will sound (your choice).

If it is desired to hear a weather report, just push the "weather" button on the unit and listen... very much like those old Radio Shack "weather cubes" that were very popular 20 years ago, but with better reception.

Everyone should have one (or more) of these.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Response to review about will not run on DC power, July 29, 2004

By 

J. Johnsen "Smarty Pants" (Northern MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Midland WR-100C Weather / All Hazards / Civil Emergency Alert Monitor with S.A.M.E. (Electronics)

This product works perfect...and was a great price especially with the rebate....To the person with the problem making the unit run on DC power....you had it plugged into the wrong jack on the back...NOT the middle jack...Plug DC cord into jack labeled DC....and then it will run fine on household current and not eat your batteries.