Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I disagree with one of the other reviews posted here. The WR-100 does not need batteries to operate and functions extremely well if programed with the correct SAME codes. . Our radio was extremely easy to program and was operable within 5 minutes of opening the box. Make sure you refer to the instructions and acquire the SAME County codes via the NOAA website: www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/indexnw.htm

I highly recommend this model to anyone who might live in a dangerous weather region, I live in the heart of tornado alley.

This is a great product which has not failed my family yet. Please make sure you check into the products you need.

This radio is superb. It is easy to setup, and functions very well in our area. It has more options for user selection than any other similar device I've used. No home should be without one.

My favorite product that could be made is the
WR-100 Midland All-Hazards Alert NOAA Weather Radio. I haven't heard of many 11-year-olds with their own, but I love it MUCH! It has weekly and monthly tests, system demos, and national pereodic tests. It used to ware down my batteries, but that was because I plugged it into the middle jack instead of the DC jack. I thought the wire(s) in the cord was torn! It was just a mistake - so a heads up for everyone purchasing one so you don't waste as many batteries as I did. :) It's the nicest thing EVER for it's price. The perfect NOAA Weather Radio!!!

This unit was actually delivered to me Thursday and we had our first severe weather of this season on Sunday, four days later.

This radio allows you to listen to weather forecasts at any time want to by pressing one button (when you first get the radio choose one of seven frequencies for which you get the best reception.)

The best part of this radio is the "S.A.M.E." technology which only sounds alarms for severe weather in the in the county where you live. You can choose to have alarms sounds for multiple counties area your area refer if you prefer.

Because the National weather service station in my area covers such a large area, severe weather watches and warnings are very common. The "S.A.M.E" Technology allows the radio to sound the alarm only when severe weather threatens the county in which I live.

The radio is easy to program and the user's manual answered any questions I had.

Works as intended. Warned of impending severe thunderstorms within a week of our receipt, at 2 AM. As others have reported, programming isn't all that intuitive, but easily accomplished if you read the manual. Sound isn't audiophile quality, but that's not necessary. Reception in our area is OK, not great, with built in antenna fully extended. Note that though the manual states one needs AAA batteries, the unit actually takes three AA batteries. Also handy for checking NOAA's daily weather predictions, simply by pressing the "Weather / Snooze" bar. Prior to purchase, I was unclear of the difference between the "B" and "C" versions of this product. Best I can tell, the "C" version incorporates Civil Emergency / Amber Alert functionality.

I just received two. Small size, battery backup, in a storm just unplug the household 120V supply adapter and use the 3-AA batteries to continue to listen. Receiver sensitivity is very good, just with telescoping antenna. S.A.M.E. programing is easy and lets you just listen to those counties you want to be alerted to. Nice selection for being alerted: Voice, Tone or just text messaging with no sound but LED light indicators;along with Blue/Black LCD scripting. If you care about your family or looking for a great gift, I would highly recommend this unit!

I recently purchased the Midland WR100 for my mother-in-law's home. I own the Midland 74-200 radio and it has worked well. The WR100 is much easier to program than the 74-200. The manual is much easier to read than the somewhat cryptic 74-200 manual. Either radio is a great choice. Features are similar for each. The main difference is the LCD display. The WR100 faces the top (parallel to the ground), while the 74-200 faces the front (perpendicular to the ground.) This may be an issue in regards to placement.