Customer Reviews

WeatherX FR6817DT 7-Channel NOAA Weatherband Digital Radio

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After reading some of the reviews here I had my doubts as to whether this little gadget collection would be worth 30 bux. Well, I'm pleasantly surprised. We've used it with several tornado warnings and had no problems that weren't solved by reading the manual. In fact, most of the issues on the reviews here are easily solved by reading a bit.
I don't know what's with people these days. I guess they expect the devices to start talking and tell them what to do.
Here's our results.

Pro:
Comes with a built in very bright, yet adjustable, set of LED lights in lamp shape.
Comes with a great radio that picks up AM weather stations well.
Has storage in the back
Heavy enough to beat the kids with.

Cons:
Turning the crank to power the radio isn't a "three cranks and go for 45 minutes thing". You need to crank the heck out of it to get it running and even if you crank it for a good long while you're still going to need to turn on the lamp so you can watch for the battery running down (it goes dim just before).

I bought this radio because we camp and needed something that would alarm in the night in the event of severe weather. I have read through the little owners manual that came with the radio and have tried every combination of settings to get the weather alert to work. I have written the company twice for help and have not received any response. The other features work well, but the feature I bought it for either doesn't exist or is too complicated for me or my techy hubby to figure out. And the customer service doesn't seem to exist either.

I was very surprised to see how much this radio does. It is a very good value, and it is a great asset to my emergency preparedness kit.

Looks like it could be a very nice weather radio, but here's the full set of instructions they give you on the weather radio:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) 7 band weatherband alerts you to the latest news and weather, specific to the largest nearby city. In addition you can tune into other local broadcasts with the AM/FM radio.

Those AREN'T directions! I still have no clue how to get this thing to work. I've figured out on my own by looking through the internet that there's a special code to enter, but with those worthless directions I have no idea how to program them in! Thanks weatherx!

This is a compact, well thought out, piece of equipment. It came just in time just before the latest hurricane threathend my local community. It picked up the signal with great clarity, 5 X 5 for you radio operators. It has a battery similar to those found in wireless land line phones. It charged up in a matter of a few hours.
Definitely recommend this weather radio.

This is a great emergency lantern with NOAA radio, and several nice features like a thermometer, removable flashlight, and flexible neck LED light. I purchased this to use when I go out on Red Cross emergency casework (fires where there is usually no light at night) or shelters where I need a combination of features. Once you add batteries, especially if you buy rechargeables (not included with this product) it costs "about" the same as other rechargeable emergency lanterns on the market. However, it has more features.

The WeatherX is more useful than expected. I bought it to have as an off grid device for use during power outages, but have found it to have a nicer radio receiver than expected so I'll not pack it away just for emergency use. Radio has digital tuning as well as line-in and stereo headphone jack so I find it okay for casual radio listening despite only having one built in speaker. Line-in audio volume is adjustable so I've plugged in an audio line from my computer and am now using it as an external speaker.

It was well worth buying just for the LED lamp and removable LED flashlight. Flashlight may be powered on via a switch on the front panel while docked and alternately removed for use with batteries. Depending upon what type of batteries you install in the flashlight you may charge it or not while docked. Built in positionable LED lamp has several switchable light settings making it even more useful.

My WeatherX will be kept out for everyday use and a couple of sets of spare batteries will be packed away with my emergency candle supply just in case of an extended power outage. It also came with a 12v DC power cord as well as an AC power brick making it useful at home and away. It is not my best radio receiver, but it is my best radio with a weather band and was an excellent value for the price paid. I recommend it as your spare flashlight / spare lamp / spare radio for casual and off grid use whether for garage, picnic, or use during power outages. It also works well as an external computer speaker.

As the unit is portable and the LED lamp head is flexible and positionable it is suitable for occasional use as a chore light or home flashlight.

The built in clock does not display the time while you are using the radio, but does display while playing audio from the line-in. Overall it is an excellent spare flashlight / lamp / radio for use off grid and nice enough for use far more often than just during power outages.



























































































































































































































































2335t it well enough to use it much much more often. Would make an excellent back-up lamp radio for use during power outages, but offers enough neat feature

I admit, I like gadgets, so when I first saw this product in the back of a Fingerhut catalog, I thought, hmm, would be good BD present for my roommate who is a Chesapeake crabber. Once I showed him how to use it, he NEVER left to go crabbing without it! It's got AM/FM/NOAA, a siren to wake up the almost dead, a gooseneck multi-adjustable LED lamp for power outages or 'dark' shadows, and a flashlight that will take either rechargeable or "AA" batteries. And,it's got the Dynamo crank. When we split, I got one for myself, and when my mother-in-law saw it, she said: I want three! (for Christmas presents, plus one for her household.) When the recipients got theirs, THEY wanted more, too. WHen Fingerhut discontinued it, I found it here on Amazon, at $20.oo less!

For anyone who wants to be prepared for an emergency weather situation, this is what you need. Why I didn't give it 5 stars, is because the radio shuts off after 15 minutes when unplugged, and you have to charge, run down, and recharge several times to get the radio working so you don't have to crank every 15 minutes. Otherwise, it really is nice. Looks and feels like a component five times its price

...it's to big and sound quality is poor but I guess in an emergency and that's what it's for ...it's good but you'll have to make the choice between the baby and the radio ....because you won't be able to carry them both!

You'd think from looking at this product that it would be superior to anything out there at the price with all of its features and specs. I was very disappointed. I missed any return exchange time because afterward, I found out I'd have to spend like $75 on rechargeable batteries for it. ANd it's not even a sensible number of batteries. 9 D batteries?! Why 9?
After all of this investing into my product... I find that the recharging either must not work or it drains fast because it still only stayed charged for about 2 hours with only radio on, the sound quality stunk up the place, and the reception was horrible with that cheap flimsy antenna.
Tried contacting their support and customer service and they refused to answer my e-mails. Not to mention that after just light use, the seam on the case is cracking apart. WHAT A PEICE OF JUNK!!!!!