Not that I really needed one since I receive the National Weather Service broadcasts on all 3 of my 2 meter radios, plus the VHF Marine radio that's also in the shack, but I wanted another alarm clock in the bedroom since my wife keeps the clock radio on her side of the bed, and we get up at different times. So instead of getting another AM / FM clock radio, I decide to pick up a "cheap" weather radio alarm clock from Rat Shack, and as I've always said...."you get what you pay for".....I got what I paid for from Rat Shack....
Not that this cheap weather radio alarm clock didn't work, because it does, but the features are extremely limited. The alert function can not be disabled, and no S.A.M.E. code option, so when I'm spending the night at the fire station, and a severe thunderstorm threatens Delaware, my wife gets woken up by an alert that isn't intended for our county. Plus the volume on both the alert, and the weather radio are very loud, and that's at it's lowest setting....
Today I picked up a Midland WR-300, this radio has every feature you could possibly expect in a Weather Alert radio. Programmable S.A.M.E. codes, programmable alerts, I can program the alert to be Voice, Siren, or silenced, AM / FM radio, continuous back lit display with day, month, time, alarm time, and during alerts it displays what the alert is for. It also has the option of connecting an external antenna, external alert device like a strobe, it has a good speaker so the voice doesn't sound like it's coming through a 55 gallon steel drum.
These things are all over eBay, I've seen them going for approx $45.00 plus shipping to $60.00 shipping included. I got mine from a local friend who's in the 2 way Emmcom radio business for $45.00, and that's not bad for a radio with a listed retail price of $89.99
Something to think about since today is the first day of the 2009 hurricane season.......
Not that this cheap weather radio alarm clock didn't work, because it does, but the features are extremely limited. The alert function can not be disabled, and no S.A.M.E. code option, so when I'm spending the night at the fire station, and a severe thunderstorm threatens Delaware, my wife gets woken up by an alert that isn't intended for our county. Plus the volume on both the alert, and the weather radio are very loud, and that's at it's lowest setting....
Today I picked up a Midland WR-300, this radio has every feature you could possibly expect in a Weather Alert radio. Programmable S.A.M.E. codes, programmable alerts, I can program the alert to be Voice, Siren, or silenced, AM / FM radio, continuous back lit display with day, month, time, alarm time, and during alerts it displays what the alert is for. It also has the option of connecting an external antenna, external alert device like a strobe, it has a good speaker so the voice doesn't sound like it's coming through a 55 gallon steel drum.
These things are all over eBay, I've seen them going for approx $45.00 plus shipping to $60.00 shipping included. I got mine from a local friend who's in the 2 way Emmcom radio business for $45.00, and that's not bad for a radio with a listed retail price of $89.99
Something to think about since today is the first day of the 2009 hurricane season.......
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....had that happened at night in the house I would of had to toss it out a window......
...runna pile-up on 6m SSB
W4AXW in the air