MIDLAND WR300 Weather Radio
by Midland
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of MIDLAND WR300 Weather Radio
Customer Review: Initial Feedback on WR-300
Summary: 5 Stars
We just experienced a major tornado near where we live and saw the tremendous damage caused. After seeing the damage, I decided to invest in a weather radio. I conducted an extensive on-line review and settled on the WR-300. Several writers complained about the complexity in setting up the radio and poor radio quality. I was looking for weather alert features and flexibility which the WR-300 provides.
The package arrived yesterday and it took about 15 minutes to program the radio. I'm not sure why people are so adverse to reading things now a day because I read the instructions and easily figured out how to program the radio to alert me only on certain SAME codes with filters I could define. I was able to select how much, or how little, info and alert warning I wanted. As far as I'm concerned, this product is meeting my needs.
As far as the radio goes, I use it to wake up in the morning. Given I'm half asleep anyway I don't fret over the "sound quality." As a matter of fact I woke up this morning and did not notice any difference in sound quality than from my original desk radio. Again, if someone wants to have quality radio sound and a weather radio, buy a new radio and something other than the WR-300. If it wakes me during an actual alert (my number 1 priority)or just for me to get my morning coffee (an added bonus), then I'm quite satisfied.
We have not had bad weather yet so I cannot comment on how well it performs. Once I have some experience with this I'll pass my impressions along.
Bottom line: If you want a product that gives you flexible options with an ability to select your level of "comfort," then this appears to be the best option I could find. If you'd like a simple radio to wake you in the morning and really don't care about sound quality, then this appears to be a viable option.
Customer Review: Best weather radio I have ever had...
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a superb weather radio. I have been searching and tried a number of consumer retail weather radios over the years in the moderately expensive price range. None have performed, as well as, the Midland WR-300. It works absolutely flawlessly as a weather radio. If one follows the directions it is extremely easy to setup and use. Also, the alert alarm is loud and clear. I have been using the one I have for a number of months.
I have never had a missed alert with the WR-300. It responds to all of the NOAA test signals perfectly. It also responds to all of the tornado alerts, floods, amber alerts, just everything perfectly where I live. And the reception is very stable and clear. Never, have I seen a consumer retail weather radio perform like the WR-300. Just as a note, I am also an electronics professional and have a very clear understanding of electronic equipment.
This radio is perfect as a weather radio. If you are looking for an alarm clock, an AM/FM radio, etc. then this is not the radio for you. It is, however, a superb weather radio. The clock is difficult to see and use as an alarm clock and the AM/FM reception leaves a lot to be desired in selectivity, reception and tonal quality. I think the goal of the designers was to deliver a wonderful weather radio and the AM/FM broadcast bands and alarm clock functions were secondary.
With this said, I do need to add that the tonal quality of the weather information is superb and exceptionally clear, as well, as the stability of the receptivity NOAA signal. Just FYI, what I do is use the WR-300 as a high quality weather radio, but I have a separate clock radio with AM/FM, alarm clock, etc.
I give the WR-300 my highest rating possible as a fine consumer retail weather radio for every day use.
Customer Review: Beware In Louisville, KY Area
Summary: 1 Stars
I got one of these back in early April of this year. We had a couple of days of severe weather in the area. The unit would not alert when the NWS sent out alerts. I changed back and forth from "multi" county to "all" counties, but no alerts. I was listening to the alerts on another weather radio I have, and I don't believe they were broadcasting the data burst with the SAME info contained in the burst. I was only hearing the 1050khz tone. I contacted Midland via email to ask them if the unit responds to both the tone, and data burst. They replied without answering the question, and asked me to return the unit since they thought it was faulty. I contacted Amazaon about returning the unit, and had no problem. In fact they automatically shipped out another unit. However when I received the new unit and set it up, it would not respond to alerts either. I sent an email to the NWS office here in Louisville to see if someone there had the same unit and could give me some advice. I heard back from them today, and they said they had two of same units in their office which they could never get to alert! They did not say anything about the data burst and the tone signal, but I'm GUESSING that this unit does not respond to the 1050khz tone only, but needs the data burst also. I'm going to contact Midland again about this and see what they say.
Update...I contacted Midland and they said the unit does not respond to the 1050hz tone, but to the SAME data burst. I can only assume the NWS office wasn't transmitting the SAME info. We have had an outbreak of numerous severe thunderstorms today, along with tornado watches...the unit has worked flawlessly. So sorry for the low rating, but if for some reason your NWS office doesn't transmit the SAME data the unit won't alert you.
Customer Review: Easy to program, but some problems
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this weather radio after a series of deadly tornadoes hit in the middle of the night about 20 miles from my home here in Fla. I have never had one before and bought it based on reading Amazon reviews (very helpful!). Unlike some of the other reviewers,I found it easy to program; I just followed the instructions. I used the SAME feature to program in receiving alerts for only the adjacent counties. The first week, it received a tornado watch and the weekly test from NOAA. Since then, however, it has received only the weekly tests---never any alerts. I changed the setting to "all counties" so I would not be limited in receiving alerts, but I still don't get any. I know there have been some, because I see them on TV and also hear them on the NOAA weather station. I've gone over everything in the instructions, with no results. I guess I'll have to call Midland. That's why I gave it only 3 stars.
There is one feature I don't like. Although the unit has a "memory" of 10 past alerts, it doesn't tell you when they occurred. For example, my radio's memory now says "weekly test" about 5 times, but I have no way to know if it is this week, or last week, or when. If I'm not sitting at home on Wed. from 10 - 12:00 to hear the beeper when it goes off, I don't know if the radio received that weekly alert or not.
The display is easy to read when lit up, although it would be better with a different color background (not blue), and it lights up when you press a button. I had thought I might be able to use it for a bedside clock, but it is too hard to see. The date portion of the display is very large, but the time display is tiny and up in one corner. Also, it has gray numerals on the blue background. I am nearsighted---that just didn't work!
Customer Review: Poor design - consider Reecom R-1650 instead
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased and returned this unit because it was not designed to be user friendly in any way.
As many other reviews have mentioned, there are issues with the beeping of buttons, difficulties with some aspects of the display, and failure to alert if a warning tone is broadcast without a SAME signature (which some NOAA stations don't broadcast, making this radio useless for those areas).
But the deal killer for me is that the Midland WR-300 does NOT recognize the End of Message (EOM) tone sent at the end of an alert. Instead, it remains on for a set period of 5 minutes.
This is poor design for two reasons. First, most alerts are less than five minutes. So if the WR-300 goes off in the middle of the night, I have to get up and manually turn off the radio in order to go back to sleep when the alert message is over. The second problem is that some of the most significant weather alerts that I have received over the years have been long enough that the five minute timer would have shut off the radio before the end of the message was broadcast. (This is a rare case, but when it happens it is a very major issue.)
Even without the EOM issue, this radio had poor reception when challenged by being near several radio towers. Most radios have adequate adjacent channel rejection to work OK in my location, but the Midland (and a few others) played the local country music station in the background no matter what I was tuned to or where I placed the radio.
I would definitely recommend the Reecom R-1650 weather radio instead of the Midland WR-300.
R-1650 All Hazard - Weather Alert Radio with AM/FM