MIDLAND WR300 Weather Radio
by Midland
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of MIDLAND WR300 Weather Radio
Customer Review: Great Safety Radio
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this weather radio for use at the store that I work in. We have lots of computers and wireless equipment to run the store, so finding a radio that had good reception was difficult. After reading reviews of the Midland radios, I bought this one and we haven't been disappointed.
The technology here allows us to filter the warnings so that we only hear announcements for our county and only the watches/warnings that we choose to hear about. Living on a lakeshore county, this is important because Special Marine Warnings are issued frequently and are unneccessary in a store 20 miles from the lake.
My only desire for this radio is that when the alert is issued and the siren goes off on the radio, it should turn on the weather radio after the siren has gone off for 5 seconds or so. My radio at home (an older Radio Shack model) does this and it's nice because if we're in the other room, we can just mute the TV and hear what is going on, rather than having to walk back to the bedroom and look at the screen. That feature would make it perfect, but it's still a great radio without that.
*** EDIT: I did eventually find this functionality on the radio. It was mentioned in only one sentence in the manual and I missed it the first few times I searched for it.
I would also add that it would be nice if the intensity of the backlight could be adjusted and the volume of the beeping could be adjusted or at least turned off. Every button that is pressed activates a very loud and annoying beep. Still a very good radio, but I'll leave it at four stars because of these two small "requests."
Customer Review: Midland WR-300 Weather Radio
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently purchased this radio and could not be more pleased. I checked out others on the market and read every review posted on this site.
Not to minimize the frustrations of others, but like most, I did not find setting it up to be a problem.
Regarding the critique about it being promoted as a clock radio, I don't agree with the criticism. It should not be purchased for the purpose of replacing an alarm clock/radio. This unit is first and foremost a weather radio and a very good one at that. The fact that it has the alarm feature makes it that much more appealing. For those who absolutely have to get up at a particular time, it's nice to know you have a second alarm clock with a battery backup that will wake you up even if the power goes out.
I love the fact that it not only has SAME technology, but also the feature of disabling the sirens for the less threatening situations. One reviewer of a DIFFERENT weather radio expressed his frustration of being awakened by his radio for thunderstorms. That would not be an issue with this radio. But if you did want to be notified of such situations, simply enable the alarm for that advisory or watch. It may take a minute to understand how to enable/disable that feature, but once you figure it, it's not that difficult. And Midland has customer service available to assist.
I can't say enough about this radio and the value of knowing your family can sleep safely is priceless. I'm thankful that such a quality product is really quite inexpensive.
Customer Review: Midland WR-300 S.A.M.E. Alert Radio
Summary: 4 Stars
I hold a General Class Amateur Radio License and I am a member of the Tarrant County Texas, Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service aka: "Storm Spotters". My primary reasons for purchasing the radio were for my wife's safety, night time severe weather alerts and easy access to NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts. This radio allows the user to restrict the alerts to only the conditions of interest and also to the county or counties the user selects (the S.A.M.E decoding feature). In my case, my primary concerns are severe thunderstorm and tornado alerts for Fort Worth and Tarrant County. After reading several reviews, I decided this radio met all of my requirements for an emergency NOAA radio. I have not tested the radio under actual conditions, but it is just a matter of time, since I live in "Tornado Alley". The radio is easy to program and operate. The manual instructions are brief, but well written and easy to understand. The radio includes an external antenna, a transformer power supply and a battery backup. Four "AA" batteries are required. Although the radio includes Watch, Statement and Warning alerts for several severe weather conditions, it did not include a Tornado Warning alert. The only tornado alert was a Tornado Watch. I ordered the radio from Amazon.com on the recommendation of another HAM operator. Amazon had the best price, shipped the order promptly and I received the radio earlier than their estimated arrival time. Not a bad deal!Customer Review: Midland WR-300 has "hot" sensitivity, excellant reception.
Summary: 5 Stars
The radio has a specified sensitivity of 0.5 microvolts. It is a radio
with very hot reception on the weather channels. Works flawlessly.
The alpha-numeric readouts on the display will give you the TYPE of
ALERT... and the time that alert will EXPIRE.
The top line: Displays the TYPE of Alert. Will scroll if necessary.
The ACTUAL DATA on the alert is not displayed... that is what the
audio broadcast does.
The 2nd line: Time when the alert EXPIRES.
My radio ALERTS me every wednesday at noon of the Weekly Test.
The purpose is to inform you that the radio is on guard and
properly working. And it works great!
You can add later in the far future, up to five more additional
TYPES of alerts... the blank slots are there in the memory.
Once programmed, it is extremely simple to use. It will even
work normally during power outages, due to the battery backup.
A very important tool to protect yourself and your family during
a hazardous event. I do not consider this a 'another radio' but
as a potential livesaver instead. Very important.
For a tank of gas for your car, you can perhaps save your entire
family... not funny. Am glad i have one now. I can sleep soundly
during rough weather. Download the manual and read the specs.
Thanks Midland for a very professional 'consumer' radio.
The professionalism of Midland should be applauded.
Customer Review: Happy thanks to Amazon
Summary: 4 Stars
The instructions that come with this weather radio leave something to be desired in their clarity and completeness. While one can defeat some of the alarms, not all of the alarms that NOAA provides are listed as one scrolls through available alarms to defeat, which is not described in the instructions. In addition, the first radio I received had some garbage readouts when I was looking for alarms to silence, and also in the county codes selection (one can set it so one only receives warnings for their area). Midland customer service took awhile to get back to me, and when they did, just said this was how it was supposed to be. However, when I told Amazon that I was concerned about the function of the radio I had received, they shipped me another ASAP without my even asking. The replacement radio had none of the idiosyncrasies of the first unit (though there is no "Tornado Warning," etc listed in the alarms one can defeat - this is what is "supposed to be" so one cannot turn off critical alarms). So thanks to Amazon for resolving this. As an aside, note that Midland charges you $7.95 to exercise your warranty if you so choose. What a deal. With the replacement radio, we are satisfied. Seems to work as advertised, though we have not received any warnings as of yet, other then the NOAA test alert. Amazon customer service is why we give it 4 starts; it would be 2 if Amazon had not intervened.