Weather Radios

This is the home page of Graham McClung, a geologist and amateur weather enthusiast, who offers advice and purchase recommendations for selecting weather radios. The review is well written, and the… background information on features and radio signals is helpful. However, his recommendations are based on features rather than testing. Among portables, McClung lauds the Midland WR-100, which is more affordable than comparable Oregon Scientific models and comes with a stand. The Reecom R-1650, First Alert WX-167 and Midland WR-300 are all standout desktop choices, but McClung is most impressed with the WR-300's "extra options at little extra cost." McClung also recommends a newer version, the Oregon Scientific WR108 (now sold as the WR602), a combination of a portable weather radio and temperature station, formally called the Public Alert Radio and Weather Docking Station, which is fully portable and provides basic forecasting.

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The Wall Street Journal's Walter S. Mossberg reviews two emergency crank radios in an older column about preparing for disasters. The review is not overly long and focuses more on features than performance,… but it does cover the essentials. Mossberg gives the nod to the Eton FR300. He particularly appreciates that this emergency radio can use multiple power sources, including a hand crank, batteries and power adapter. The radio's ability to double as an emergency cell-phone charger is also a nice plus.

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Amazon.com has increased the usability of its owner reviews by placing the rating and the number of reviews on the main navigation page along with a side-by-side listing of the most helpful favorable and… critical reviews. The quality of the write-ups varies greatly, but there are enough reviews of weather alert radios for a consensus to emerge. Currently, the Midland WR-300 appears to be a favorite with more than 500 reviews and a rating of 4.5 (out of five), with the positive comments far outweighing the negative. The Midland WR-100B is also well regarded, and the Eton FR300 is the top emergency crank radio. While the American Red Cross FR150 (by Eton) has only 87 reviews compared to the Eton FR300's 139, it also has an average rating of four stars out of five. Both radios have a flashlight and cell-phone charger.

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Radio Shack.com is another top retailer of weather radios with user-posted product reviews. It sells its own brand of weather radios, as well as those of several other manufacturers. This site is the best… -- if not the only -- place to find feedback on Radio Shack products. Navigation is straightforward, with both the rating and number of reviews posted on the main page. Reviewers post pros and cons, best uses, information on themselves and general comments, as well as a bottom-line judgment on whether or not they would recommend a product. Among Radio Shack weather radios, the 12-522 7 Channel Handheld Weather Radio with SAME has 15 reviews and an average rating of four stars out of five. The Midland WR-300 All-Hazard Weather Alert Radio has nearly 25 reviews, with a higher average rating of 4.5 stars out of five.

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Two lengthy video reviews (really one review split into two videos) by a user on SurvivalistBoards.com discuss the Eton FR-300. The reviewer does a nice job of describing and demonstrating the various… features of this model in detail, although some extraneous information is included. The review provides in-depth insight into how long this particular model will last after charging and with battery usage.

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AmbientWeather.com is an online retailer offering a wide variety of weather- and emergency-related products. While its primary focus is obviously on selling products, it does offer informative content on… different product categories, including weather radios. The site's focus on weather-related products lends some credibility to the Editor's Choice picks, which for weather radios includes the Midland WR-11. The editors say this model is affordable and reliable, with many features.

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Though most user-review sites are hosted by retailers, Epinions.com provides an independent forum where contributors can express their likes and dislikes about products they own. Some of the reviews are… brief, but others can be quite long and detailed. Few weather or emergency radios get more than a review or two. One exception is the Sony SRF-M37V, a Walkman radio that includes weather band coverage. With about 30 reviews and an average rating of four out of five, it receives good marks overall; however, few posters address its performance as a weather radio. Some users voice frustrations with the lack of auto scan and the button labels wearing off.

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The ExpoTV Channel at Yahoo! Video is a forum where users can post video reviews of products they own. Like most user reviews, the quality varies greatly, and these are less helpful than other expert and… user write-ups since they express only one consumer's opinion and don't provide ratings. However, the videos drop the cloak of anonymity that often undermines the credibility of user critiques. These radio owners provide a rundown of features and offer comments about what they like or dislike, and are quite earnest in pointing out things big and small that matter considerably when weighing the merits of a specific product. The Radio Shack 12-262 is among the nine radios reviewed.

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About.com's guide to weather Rachelle Oblack provides "an unbiased list of weather radios and scanners." However, we are not sure how Oblack came up with this list, as none of the radios appears to actually… have been tested. Further, the list is not ranked, as Oblack says products "are in no particular order because every family has different needs and budgets." Readers are invited to submit their own reviews of the radios mentioned, with a promise to publish, so this might become a more worthwhile stop in the future. (Note: ConsumerSearch is owned by About.com, but the two don't share an editorial affiliation.)

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