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Oregon Scientific Portable NOAA Weather Radio, WR103 (MPN: WR103)
Description: Monitors U.S. Emergency All Hazards, and Emergency Alert Systems weather bulletins, warnings, & forecasts, Receives all National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association reports, which provides all available emergency advisories on tornadoes, se.... Read More Description: Monitors U.S. Emergency All Hazards, and Emergency Alert Systems weather bulletins, warnings, & forecasts, Receives all National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association reports, which provides all available emergency advisories on tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, floods, evacuations, civil danger warnings and more Flexible programming - select Specific Area Message Encoding boradcasts in up to 6 different counties100 Decibel audio alarm with visual alert signal levels of NOAA messages: Statement, Watch, Warning Clock & calender in English, French, or Spanish Crescendo alarm with snooze function, Includes convienient stand , AC Adaptor, & 3 Alkaline Batteries Minimize |
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| Date Reviewed: 06/23/2006 |
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Strengths: it is small, light weight AND IT WORKS !
Weaknesses: none found so far
Summary: This one was ordered for night time use in the bed room. I have just ordered a second one for use in our day room.
It was not hard to set up including the local area codes. Its audio is certainly loud enough. I am only using it as a fixed unit with the ac adapter and it seems to meet all its advertised features. what more could I ask.
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| Date Reviewed: 04/11/2006 |
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Strengths: The SAME technology is wonderful.
Weaknesses: The control interface is a little awkward.
Summary: All in all this is a very nice little unit. It sounds good. Does a good job picking up the warnings. It isn't too difficult to operate once you've read the directions.
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| Date Reviewed: 09/27/2005 |
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Strengths: Covrniant and a good size
Weaknesses: Hard to understand instructions
Summary: this is a very good radio and does wake you up at night if there is a warning that is issued for yourloacal area. the instructions are the only negative thing i have to say about this item...... it took me a while to figure it out. you may also need to go on their internet or call a 1-800 number to get a number code to enter into the radio that is specific to you local area. item works great!
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| Date Reviewed: 07/30/2004 |
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Strengths: Large backlit display, multiple weather channels, built-in alarm clock, severe storm warning alarm with S.A.M.E. technology, weather-resistant housing.
Weaknesses: Relatively short battery life with included batteries, included stand does not charge/power the radio( you must take it out of the stand to use the included AC adaptor.
Summary: Overall, the Oregon Scientific portable NOAA weather radio model WR103 is a great performer for the price. The large LCD display has an electroluminescent backlight that works really well. The nicest safety feature is how you can place the radio in stadby mode, and when the National Weather Service issues an emergency warning (like the ones you hear on the radio with the warning tones that say, "This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System...." ), it emits a loud alarm tone and then tells you what the warning is (i.e., tornado/hurricaine/thunderstorm/flood, etc.). This is a nice feature because if the warning comes in the middle of the night, the radio will wake you up so you can take action. (This was important to me, since several years back a series of tornadoes ripped through a town a few hundred miles to the west of us, killing 5 or 6 people as they slept.) Additionally, if you live in an area where your power goes out whenever nasty weather shows up (rendering your TV useless), this radio will give you up-to-the-minute weather and information reports that you can't get on standard AM/FM broadcast stations.
The unit is small enough to fit in a pocket, and it comes with a detachable belt clip. It seems pretty sturdy, as it has shown no ill effects from accidentally dropping it a couple of times. The batteries that came with it (even though the packaging said "batteries not included") didn't last very long. Not sure if that's because I keep it in "standby mode" 24/7 or because the batteries don't appear to be alkalines. I replaced them with Duracells, and it seems to be doing well with those. There is a "battery low" indicator on the display to let you know when it's time to change them so you won't be stuck without power when you need it. The S.A.M.E. technology allows you to select several counties around where you live to notify you of county-specific weather alerts. This is helpful so that you don't get awoken every time there is a flood warning in a river 300 miles to the south of you! You have to call an 800 number to get your county codes to program the SAME feature on your radio (or, there may even be websites with the state/county codes---I'm not sure).
One thing that I wish this unit had was a built-in charger/AC connector for the included stand. That way, you could drop it in the charger to conserve battery life or to even recharge Ni-Cads. The unit DOES come with an AC adaptor, but to use it you have to take the radio out of the stand.
Never having owned a weather radio before, I'm not sure how it would compare to others like it. So far, I am very satisfied with its performance and features, and would buy it again.
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| Date Reviewed: 09/17/2004 |
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Strengths: Compact size, S.A.M.E. technology, receives all N.O.A.A. channels, audio/visual weather alert signals, dual alarm clock, AC/DC (AC adaptor is uncluded), and a docking station that serves as a stand.
Weaknesses: Antenna -- maybe.
Summary: Functionality is great. The S.A.M.E. (Specific Area Message Encoding) codes allow you to receive only the reports you want and not be annoyed by reports that don’t affect you. Programming frequencies only takes a few minutes to get the hang of (S.A.M.E. codes can be found at NOAA's web site.) The radio is AC/DC, which means you can take it anywhere; great for camping! I purchased it in the summer of 2004 after being faced with multiple tornados on the ground, within 10 – 15 miles of us, in each of the first two camping weekends of the season. I won’t camp without it again! While the unit is in the standby mode (ready to turn on when an alert is broadcasted), power consumption is apparently minimal. While camping, I use 2300 mAh rechargeable batteries. I keep the charger with me, but have never had to recharge the two AA batteries. Although it says batteries not included, my unit came with batteries (not rechargeables.)
If I had to change anything about the unit, I might have added a little more antenna. I’ve had it out camping in some areas that were a little more remote, and signal strength might have been a little weak. However, this is easily corrected by making only a slight position change of the unit – not that big a deal. If I feel the need to purchase a second unit, one that incorporates an AM/FM radio might be nice while out camping.
This is a highly recommended unit.
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| Date Reviewed: 03/04/2007 |
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Strengths: It is small and portable . It has ac adapter but has battery back up if you lose power. Program for local county alerts only. Quality construction and looks nice too!
Weaknesses: The programming takes patience, but trial and error seems to work fine.
Summary: This is the best purchase that I have made for my family in a long time. The Feb 2 tornadoes passed within 1 mile of my house and we slept through it! I have it programmed and on. I hope I never have to use it, but it is comforting to know that it is here!
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| Date Reviewed: 11/27/2005 |
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Strengths: audio and visual weather alert signals, includes alarm clock and AC adaptor and docking station.
Weaknesses: none that I can tell
Summary: I love the fact that you can set the area for your particular county or surrounding counties. Having the alarm clock with it is very handy. The docking station is great to have.
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