Weather Radio & Charge Cradle Reviews

• Sturdy little weather alert radio - performs well

  
  By A1IK6L0G1VC6R1 on 2007-08-29
  The WR602 is an updated version of the WR108, which had some alert problems. Oregon Scientific changed the model number for the repaired version to avoid confusion. Do not purchase the WR108, which has been discontinued.
  
  The WR602 works well. It has good reception, and once it's set up, is bascially a no-brainer. Plan on spending a few minutes to actually read the instructions and play with the unit when you first receive it, though. We had a nasty storm front hanging over Chicago for several days. Believe me, this radio does what it's supposed to. Over the course of a couple of days I received the weekly test, thunderstorm warnings, a tornado warning, and flash flood warnings, all relevant to my area.
  
  One note: the instructions advise that *when changing batteries*, push the reset button in the battery compartment. This does not "wipe" the unit (location codes are retained), but it does "reboot" it. Apparently if you don't do this (at least on the older model), the unit may not alert properly. I have not had this problem, but your mileage may vary. All that should need to be done after a battery change/reset is to set the clock.
  
  If you don't want audible alerts, you can put it into mute mode. Any current alert will show up on the screen, and the light will blink red, but there will be no audio.
  
  Pros: You have the option of either selecting the station you wish to receive, or you can set it to automatically select the strongest station. You can program up to 9 different SAME codes to only receive alerts for a specific area(s). There is also a travel mode that switches the unit to automatic channel/receive all county alerts. By pressing one button you can ensure that you will receive alerts as you travel. Pressing the travel/home button again restores your home channel/SAME settings. The unit has rechargeable batteries, and will continue to operate during a power failure. The audio is both loud and clear.
  
  Cons: When the backlight is used, the display is difficult to read except when looking up from the bottom of the radio. The status light could also be brighter.
  
  Other Information: The radio responds to a specific alert signal sent out by the National Weather Service. When such an alert is broadcast on TV or radio, there is a distinctive "squawk" tone which precedes the message. Not every alert that is put out by a TV or radio station originates from the NWS (or more specifically the Emergency Alert System), and not every alert the NWS issues is considered important enough to "squawk". They reserve this for messages they consider of high importance. Per the National Weather Service / NOAA: "Only the most imminent life- and property-threatening hazards are broadcast with the SAME signal and 1050 Hertz warning alarm tone, where the public has to take immediate action to protect themselves and their property. An operational guideline is that messages are alerted only for hazards urgent enough to warrant waking people up in the middle of the night or otherwise interrupting someone's activities at any time." Don't necessarily expect to hear the alarm go off for watches. Your local NWS station decides what is important enough for the alert tone. When you do receive an alert, the display has a countdown timer that will delete the alert when it reaches zero (expires). Also, be aware that the alert tones (or as some have called them, the "siren") are BROADCAST. They aren't part of the radio. The "squawk" is what activates the radio, the tone that follows is intended to get your attention.
  
  Incidently, weekly tests don't always happen when they're supposed to. If there's even a chance of a real alert happening, they will keep pushing the test back 24 hours at a time until there's no chance of a real alert being issued.
  
  You can't disable specific alarms, but you shouldn't need to, since NWS doesn't issue alarms capable of activating the radio lightly. The weekly test will make noise for about a minute once a week, but it's useful in that you will know that the unit is still working. The radio isn't doing you any good if you only find out that it's not operating when you actually need it.
  
  As to technical support, I had a couple of pre-purchase questions regarding the way the unit operated. I reached a live person quickly (2-3 minute hold time) and they answered my questions accurately. I've had no problems with the unit since I purchased it.
  
  

• Good basic weather radio

  
  By A22HW6IOLSTBIZ on 2007-12-29
  This radio works fine for me. I seem to have a strong signal in my area. The radio indicates signal strength, but it doesn't seem to work well, it either shows full strength or zero, even though it's capable of displaying several intermediate levels. Regardless of the indicated signal strength I can hear the weather statements and receive alarms/alerts with no problem.
  
  The LCD display has a pretty limited viewing angle, you have to hold it at just the right angle to view it well.
  
  You can't turn off alerts, they time out on their own. I'm not sure how long it takes, but it's many hours. It gets a bit old seeing the Wednesday test scroll across the screen over and over.
  
  The rechargeable batteries last 2 or 3 days, with the radio in standby most of the time, and a few minutes of listening to the radio each day. For a trip of any length you will need to bring the charger or switch to regular batteries.
  
  These are minor issues, overall I'm happy with it.
  
  

• bought as a gift

  
  By A22HWLFLLUDBA9 on 2007-12-23
  Bought this as a gift for a friend that lives in a very rural area. they were thrilled and said they were sure that when the weather is stormy they will have an ear to the radio to get up to date information about the storm.
  
  

• solid reliability

  
  By A2AZ1AIO2X73H on 2008-06-18
  Item arrived on time and in good condition. No complaints thus far. Easy to set up. I like the fact that you can minimize the counties to ward off unwanted alerts in the middle of the night. Kudos.
  
  

• Good, sturdy, up-to-date unit, not too hard to program

  
  By A3NQU1649SH0Q4 on 2008-07-28
  It used to be that the NOAA weather-alert functions came in three varieties: on top-line walkie-talkies, in cumbersome base units, or integrated with AM and FM. NOAA is a wonderful radio alert-broacasting network, but sometimes it was a little hard to get a unit using NOAA without paying for extras.
  
  Surprise! No walkie-talkie here, nor AM or FM. The Oregon Scientific WR602 is something to cheer about because it only does one thing (NOAA, including SAME) -- and does it very well. It's a constantly recharging unit that includes its own batteries. The unit can easily be turned on but put in "Standby" mode that will sound the alert when bad weather or disasters of various kinds are on the way. Best of all, the charger base holds the unit only about an inch higher, and its sides are barely wider than the unit itself. It's a durable job, too, as a clumsy trip-and-fall on my part did a little damage to me but none for the unit!
  
  For forays into the field (and away from the charger base) you'll need AA cells; the nickle metal-hydride type is recommended, but alkalines work although they may poop out earlier. Keep some handy at home, too, for charger-busting home blackouts.
  
  I am giving this radio a four-star rating insted of a five because the Owner's Manual, which better would have been named an owner's booklet, is a little terse for high-tech scardies like me. I could and did eventually figure it out, but what the "manual" really needs IMHO is a few more drawings, especially a graphic that would depict the various functions the LCD screen is capable of, and therefore where and what kind of (frequently arbitrary) symbols to look for.
  
  Prices vary greatly; Amazon seems to be with or slightly cheaper than the pack at around fifty dollars. BTW I should mention that there are a lot of weather alert radios in the forty-to sixty-dollar range; they vary by function, and can include console models, portables and hand-crank dynamos with built-in flashlight. Sometimes instead of (or alongside) the NOAA weather bands come AM/FM and shortwave features, even the audio part of television. I myself wouldn't go out of the way to get TV audio, though, because after February 9, 2009, when television signals are set to go all digital, your TV band will no longer work.
  
  
  
• Good Value
  By A1ZYBK9N99CF14 on 2008-07-06
  This is a good radio. I like the portability and it gets very good reception, even in the back hills of SE Missouri. Programming is not that difficult and battery life is good. The display is hard to read at certain angles but that is not a major detractor from giving this radio a good review. Comes with a belt clip that is a little flimsy, but I dont really use it anyway.
  
  
• Poor Execution
  By A2RI6TLZ3IEOOR on 2008-08-05
  I purchased this exact same model direct from the Oregon Scientific store. It was brand new not refurbished or anything.
  
  Welcome to the 1980's!
  
  The radio does alert fine, but there are at least 2 not so clear area's in the instructions for setting it up. The instructions must have been written by Scientific engineers because there are a number of assumptions the user has to make to get through the setup steps. Luckily after quite a while and enlisting my 14 yr. old nephew we were able to figure it out. My nephew was even confused and he is an electronics geek and usually figures stuff out by merely glancing at instructions. He had to really read these though and make a few guesses before we got it set.
  
  Once set up I noticed that the connection to the base / charging station is weak. There is never really a good fit and the radio kind of bounces in there. I have ours set to alert / standby but always hear loud static coming from the radio. So much static that my wife was so annoyed by it that she demanded that it be removed from our bedroom (which is where we wanted it so in case of severe weather while sleeping we would be awaken). So now it is down the hall in a spare bedroom still making all kinds of static, but no-one for it to bother. We may miss an alarm in the middle of the night now which is defeating it's purpose.
  
  Another issue possibly related to the weak unit to charger base connection is that the rechargeable batteries never charge up completely. Additionally after about 15 minutes of having the unit off the base and listening to severe weather alerts for our area the rechargeable battery is just about dead. If I were just rating the rechargeable battery I would give it a 1 star as it is VERY bad.
  
  And a final issue possibly related to the weak unit to charger base connection is that it constantly loses the time and date settings and flips back to the menu setting screen. I have many times re-entered the date and time and just as I set the unit back on the base it wipes it all out and jumps back to the menu screens so you have to re-enter everything again. I did that once 5 times before it actually stayed set and balanced on the charging base. After it is seated in the charging base I hold my breath and slowly turn away.
  
  Overall the execution of this radio is poor. Considering what Garmin and TomTom and similar companies have done for GPS and all the cell phone manufacturers out there and portable DVD player companies I am not sure why this radio is put together like it came straight from the 1980's. There should be a much better quality rechargeable battery in it, there should be a USB type interface for charging, and a significantly better user interface.
  
  I give this a generous 3 stars only because it does alert.
  
  
• Weather Radio & Charge Cradle
  By A1EM5MAPCHT4E6 on 2008-07-17
  Nice product. Easy enough to program, etc. Charge does not seem to last as long as another reviewer indicates. I had it on stand-by and went on a four night trip to our local lake. It was run down to the point where I had to set-up the time, etc., again. At least it held onto the channel freq. I had set it to.
  
  
• Easy to use, but not very functional...
  By A3U7BY9R79SL15 on 2008-07-26
  The instructions were very easy to read/understand/setup. I had no trouble getting all the settings made, but the radio will not receive a signal anywhere in my home or yard. I emailed the company for any suggestions and they never replied. I do not reccomend this product.
  
  
• Works Awesome
  By A2D9T9AHL2OIG8 on 2008-07-28
  I had an old Oregon Scientific radio before. This one has much better reception.
  
  I like the travel mode, where you go from your preset SAME code to any. I also like the auto station finder, it just grabs the strongest signal. It sounds good, the volume is adjustable, it starts and stops on the alert tones which the Midland wr300 one does not. I would not purchase one where the alert starts and then simply continues for X minutes.
  
  I wish the scrolling text was in a smaller font so you could see more of the text but for those with weaker eyes its probably best.
  
  

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