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Review on πŸ“» Midland WR400 Deluxe NOAA Emergency Weather Alert Radio with S.A.M.E. Localized Programming, 80+ Emergency Alerts, and AM/FM Radio Alarm Clock by Amanda Harrell

Revainrating 4 out of 5

A new product that could be great.

More than 40 years of professional experience as a professional meteorologist. Tornado Chaser. Luftwaffe Hurricane Fighter. extreme weather type. Here in the heart of Tornado Alley, nothing is more important to us than a reliable weather radio. We've trusted Midland for a long time and I think we've had a lot of their consumer models. Here's a quick review of my new WR400 which arrived the day after Christmas: GOOD. This Midland WR400 has great sleek looks and should make a great clock radio for most people. Some reviews said it was too bright for a bedside table. It is not true. The menu function lets you set about 10 levels of backlight brightness, and low settings are good at night. Menus and operation are much simpler and greatly improved compared to previous models. Built-IN SAME weather codes for your location! You can now exclude specific irrelevant alerts that you don't want to hear. The speaker is good, the volume control is smooth. VHF reception is good. NOAA weather radio reception is as good as the WR100. BAD. A little. AM reception near the bed is always problematic and not very good due to electrical interference. A telescopic antenna is more of a problem next to a bed as it starts running into lamps and the like and is difficult to make pretty. I have a Revain Sangean ANT 100 external antenna. TERRIBLE. I had a serious problem when this radio arrived and my initial rating should have been only two stars. In my first hour of using the radio, I was apparently the first to spot the bug that was preventing the FM tuner from going above 107.3 while my favorite OU football station was 107.7 was. This radio was not tuned to 107.7 when delivered! I have sent several complaints. ANSWER AND FINAL RATING. Midland called me back regarding the FM tuner complaint and reassured me that they took note of my concerns and would work to resolve the radio tuning issue for all of us. They sent a new one a few months later. The redesigned radio has arrived and fixed the broken tuner. The radio worked fine. Reception is a bit weak and sensitive to positioning...which can be caused by NOAA station changes and issues. An external antenna solved the problem. The whole decision is now at least four stars.

Pros
  • I like everything so far
Cons
  • Not everything is as good as it is written