Review on 🚨 Enhance Safety with Midland 18-STR Strobe Light: Weather and Hazards Alert Radios by Jessie Drury

This strobe light is a very useful addition to a Midland weather radio (or any brand with a connection for an external alarm device). In my case, I wanted some seniors to notice when the NWS issues a severe storm warning. I set up four Midland WR-120 Midland WR120 NOAA Weather and All Hazard Public Alert Certified radios with SAME, trilingual display and alarm clock - each packed with one of these flashing lights. Some weather radios have trouble starting this flash, but all of the WR-120's I've installed have worked fine with it. However, I found that the older WR-100 model did not activate the light even though it had a flash connector. My advice is to go with the WR-120 if you need absolute confidence that it will work. A strobe is actually a very simple device. The LEDs are powered by three AAA batteries. The radio simply acts as a switch that turns on the LEDs when a SERIOUS alert (not a minor alert) is issued. FYI, I never managed to get the radio to "test" the light via the menu settings when I set it up, but each worked when the next real warning came. Of course, this isn't ideal as you can't be sure until then. Maybe I overlooked the test function, with a little perseverance you might find it. In some places I had to lengthen the cable to position the flash in the best spot, so I used a 1/8" mono extension cable: 3.5mm male to female mono extension cable, 25 feet , Nextronics. The nearby NWS transmitter was not powerful enough for the built-in telescopic antenna to deliver clear and stable sound. There are several antennas specifically designed for use with weather radios and almost any VHF antenna will improve reception. Use a standard RCA plug to connect an external antenna. A simple adapter allows you to connect the radio to the 75 ohm F-connector normally found at the end of the cable from the VHF antenna: C2G/Cables To Go 27313 RCA Plug To Go . Type F jack video adapter. I made a simple omnidirectional antenna out of a length of coax cable and some metal brackets, hung it in the attic, and routed the cable along the inside wall. Many guides and videos are available. online and this is very easy. Usually the NWS transmitter is close enough that the built-in antenna is sufficient to receive a good signal. If you add an external antenna, you can raise the antenna a little higher if you need to place the radio in a specific location without sufficient signal reception. If you don't want to add an external antenna, moving the radio up (if that's an option) also helps. With everything in place and the radio set up correctly, I had the confidence that they would not miss any warning and be caught off guard during a major storm/tornado. It's worth every penny and hour spent getting everything in place. ! One missed alert is enough, so it's worth it. Hope this was all helpful - good luck!