I own a whole Nor'easters worth of weather radios. I have had an interest in the weather since the time of being a boy and longing for a blizzard to come along and make my day by closing all the schools. Most weather radios are pretty much designed to be either stand alone table models, or portable units either in a hand held or carry along design. Between the house and the outbuildings here I have a total of 8 of both varieties, with 4 of them being Midland models. This WR11 unit is sorta in a class by itself as it is a traditional looking clock radio designed for your nightstand with full weather features. The radio features are all pretty standard with the AM FM selector and alarm. It gets good overall reception for what you would expect for its size and price. A quick flip of a switch can have you listening to the NOAA weather broadcasts that are available 24/7. Every Midland radio I have ever owned always got excellent weather reception and this one is no exception. Upon its first startup, you turn the frequency selector until your local NOAA station is located and then it is permanently locked on. Unless you move, you never have to tune in to find the weather again.
The weather alert feature is a good one to have included, especially if you happen to live in an area prone to tornadoes, flash floods, or any other weather emergency that can erupt suddenly. But it is also useful if you happen to be the type to not pay much attention to the weather until it starts to get really interesting, or scary. Setting the alert feature to on gives you the option of either an alarm, voice, or light display only. Unless you enjoy being possibly awakened in the middle of the night by an alarm that will definitely leave your heart pounding, I would suggest the voice alert that is far more subtle. (Or the light only display if you happen to be that light a sleeper to take notice of it). Keep in mind also that this radio receives all weather, as well as a whole range of civil defense/Amber alert bulletins as well. (An Amber alert issued in Massachusetts just last week at the time of this writing was heard on this radio, as well as my others set to alert). Its a solid little radio with a generous display that is nicely back lit without being too intrusive, and the buttons and dials are easy to reach and use.
One last item as to the alert feature. This radio does not have SAME technology. That is, it is not able to distinquish between alerts issued in your specific zip code, as opposed to county or regional alerts. In other words, if you have the alert feature set to on, you will recieve all alerts in your general area whether they specifically apply to your locale or not. If it is a soild, table top weather radio with alert model you are looking for that can be programmed as to your own specific area, may I suggest the Midland WR300. It is a little more expensive, and more designed for the weather enthusiast than the casual user, but it is a top of the line model that does possess the SAME technology. I have enclosed a link to it at the end of this review. On the other hand, the Midland WR11 is a fine model if what you are interested in is a small well designed dependable radio for your bedroom, or any other place such a clock radio model will suit you. In my opinion a fine little unit... MIDLAND WR300 Weather Radio Midland WR11 AM/FM Clock Radio with NOAA All Hazard Weather Alert
Radio is just what I wanted. It was smaller than I had expected but that has proven to be a benefit as I don't have much room on my nightstand. This unit replaces a older clock weather radio which was having trouble with drift or staying on the station. This unit has all the weather bands preprogrammed so there is no drift. The sound it good and there are different alert modes for weather bulletins. Believe me the "siren" mode can wake even the heaviest sleeper! Fortunately, there are other, quieter modes (voice, LED light) to alert you when severe weather threatens your area.
Nice compact size, good audio and signal reception, but one glaring design flaw: There is no instruction in the user's manual about how to disable the clock radio alarm feature without also disbling the weather alert feature and no amount of fiddling with the settings is able to remedy this problem. If you want one mainly for the weather alert feature, keep looking. Also, this unit only receives weather alerts, not others like Amber Alerts.
This is exactly what you want if you want an easy to use radio/clock/weather alert radio! It is easy to use, and does what it says. Doesn't have all of the background noise that other radios we have used in the past have. Highly recommended!
I bought this radio about 4 months because our neighborhood has had a few too many close calls with tornados. The radio performs well. It announces EVERY weather and flood alert in the ENTIRE area covered by St Louis NOAA. That is a huge area. After being awaken 6 times last night by thunderstorm alerts a half a state away I ordered the WR300. Unlike the WR11, the WR300 has S.A.M.E. tech which allows filter out warnings that do not apply to the area you are actually in and you can also filter out all alerts but the ones about life-threatening situations. Hopefully in a week I will no longer be awoken by an alert about the threat of a thunderstorm 100 miles away. I wish I had spent the extra $15 a few months ago. - Midland - Emergency Radio - Weather Alert - Alarm Clock'
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