Oddity Archive: Episode 242.4 - Ben’s Junk: Midland WR400 NOAA Weather Radio

Mother Nature: (throws flash floods, tornadoes, derechos and blizzards at Archive HQ)
Ben: I get the hint already! Geez…
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[@TalonAvex]

When I worked as a small-market TV engineer years ago, we partnered with Midland Radio and a local grocery store chain to sell weather radios to the public at a discounted price at the start of the spring storm season. Our weather team would do the weather from one of the stores during the newscast and would program the correct SAME channel into the radio...plus give the new owner batteries for good measure. We'd get calls from viewers who had radios, but they were not programmed because either picked it up after the live event or got them as a gift. If they showed up to the station, generally one of our meteorologist would take a minute or two and program it. if they showed up when no one was in the weather office, it fell to me to plug the right numbers and drop in the batteries. Viewers were always happy to have this done...but a little down that they got to meet the low-rung engineer on the ladder. Still, if you are in tornado alley, you NEED a weather radio.

[@5roundsrapid263]

I know of several TV stations that still do this.

[@scratchpad7954]

Do you remember what TV station you worked for back then?

[@brianknoblock8873]

These are the best weather radios I have ever had. I have four (three in service in the Living Room, Bedroom and Kitchen) and one spare. They sell these in the local Cub Foods during the spring. With three of them, I get *stereo weather alert* during any severe weather.

[@ChrisKewl]

I think I'll pick one up, I live in Tornado alley and that would be useful. Also the external strobe jack for us Deafies/HoH is a big plus!

[@brianknoblock8873]

I don’t believe the 400 is no longer being produced. They still produce the 300 which is the earlier model. It looks like Midland is having supply chain issues like everyone else and the run on them during severe weather season has depleted stock everywhere.

[@ChrisKewl]

@@brianknoblock8873 I agree, I see some in my area so I think I may get it. My wife and roommate are Deaf so this would work beautifully.

[@KanawhaCountyWX]

Get a WR120. No am or FM, but still has alert out and ext antenna and gets better signal than the 400. Walmart sells them near me for about $30.

[@veganguy74]

There is a white strobe (Model # STR180) a red strobe (18-STR) and even a pillow-shaker (not sure of the model number) that works with most of the Midland weather radios. EDIT: here is a video from Midland itself about the strobe and pillow shaker: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6uZoZqNdtmVoZo (I have no affiliation with Midland or any other company.)

[@KanawhaCountyWX]

@@veganguy74 if you were so inclined you could actually take a mono audio cable and wire that up. It's designed to output 12 volts DC. One of the earlier manuals actually tells you which pin outputs the positive 12 volts in which pin outputs ground. You could also run this to a relay to switch higher current devices.

[@CrowTRobot-ni7zu]

Got myself a Midland not long ago. Now that I live in Flat Rock, I can hear both the NOAA and the Weatherradio Canada stations. Kinda neat!

[@chrisjamesr77]

Yeah, I can hear those too, probably the same ones since I'm not too far from there, in Monroe County actually!

[@JL-sm6cg]

I got mine not long ago myself. Has been rather useful and does alert when necessary for sure. Btw your $15 special is a prime example of "you get what you pay for". As for the TV part, my parents bought a radio back in the early 80s that had the TV sound option on it, in order to have primitive surround sound when watching the VHF channels. Kind of cool really if you asked me. Nowadays that part is completely useless, but you knew that.

[@KanawhaCountyWX]

Sangean makes one that checks all of your boxes except for USB. It's the model CL100. It even has an auxiliary input, fantastic speaker and stereo in and out, so you can even use it as a small amplifier.

[@chrisjamesr77]

The CL-100 rocks, I have one myself. It's only lost its place on my beside nightstand because I just got a Sangean shortwave radio, lol (the ATS-909X2)

[@KanawhaCountyWX]

As someone who is way too much of a geek into these things, you picked out a fantastic model.

[@kerryblanchard9425]

I've got one of these at home and one at work, add me to the highest recommendation club. Definitely not "junk" by any definition, short of taking a sledgehammer to it.

[@michaelcarpenter2498]

I have a midland radio that is solar and crank with USB charging. That is a nice midland and I like how it has a clock. I also have the WR120, which can wake the dead, considering it can wake me up. I would love to find what you have.

[@RickinBaltimore]

James Spann is a huge proponent of these. If he recommends them, they have to be quality.

[@VectraQS]

I picked up a WR-300 for $5 some years ago. Largely the same form factor despite being quite a bit older.

[@KanawhaCountyWX]

One more thing to note, most offices will only tone required weekly tests, monthly tests are issued in a way that does not go to most weather radio stations. Also, you might as well turn off the boil water warning, there is no same code for that, and none have ever been toned. The alert you referenced was toned as a civil emergency message, and that was only because of sewer backups.

[@r66fplaysgames]

98.7FM in Pipestone, MN, is KISD. I actually listened to them, back in 2013, when I was on a trip up to Southwestern Minnesota & really liked their oldies music. The radio station, on 570AM, is WNAX, Yankton, SD (The radio station that Lawrence Welk got his start at.). My area (Carrollton, MO) didn't get it's own NOAA weather radio station until around 2002 when KZZ34, on 162.450mhz, came on the air. Before that the nearest NOAA weather station was KID77, on 162.550mhz, from Kansas City, MO, which had a very bad signal in my area.

[@thekidfromiowa]

In the Midwest you might find yourself running the furnace and AC on the same day. Bundle up at the beginning of the week and wear shorts by the end of the week. Seen it go from 64 on a Thursday to ankle deep snow on a Saturday. That was early December 2020.

[@kriskehrer6410]

That protective plastic peel.... HNNNNNG! 😊

[@herbcraven7146]

The alarm threshold would be a useful feature for me. I have an older, simpler Midland weather radio, and I've been woken up at ungodly hours by severe thunderstorm watches that amounted to naught more times than I care to remember.

[@stratkiller86]

Great video! My dad is also a general class license holder (KC9JWY) based in Milwaukee, WI.

[@veganguy74]

The optional external antenna (model # 18-259W) that works with many of the Midland weather radios is a through the glass mount, so that’s easy enough to install. I have one attached to the WR300 I have set up in the back glassed-in porch at home and it works well.

[@netsurferx1]

Nice catch, Ben! I've got 2 weather radios in my house: An older Radio Shack 12-247A (late 1990's vintage), & a much newer Midland WR-120. Both of these are thrift shop/Goodwill finds, no less! And it looks like they're going to get a workout today (nothing yet though): Look at Austin's weather right now!

[@ReallifeBambiDeerattheFarm1]

I think its a good idea to have at least one of these radios around just in case it hits the fan. Could possibly save your life. I would say get at least one for every floor of your house or business. Worth every penny.

[@mightyfilm]

That stinger at the end, though. You're not going into that ASMR racket, are you? 🥸

[@OddityArchive]

Depends on how much money I can make on it. 😁

[@jonathankleinow2073]

I feel like $70 should buy you a radio without a noisy backlight. I was also interested in getting one of these, but I had to settle for the WR-120, because I didn't decide to buy one until the -400s were out of stock. It does what it says on the tin.

[@ianw9171]

interesting to see 10khz spacing on AM, here in aust. we have 9khz

[@captainchris2016]

The WR400 is not discontinued, they are still being made, but sold online only.

[@OddityArchive]

Good to know.

[@chrisjamesr77]

I have a very comparable model of weather radio, the Sangean CL-100. I actually managed somehow to break the "whip" antenna completely off, to the point where I'd have to get a whole new antenna to replace it. I thought I found the right one on Amazon, but alas, it doesn't fit, as the part where it connects inside the radio isn't compatible. Just literally doesn't fit. It has a similar connection for an external antenna, and Sangean actually sells one that is intended for that purpose, so I got that, and even though it's not a big antenna at all, it actually vastly improved my reception of both FM radio and weather stations! It's a little thing that looks like it's intended to be stuck on the roof of a car, but it works pretty well on my nightstand next to the radio, lol

[@JessicaFEREM]

There's a model of these weather radios that will actually recharge your normal rechargable batteries when it has power. absolutely something I'd want in a weather radio, can't risk the battery dying.

[@vwestlife]

Someone needs to tell that weather station to fix the nasty ground loop hum in their audio!

[@OddityArchive]

The regular AM radio stuff hums as well (though not as bad)--it may very well be my Wi-Fi router or possibly the digital tuner in the radio causing interference with itself--I guess that's a thing these days.

[@KronoGarrett]

I have a Sangean CL-100. Both it and the Midland have awful white LED backlighting...mine has a light red theatrical gel taped over the display. The alert volume is adjustable down to the regulatory required minimum, which is tolerable in the bedroom.

[@TKRVideoCentral]

Love this review, Ben - I've been angling for one of those for a while, but you can't find them ANYWHERE, had to settle for Midland's basic model. The gadget nerd in me is SOOOO jealous of you right now....LOL! Cheers! PS, also finally hooked up on Patreon, you are worth every cent, dude! :-)

[@mariteaux]

I used to listen to the web streams of NOAA radio all across the country just for funsies. No clue if that's weird or not, I just like the weird, dusty, lo-fi aesthetic of the whole thing. I should really get one now that I've got money coming in. Good timing on this episode too, since we just had a surprise thunderstorm that took our power for an evening and change. Thanks for the reminder!

[@denelson83]

I have that model of weather radio. BTW, associating ZIP codes to SAME codes would be impractical for desktop weather radios, as such a thing would require a huge database, and weather radios do not have nearly enough memory to contain such a database. The alarm on a weather radio is supposed to be that loud so if a tornado warning is issued for your area while you are sleeping, it is guaranteed to wake you up so you still have a chance of getting to shelter long enough in advance before a tornado hits your house. And you confused "set channel" with "location". "Set channel" allows you to pick which weather radio _frequency_ to receive. Also, have you tried picking up any clear-channel AM radio stations on that unit, such as 990 CBW out of Winnipeg? 73 VE7NDE

[@rossarcher6104]

Thanks, Ben. I'm looking for a good weather radio, and saw this. (And I have an FT-60 also :)

[@michaelpotts1131]

Adding an external antenna would probably help cut down on the noise. It looks like you can make one out of some audio cable and suction cups for pretty cheap (kzbin.info/www/bejne/oqLKoKB_iKeBa8U). They're working on breaking down counties with more specific SAME codes. I totally agree with you that it would be nice to have polygon-based warnings be broken down by polygon instead of county, but that's not possible in this generation of weather radios because GPS information would have to be transmitted and received. (Rumor has it that they are working on it though.) I believe the alert siren has to be hard set to a predetermined decibel level, so that's why its volume can't be changed.

[@doctorwhofan6340]

This is nice. I believe we have wether radios at wallmart actually though I don't really have a need for one because wether here in my part of Georgia never gets to bad. Maby an occasional tornado warning ever now and then but I've never seen one though. But they do touch down somewhere near Atlanta probably.

[@armron94]

I live near the state line of Michigan Indiana I have two other radios both of them are Midland WR 120 ez One's tune ahead of me and there was tuned behind me. The thing is both of them are in a different state. One set for South Bend Indiana. And the other one I have is set for Angola Indiana The station in Michigan in my area is in Grand Rapids which is about 100 miles away from me. So I have to use South Bend to get it. There is a repeater because Grand Rapids reports but the repeater doesn't seem safe to use it's closer but it doesn't seem safe to use when the severe weather. I can't even pick it up if I wanted to. And I practically live in a prairie Well I live in South Central Michigan. Grand Rapids MI is 100 Mi away barely pick it up I can barely pick up Valparaiso IN that's also 100 miles away But they saved my life twice so far. They went off about 5 minutes before the sirens went off. I was already in the basement before the sirens went off. Very last three to five hours My older one that said to Angola can last 3 hours of batteries. My new one set for South Bend can last about 5 hours on batteries. I have to change the batteries at like once a year so that's good. kzbin.info/door/CKtJ3mIdF_tpWhukGWKG-w

[@armron94]

First radio I got was $30 at Kmart this one had a punch in the code numbers that was fun. Couple years later I got me another weather radio a modern one for 30 bucks at Walgreens this one had all the bells and whistles even had it printed out what county and everything else you wanted to do. Is a little more modern but it does job pretty good too it just has a lot more stuff that's why I can't see the warnings and stuff my older one I can't do that I can just choose if I wanted to talk to me squeal or if I text when there's a warning. But the thing I bought has more bells and whistles but both of them do the same job which is good

[@venangoproductions]

I've been trying to find one of these, but being broke isn't the best thing for having a weather radio habit

[@Parakinese]

I miss the intro

[@OddityArchive]

It’s gonna be awhile before it comes back, but it will return.

[@GabrielleCenter2000]

Happy Thursday everyone!

[@loser2466]

The only Weather Radios I have are: Midland WR-120 EZ (December of 2014 around Christmas Time) & a RadioShack 12-996 (Got that one around January or February of 2015)

[@nintendolunchbox]

As the crow flies is the term you were looking for.

[@oldradiosnphonographs]

I listen to my Realistic Weathercube sometimes. Ben do you own any of the Realistic Deskcube radios?

[@luisreyes1963]

Not a bad weather radio you got there, Benny. 📻

[@yogibear2k220]

Since I got Internet Radio, I have not ever used FM. I have an old phone which I use purely for internet radio through a blue tooth set of headphones (as I cannot use speakers where I live because of neighbours,) which work really well. I have it constantly plugged in and, as I only really listen to one station, it's not a hassle that I cannot change it that easily. Funnily enough, though, it has got an FM radio on it (for some unknown reason,) but it is absolutely terrible reception, so I just use it for Internet radio. I was looking at getting a dedicated Internet radio, but the phone works perfectly. Also, I am lucky that, where I live, I never have to worry what the weather is doing. We may get a tiny bit of local flooding every few years but that's about it. Your local talk show radio station KELO AM 1320 certainly gets lively! It's a pity about the adverts, though.

[@millsyinnz]

The NOAA weather radio service sounds like a really good thing to have. It is a pity we in NZ do not have one. Such is the perils of living in a country where unless something makes a profit, it is not allowed to exist.

[@aetd106]

Same here in Aus - I'm in Sydney so not many emergencies but know people out in the country and the fringe suburbs who would probably find this sort of thing invaluable. Radio stations do an OK job in emergencies but having specific frequencies for emergency warnings would be way better in my opinion so you have one place you can turn to for official info.

[@artworksofficialcomicbooka5990]

.. the ending... lol

[@toddrhine7648]

Would of been nice to actually program the channels for radio, ect.

[@OddityArchive]

It works just like most car radios. Tune to the station you want, then hold down the preset number you want until it locks in. The WX tuning should be automatic once you put in your location.

[@drfalcon4102]

Sam guy on the weather station, that is on from Manchester tn And out of FL

[@5roundsrapid263]

They all use the same synthesized voice.

[@rossarcher6104]

K(2)LAK LOL

[@andy_rulz2000]

Can NOAA Weather radios set the time automatically?

[@OddityArchive]

I can’t speak for all NOAA radios, but this one does not.

[@KanawhaCountyWX]

NWR does not carry time signals except for some stations which carry them as spoken word, but not in any form the radio can understand. Some radios are able to pull the time from RDS enabled FM stations, and some scanners can monitor WWVB four time signals. Theoretically, a radio could pull the time from alerts, as the digitally encoded same headers do contain the time of issuance in UTC.