Weather Radio
 

Considering buying a weather radio but haven't started my research yet as to type and brand. I would love to hear recommendations from all you experienced weather buffs first. Thank you! :bigbow:

I have a Midland. It works well, and have never had any issues. Last week Amazon had them on sale, but that sale has apparently ended.

I’ve been using a Sangean CL-100 in the motorhome that’s been our full time home for the last five years. It has worked well as we traveled around the country, and will be moved into our new home.

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Kaito-Powered...=gearbeacon-20

Our dog jumps out of his skin ever time the radio goes off!

Midland radio, $29.99 @ Walmart. It's worked great over the years. They make good gifts also.

My Midland still works after I threw it out the window and ran it over. If your asleep it is almost certain to wake you up. It scared the daylight outta us two mornings ago.

It did it's job and I love it. It has a three AA battery backup also.

We've got the Midland weather radio and I am very satisfied with it. When you set it up, you can identify multiple stations so you can get alerts for multiple counties. Since we are north of 466 and very close to Marion county, I've got mine to alert for both Sumter and Marion counties.

Which ever brand you choose, I would highly recommend getting a weather radio. I say this because when we were just renting, we woke up the first of February and turned on the TV to find there had been a tornado that went through the Mallory Hill area. We had slept through the entire night without any knowledge that the storm was approaching. So my advice is to get a radio. There are no Tornado warning sirens here in The Villages.

A little off topic....I will have to go in and reset/check my settings as it did not go off the other morning.
It is a Midland set for Sumter county.....maybe 10 years old.

Midland, Public Alert 2 model. Excellent and programmable. Works on 110 or batteries. We travel with it to always stay informed. We have had ours for at least 10 yrs. with no problems. Very inexpensive investment especially in TV. Good luck the season for its use is coming soon.

Easier Way
 

If you use a smart phone, get the weather app of yuor choice and enable alerts. Most of the apps are free and work well.

Weather Radio
 

CCrane.com I have been using CCradio for 20 years. Weather alerts come on automatically for your area and national coverage provided by the national weather service. The auto feature can be turned off. It is also a remarkable radio for both AM & FM. It seeks out distant radio stations as well. It allows you to fine tune a station. Can be used as a battery operated or AC. It is illuminated and easy to read.
You can program stations as well like the Villages radio station. The only draw back is the weight. It is a very heavy but study radio.

They have a big variety of radios to choose from. Give them a look.

Oregon scientific. Battery backup and you can set the counties you arc concerned about.

I bought a "Running Snail" crank/battery unit a few years back

it works fine, and is easy to use

it's one of those things that I don't use very often though

Thank you!! I was wondering about the warning system here. I did sign up for the Sumter County alerts but I have no idea how reliable it is.

Sounds interesting, I'll look them up. Might work out nicely since I need a radio too. It would be great if it could pick up 700 WLW (stands for Whole Lotta Watts) in Cincinnati - it has a pretty strong signal, 50,000 watts I think. (used to be 500,000 watts in the early 1900's. Considered the king of radio. It could be heard in Europe and was used to help boost the moral of our troops over there during WWII.) Sorry, got side tracked. Thanks for the information.

Why? Any NWS alerts now come to your phone. Even Alexa kicks in.

Thank you everyone, I appreciate your help.

Not interested in having an Alexa and I did register for the Sumter County alerts. Don't know of it's reliability yet. I've been in a tornado before where the alerts did not sound before hand. Is it possible for the internet signals to do down or get jammed from overload in extreme weather? I don't know but many recommend the radio and it doesn't hurt to have one.

If you down load the Sumpter county sheriff’s office app on your phone you will get weather alerts as well as other useful information.

Do you use a smartphone? I’d suggest apps. I have the following: Florida Storms, Weather Channel, My Radar, Rain Aware, Wunderground, and Hurricane Tracker. Superb live radar, alerts and texts if desired, and details galore.

When bad storms are coming (no matter what time of day or night) they blare there warning for you to come running to listen to the alert. I made the mistake of getting the alerts on my mobile and land line also. That made all 3 start ringing/alerting ALL AT ONCE. Beware of which things you sign up for!

Cell phone is good for that and many other things....you can call others, send and receive texts and emails, read the news and yes, get emergency alerts. They are very COOL ! 😂

I bought a Midland as a gift for my daughter in Ohio. Her husband disconnected it because it was too noisy when they had tornado watches or warnings. You can’t fix STUPID!!!😖

Alert Sumter is very reliable. Your option to configure for email, text and land line. Lake & Marion have similar, but separate, systems. Nothing to maintain or update and the price is right.

How to set up my weather alert radio?
 

How do I set it up for Sumter County ? Someone said to take it to the Fire Station?
Thanks

You can stream WLW thru the iHeart Radio app.

YouTube has a quick tutorial. Set your radio at 162.500

Sumter county has a service that calls you when bad weather is expected. That is only for bad weather though. The other night they called at 4:05 AM and again at 4:30 AM. That was a bit shocking.

I use my radio to get the reports from 1280 AM