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Customers most agreed on the following attributes:
from Clinton, CT on 8/11/2008
I bought this radio while traveling in our RV because I had left our other radio at home. I was unable to find other brands of weather radios in the area so I bought this Radio Shack model.
The first one purchased had extremely distorted audio. The RS manager claimed it sounded OK to him but gave me a demo model claiming he had no more in stock.
Unlike other brand weather radios in this price range, it has no SAMES capability, you can't turn the backlit display off when plugged in, and amazingly, there is no way to shut it off save unplugging it and removing the batteries!
If you want a no frills, poorly designed, overpriced weather radio, this is it.
I Rely on this radio becuase our tv company took
off the channel that gives alerts.I Can get Great
Reception(Only on the local channel.)It gives
alerts and no tuning just a push of a button.
It has backup battery and time too.and very good
sound quality.
the only bad thing is the volume control.
from Santa Fe, NM on 7/2/2008
While it makes a good choice as a weather radio, it lacks SAME Coding. The status light is always on when plugged in, and the radio sounds an alarm, but that is it. It will not automatically turn on the radio when an alert, some 60 miles away from you, is issued. But if you're looking for "just" a weather radio, this one will do just fine, and it functions with an alarm clock. At least you can get all 7 channels as well. It has a good base price, and it functions just like it should.
Images shared by: Desert Flashflood ResidentThis is the one.
Tags: Picture of Product, Using Product
the alert does not flash to let you know if a watch has been issued if you missed the original alert. The model with out an alarm clock that this one replaced was much better. Less is more.
from Punta Gorda, FL on 6/24/2008
Can not "zero-in" on local zone. No FIPS controls.
Pre-set coverage too general.
[0 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
We live in SW Missouri, tornado alley, and this thing has kept us well informed of the weather watches and warnings in our county. We like it because of the county specific warnings. Our old weather radio alarm would sound anytime a watch or warning was issued from our local weather station. Sometimes 150 miles away.
My only con is that we cannot program the type of watches and warnings that trigger the alarm system. It is annoying to get an alarm for a flood watch at 3 AM when we live on high ground. When this feature is added Midland will truly have a perfect weather radio.
from Central Illinois on 5/30/2008
This is a good little radio, my only problem is it broadcasts information that's non applicable to your location, example a flash flood warning for an area 300 miles from your location in boarding state at 3:00 am is not an immediate emergency. Buy a model with the SAME feature that let's you dial the counties that are local and are an impact to you and your location. I've owned this radio for a couple years the weekly tests are a pain but I guess required but all in all bottom line I would rather be woken up than blown away, the SAME feature is a better option but was not available when I got this unit.
from Booneville Mississippi on 5/11/2008
When I bought the radio I found that it has good sound reception however the batteries without the power cord would only last about 1 day without it being used even less when the power was out in our home and it was being used during a storm. [...]When there is bad weather and your family is at stake get another radio
This is our 3rd weather radio and its reception is great. However, its lowest volume setting won't allow you to be in the same room with it. I haven't attempted turning it up, the neighbors would be disturbed and the closest house is about a fourth mile away. The radio has spent many nights banned to the garage so we can sleep after storms have passed, radar is clear, but weather warnings are being issued east of us.
This item is perfect for your garage, workshop, etc, because the alert is loud, and the alert is dependable. However, because it lacks SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) technology, you cannot program it to receive alerts for your specific location. Instead, you will receive all alerts within a specific radius (I think 75 miles). As such, you will get frequent alerts for a broad area. Not too good if something severe happens at night, as you will likely be awake all night. If that will be a problem, spend the extra money to get a radio with SAME technology. Also, using the included adapter helps to lengthen battery life, but you will need to check the batteries frequently, as it is useless if the batteries are dead and the electricity is out.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from NorthEast, OH on 3/6/2008
I don't know why all the complaints - this product is great. If all those complainers, including the "so-called" meteorologist, would just read the manual, they would see that it picks-up the local counties, is as clear as the National Weather Service computer voice can be, and the alerts come on as needed, if set properly. If they would have read further, they would see that this device is an A/C device with D/C back-up, not a D/C only device;hence why they're having battery problems. I only change my battery ONCE per year or every OTHER year, depending on how often the power goes out. It's nice to know weather updates while you're sitting in the dark.
While this radio is good, it isn't the best out there. The alert that can be turned off is actually the poor signal alarm, which is real annoying. Another gripe is the weather-warning alarm, which while handy at times, does not immeadietly turn the radio on- you have to manually push the button to hear it or it's too late. Other than that, it is good for casual use but don't expect it to perform up to the best standards.
The alert on this radio is always on. If you set the alert switch to "off" it still comes on, just not as long as if the switch were "on". I regret buying it.
I would buy a weather radio with SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) instead of this one. Otherwise, you will get alerts from several counties in a big radius. At night, you will be woke up more than necessary with this one.
from Galion, Ohio on 9/9/2007
I am absolutely TERRIFIED of tornados and severe thunderstorms. In the hospital where I worked, they had a model very similar to this one and I thought "I have to have one." I got it and I have no complaints other than the batteries getting eaten up in a short period of time. I'm so glad I now have a warning system in place "just in case."
Very poor unit for the $. Plugged in its just satisfactory. Replace batteries very frequently if you have to rely on this radio.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
The 12-260 is the second RadioShack weatheradio we have owned. Both failed after the (short) 90 day warranty expired. RS said [...]it was cheaper to buy a new one than try and fix. I don't consider 30+ $ to be cheep every 3 or 4 months. No more RS products for me!
If I unplug this unit from the A/C adapter the batteries go dead overnight.
This is a second NOAA radio I purchased from Radio Shack. I wanted one for my bedroom as well as downstairs. The first one had the ability to specify the area of interest (near me in my county). This one gives alarms for a wide geographic area (multiple counties) so I receive many false alarms for storms in other counties. It lacks the ability to be more specific about the area I am concered about.
As soon as I got it plugged in, we began receiving weather alerts from about 20 mi. NE of us. I can turn the volume down so no problem. BUT!!!!! The only instructions were in Spanish and I do not read or speak Spanish fluently. It would take me all night to translate. Fortunately, I have friends who speak Spanish.
from Orlando, Florida on 4/18/2007
I bought this radio back n January, when the storms hit Central Florida one night, I was able to track the storm system all night. Great product.
We rely on this radio since the closest TV/weather station is in Atlanta. We get the most accurate forecast from NOAA.
This radio is easy to use, audio quality is very nice for this price. The radio is pretty ruggedly built. I love it as it will come in handy on this springs camping trips.
It''s a good radio.the problem is it's put outs a watch r warning 50 to 100 miles away from bainbridge.the positive point of this radio is it does keep you well informed of wathes and warnings.also we have several transmitters close to us here in bainbridge so u can flip through a lot channels to which channel u want.overall it's a good weatheradio
from Tukwila, WA on 8/23/2006
This is an excellent bedside weather raadio with clock and alarm. I would reccommend it to anybody. The radio has great reception, and I listen every morning and night. Features: Digital clock with backlight Alarm with snooze bar Receives all 7 NOAA weather stations. (I am only able to pick up channels 2, 4, and 7.) Alerts to weather emergencies automatically via loud alarm and alert symbol on display. Runs on AC power and/or 4 AA batteries.(I use mine on batteries.) The only drawback is the fact that the backlight does not turn on when the clock alarm goes off. However I think that Radioshack will fix that for a future model.
Major design flaw makes it impractical: you can not turn the radio off without unplugging it and removing the backup batteries. Alerts will sound in the middle of the night, even if only for a thunderstorm watch 100 miles away. The alert system does work well, and the alarm clock is a nice feature, but the designers should have included "Off" or "Override" button. Also, the set-up procedures are non-intuitive and difficult.
The main drawback to this unit is its lack of the SAME feature. Unless you want to be awakened by alerts for every far away county, get the more expensive radio that has SAME. Otherwise, it has worked well, although it's a bit tricky to program.
Radio extremely poorly designed.There is no way to turn radio off except by unplugging it or by removing batteries.Otherwise expect to be awakened several times nightly whenever NOAA declares a thunderstorm within 100 miles.
It really give me the advance notice early enough, local and 150 miles distance. Go get your Today and stay alive in 06
Very nice radio. A weather radio should be in EVERY household AND workplace. As a severe weather spotter, I can tell you that the National Weather Service will issue a warning, and that warning is transmited via and encrypted code. This weather radio will alert you of severe weather before radio or internet can. I would recomend a better model with the LED displays though. Other than that, it is great for bedside operation.
from Evansville,IN on 4/2/2006
Recieved as a Xmas gift 06, easy to program does the job well. Very Pleased.
One night at 3 AM a tornado touched down near us and they issued a Tornado Warning, The Siren near our house failed to activate, but luckly we had our RadioShack weather radio that alerted us and we took shelter. Thanks Radioshack
Great for the value, I brought one for everyone in my family for christmas and they love them. Good to have around in bad weather & small enough to travel with.
Has notified us of several winter and rain storms
We have had "several" warnings from our radio, from 2am "tornado warnings", "floods", all kinds of severe weather warnings and watches including the "Amber allerts". I love this little radio. The alarm sounds nice and clear, we keep it in our dining room and can hear it in all of the bedrooms. It is a very good buy in our minds.
This is a very nice radio. I got It at the radio shack store in Mooresville Indiana. You can listen to the NWS broadcast 24hours. Ever sence I have had it it has gone of for some Severe Thunderstorm Warnings but that is it.