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As well as being one of the best performing. (The speaker on this unit is of an exceptional clarity in my opinion). The weather reception is as loud and clear as the come. The buttons and selectors are tight and solid as well. I own several weather radios of various brands.
I would recommend this unit for anyone that wants a good solid weather radio that will last for years. Up against a wall for example. Its minor, but worth mentioning. All Midland radios do).
And the quality of the FM reception is excellent. Both desktop models and portables. Underneath they are the same). ( I happen to own the camouflage version of this radio. For trust me, this unit is as rugged as they come. Its heavy, solid, and could easily survive a sharp hit or fall to the floor.
The only small complaint I would mention as to this units design is the location of the earphone jack. We can't possibly own the same radio.
Making it a little more awkward than some considering it limits one as to its placement. They don't come any better in a carry along unit.
Its in the back of the radio rather than on the side. I feel the Midland ER102 is the very finest made of all of them.
Which is really cool by the way. Either that, or he doesn't own as many different ones as I do.
(It has a very long, solid antennae. As for this units quality in manufacturing, I cannot disagree more with the reviewer here that referred to its as shabby and cheap.
totally love it. excellent "packaging". and nothing else competes in this price range. multiple weather channels ensure that one or more of them can pick up the forecast wherever you are. all the features work great.
I'm surprised Midland put their brand name on it in such a pronounced font, if I were them, I'd be kind of ashamed of this product.As far as the radio itself, I'm a bit of a radio geek, I own a panasonic RF-2200, radio shack DX-392, several antique radios, etc. This gave me about 1.5 minutes of power. I did, however, expect it to actually work.First off, the quality of the parts are horrible. Great for the "emergency alert" because it may be in "wig out mode" when the weather service sends out the alert, you'll never get it. (again, this depends on whether the thing "feels like" being on)Battery life.The manual said to charge it for 12 hours. Can't really afford to buy weather radios all the time. At least you won't be disturbed by those pesky weather alerts.You can really tell they used the cheapest parts available to build this thing. all you really need is the local powerhouse station anyway, I guess.
is good. I got the radio (new) for the weather alert, alarm clock and flashlight. I didn't expect this one to even come close to the RF-2200, but the truth is, it doesn't even come close to a cheap $2.00 clock radio or novelty transistor. Don't get this if you want a good radio. It feels like a short. (even a cheap clock radio is easier to tune than this thing) it drifts quite a bit too.Assuming you survive the tornado despite the cheap weather alert failing. For AM, it is simply awful. I didn't expect excellent radio performance.
I did this, in fact, I exceeded 12 hours of charging. except that the battery dies immediately. I was able to get more weather stations on this than I did on an SW-100 multiband. The weather radio (when it works.). I can't speak for the FM, I only listen to one FM station and it's OK for that.Tuning AM is awkward, it is an analog radio with a digital display.
(even with 12+ hours of charging)I'm stuck with it. well. Hoping the switches clean themselves off so that at least I get the alarm to work.I can't say for sure, but I really doubt the thermometer is accurate.The feature set is great, it's a good concept radio but it would appear to need a lot of refinements in quality.Avoid it if you can. The flashlight is great, produces more light than I'd expected. The switches don't work, you have to jiggle them and then, the radio periodically shuts off.
Moreover, the weather radio uses PLL circuitry, so, it's bound to be better. The tuning really needs a fine tuning knob. The thin plastic volume knob really demonstrates this. It pulls in some strong local stations but thats about it.
I thought the digital AM would be too, but it's not even close. My free analog AM radio I got with a purchase as a promotion, is perfect. You would think that the unit would be s a good radio first.
It looks like a digital tuner, but it may be a simulated digital tuner, or a really bad digital tuner. This blanks out the other stations in this range. Don't buy this radio for a good AM tuner.
Also,if you are listening to a station at 730KHz, you probably can hear 3-4 other stations in the background. Otherwise, the unit is OK. The crosstalk (overlap) of stations can run as much as 60KHz.
In other words, if you tune to a local station at 730KHz, you can hear it loud at 650-820KHz, or so.
"Features" prevailed over weight. It is small enough to fit in my backpacks upper cover pocket. I will also be using this radio for backpacking/camping trips. I tested the lentgh of life with power on board before having to use the crank. I have done a good bit of searching before getting this emergency radio.
If you get this unit you will have made a decent educated purchase, that was worth the effort in finding an emergency radio for your family. So far I am quiet pleased with the Midland 102. The only reason for four star rating is I can not attest to it's durabillity since I have only had the radio just over a week. Even indoors with the antena down it gets great reception.
It's not the smallest radio. There are many choices out there for this type of radio. After cranking for three minutes. It was atleast two days of near constant use. Light is small but ideal for searhing for something in a pinch. Three differnt ways too power the radio is great.
The radio played for close to an hour. Along with the other many features it has.
When holding the unit in your hands it won't feel like a cheesey piece of plastic. Hope my reveiw helps you out.
The sound quality was exceptional for the speakers size. After reading many reveiws I picked the Midland 102.
Or close to eight to ten hours. Tells Temp, alarm clock, weather alarm that can be set to silent flash warning.
The reception is great. The LCD display is great.
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