Midland WR120 NOAA Weather and Emergency Alert Radio - WR120

I'm glad I bought this radio (about 2 years ago) and I'm buying another for a relative. Several things are great about this radio: * it's reliable. * the alarm is loud enough to wake me up even if the alert on my cell phone doesn't. Since lots of storms come through at night, I appreciate this! * the double AA batteries have kept the radio working when the power has gone out and when I've brought the radio into the basement when tornadoes have been spotted close by (twice). * plays the weather forecast at the push of a button. * programming is pretty straightforward, though it takes some time. People who aren't keen on electronics might want some help and some patience. No complaints.

First, I am an FCC licensed broadcast engineer and have been since 1968. Along with that, I am a licensed amateur radio operator...again, for many years. I purchased several Midland NOAA radios perhaps 20 years ago to give as gifts and as promotional giveaways for a television station when we were "pushing" NOAA alerts. The "one" I kept for myself finally gave up the ghost...about 6 months ago. No signal coming in. Not a problem, as I ordered a WR120 as a replacement. Of coiurse, because of "COVID", as with everything else, the price had jumped up, but it was still a great buy for the protection it offers. Problem is...the signal is weak, even in areas where I had a great signal before. No changes at NOAA, I checked with them. And, even when I could receive a signal, only one station came throuog. Ok, I quickly put together a 1/4 wave vertical antenna. Signal was improved, but not nearly the quieting I expected, and the entenna had to be located in "just the right spot" inside the house. That spot was at the tope of a window that actually faces the NOAA transmitting site. I tried vertical polarization as well as horizontal polarization. To no avail. I removed the rubber duckie antenna from one of my Marine VHF portables, changed the antenna connector, and the signal on my handheld was great. Mattered not where the antenna was located, or whether it was vertical or polarized. In other words, my antenna was perfect. Replaced the connector, back to the RCA male, "metered" it out to verify good connection with no shorts (always delicate when working with those RCA "phone" connectors), and all was good. Reception was still sketchy with the WE120. Another local TV station is running a promotion in the area. So far, they have partnered with retail outlets and have managed to get a lot of radios in the homes of people in the area. I'm not sure which Midland unit they're selling. Next promotion is 14 May in a nearby town. Local "hams" have been helping customers program the radios they purchase at no charge. I plan to purchase 2 more radios, one for a gift, but I will take along some batteries and test both before I leave the retail location. By the way, there was a slight, barely noticeable improvement with two external antennas I used compared to the attached telescoping antenna. I suspect with a radio issue, or an antenna connection issue (internal of the radioi), I'll let you know, one way or the other, if the next radios I get work ok.

The radio is easy to use, and lightweight, the battery lasts a while, and is a great option if you need a simple weather radio.

I've had NOAA Weather Radio receivers around the home since 1974 from various manufacturers. Over the past half a century, I have come to rely on weather alert radios made by Midland, as they have the longest life span, and provided outstanding reliability over the years. In fact, my oldest working weather radio is a 1989 vintage model 74-102 and it still does a magnificent job. Currently, I have three Model WR120 alert radios around the house, and no matter where I am at, I can hear any emergency message from the National Weather Service day or night. Also, the battery backup feature has provided continuous protection even after power failures. The WR120s really are the gold standard of weather radios, and I often buy extras off Amazon as holiday "stocking stuffers" for my coworkers, family and friends. They really are a great gift idea.

Can’t remember how many years I have owned this weather radio by Midland but It is still as reliable as it was when it was new. I know it is several years old because I bought it new. Thank you Midland for producing quality products. Have not had this unit not to work or serviced in any capacity. If it was to quit functioning, I would buy another one just like this one.

Great little radio for keeping up with the current conditions. So easy to set up.

just as I expected from Midland in a weather radio! does its’s job!

delivery right on time. really like the product so far

I have many midland weather radios and the newest WR120 is by far the best weather radio. It works GREAT! Price is GREAT! Speaker is GREAT! It's Compact! Very good quality! Good battery life! I Love the stand built in too! I would give it 10 stars but you only have 5******

I just purchased a new midland wr120 weather radio a few months ago, and just the last pass week the clock re-set its self back to 12:00 AM for no reason at all. So I figured that something was laying on the buttons causing the clock re-set, so I checked to see if here was anything touching the radio, and there wasn't. So I went back into the menu, and set the correct time. Then all of a sudden the very next day the screen lit up, and the clock started to flash 12 again. Talking about a malfunction for the Midland weather radio. This is what happens when the company uses lead free solider on electronics. Lead free solider is very well known for having tin whiskers grow on sensitive components shorting them out, causing malfunctions. Not only that but, lead free solider also needs higher then normal heat to melt. This high heat also is known to destroy electronic components as well. This over heating causes components to fail faster.

Midland Weather Radio is an excellent product. It goes off flawlessly when an alert is sent out.

just recieved WR120....it works great. Highly reconmmend this product!!!!!

This radio has saved us in numerous severe weather events. Being in the Chicagoland suburbs, we get some nasty weather here and there especially in the spring and summer. I have owned the Wr-120 (older non EZ model) for 9 years and upgraded to the EZ model 2 years ago. This radio is an improvement to the older Wr-120 with much easier menu options and alert customization. Now the only quirk I have with the EZ model only and I’ve seen it with other Wr-120EZ users is that after a while, alerts take longer to process, ie. siren takes longer to activate after the EAS header tones activate. I’ve seen it where when the header tones activate, it takes the radio more than 20 seconds or even longer to sound off the siren, and by then, the alert read out is almost over. The older non EZ model always activated very quickly (1 second after the header tones sound) But the best way to combat this is to factory reset the radio periodically, so it sounds off quicker. But other than that, it’s a great radio that does its job. Also a great bang-for-your-buck! And I also love that it has EOM (end of message) detection so the radio automatically shuts off after the message is complete instead of waiting minutes to shut off on a timer.

Wow unpacked the radio did a quick set up and a little later it gave us a severe warning. It beat the TV stations in reporting the warning. Great to have in severe weather time of the year.

Havent had any storms since I got my radio,,,haha maybe scared them away from my area....Radio is loud enough to wake a person up from a sleep tho. I had one just like it before and it worked very well, it just got old....

This was my first radio for my collection and it is one of my favorites. It is very easy to program and it is very simple for a starter radio. I would for sure recommend.

Had one of these radios and ordered more. I like the alerts when there is a watch or warning and that siren that goes off is a great feature. You can listen to the daily weather forecast as well just by pushing the "weather/snooze" button. Setup is very simple. Just be sure to put batteries in it. Depending on your home layout, you may have to move this near a window so that you can get good reception. That's my only drawback. In the country, reception only works near windows so you can't just place on an interior wall. There is an option to hang on a wall as well as for an external antenna but I have yet to find an "external antenna" that uses an RCA adapter and can be placed remotely to connect to the system. Our radio has alerted on tornado activity. If you live in the south, be sure to have one of these and check to make sure it is functional at least weekly. I would recommend you get one if not two. Get some for family and neighbors as well.

They work just like they always have and I bought 3 of them. One for us and one for each of our parents highly recommended!

The WR-120 is, in my honest opinion, THE best Weather Alert Radio manufactured by Midland and even brands altogether. Below I will list my favorite features and what I like about this model. 1) Selectable Alerts...I truly prefer to have ALL alerts turned on with my weather radios for the most part. However, since I have numerous WX radios, including 4 WR-120s, I sometimes turn off certain alerts (mainly alerts that aren't likely to be issued in my area) on the radio I have in the living room instead of my room. The older WR-100, HH54, etc. did/does not have this feature. I can see it being very useful for someone who lives on a tall hill, for example, to turn off Flash Flood Warnings. 2) S.A.M.E. Technology...It's is nice to be able to select only the locations you care about (such as home county and/or surrounding counties). A lot of people obviously don't want to be woke out of their sleep for a Severe Thunderstorm Warning 30 miles away when it isn't going to move into their area at all. 3) Reception...The WR-120 certainly has sufficient reception. However, I do have to use an external antenna due to the higher terrain surrounding my location. So, it is very nice that you have the option to add an external antenna. In my instance, I used a magnet mount antenna on my roof and ran it through my window, then into the Ext. Ant jack (red hole on the back) of my WR-120. 4) Ease of use...This radio is extremely easy to set up and use. Once you open the box and power on the radio, the menu automatically appears and you set the Language, time, location (which is tremendously easy since all you do is select state and then county or counties), and possibly others - I can't remember off the top of my head. 4) Build Quality...Great. The radio does not feel cheap whatsoever, and the antenna is lengthy and sturdy. Buttons don't wear off easy in my experience, and speaker is plenty loud enough. ___________________________________________________________________________ If there is one thing I have to say that could be improved (possibly?), it is the fact that the new adapter slightly-moderately increases static on the radio - particularly when using only the supplied telescopic antenna. Other than that, I love this radio and, as I said in my review title, it is absoultely the best WX Radio model made by Midland. Hands down.

Great radio but I nearly have a heart attack when the alert goes off so loud at 2:00 am