Weather Alert Radios...Sangean CL-100 vs. Reecom R-1630C

[EDCinDET]

I was pretty much ready to get the Sangean CL-100 when I came across the Reecom R-1630C for less money with the same features.

I'm looking for something that could be plugged in with an AC jack and switch to battery back up (AA's preferred) when the power goes out, has S.A.M.E. and E.O.M. Technology, AM/FM and alarm clock would be an added bonus but not completely necessary and of course user friendly as far as ease of programming.

They both have good reviews on Amazon but the Reecom doesn't have many reviews.

Which would you recommend for weather alerts? Is there another I should consider?

Sangean CL-100
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003QHXZM4/?tag=cpf0b6-20

Reecom R-1630C
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003I29YF4/?tag=cpf0b6-20

Thanks,
EDC

 

[Steve K]

I've had the Sangean CL-100 for a year or so now, and have been happy with it. It makes a nice AM/FM radio too.

No experience with the Reecom radio, but it's nice to see another weather radio with a full set of features. The Reecom is $20 cheaper than the Sangean on Amazon, so maybe that's enough of a reason to give it a try?

 

[StarHalo]

The Sangean is a full AM/FM/WX radio, whereas the Reecom is just WX, an important distinction if you want an alarm clock that wakes you by radio. If the ~$15 difference is that important to you, better to have a weather radio next to your radio alarm clock than get caught without one (but keep an eye on the Sangean's price, it plummets from time to time; there was an Amazon seller last year who had them for $24..)

 

[EDCinDET]

Good to know thanks. The money difference really wasn't of importance. Just the only difference I spotted. I will be getting the Sangean after what you've pointed out as well as I've read some negative reviews about the Reecom customer service. Hopefully they have a price drop soon so I get a good deal. Thanks

 

[CMAG]

I have the Sangean PR D9W for 2+ years no problems good reviews
[h=3][/h]

 

[StarHalo]

I hope those of you in the Midwest/South are using your weather radios tonight..

 

[Steve K]

this is definitely the season to have a weather radio!
My Sangean did a good job of alerting me to tornadoes last November. My location was fine, but nearby Washington Illinois got nailed badly.

Interestingly, the Google satellite view of Washington still shows the aftermath of the tornado. i.e. not the current status, but shortly after the tornado. You can get a close look at just how completely the homes were destroyed, as well as the rather long path of the tornado as it continued northeast of the town, leaving marks on the fields themselves.

 

[cland72]

I have a Yaesu VX-7 (HAM HT) which has a weather alert feature on it. I get that weather-specific radios have the advantage of the SAME alert by county, but is there any other reason I should get a weather-specific radio as opposed to just paying attention to the NWS, Skywarn spotters, and keeping my VX-7 on weather scan when severe weather is imminent?

 

[Steve K]

I don't know anything about the Yaesu radio that you've got, so maybe it is equivalent... but I do like the way that the Sangean wakes me up in the middle of the night (like it or not). It is loud! Plus... I don't have to think about whether the weather is getting bad or not. It is always active.

Take the case of last November.. we were expecting some rain. I was messing around on some project. Didn't have a radio or the TV on. I was very surprised to hear a tornado warning on the Sangean! That's not a November sort of thing. If it wasn't for the Sangean, I would have been totally oblivious to it... although I think our emergency sirens did go off a bit later (hard to recall).

 

[cland72]

The Yaesu can be set on "WX alert" mode, and it scans all NOAA channels. If it detects an alert, it will sound a very loud alarm until I press the PTT button, then it will begin to transmit the NOAA station that sent the alert.

I suppose it is beneficial to have something that is on 24/7/365 and doesn't require me to pay attention to local weather reports. I'm pretty spoiled by social media in that I follow the NWS in Fort Worth, Texas Storm Chasers, as well as several local new weather reporters on Twitter. I typically have a 2-5 day head's up when we may be in the cross hairs of severe weather, so I have plenty of prior notice to fire up the radio the day of the anticipated storms.

That being said, I can certainly see where a $50 investment would be wise for a dedicated unit.

 

[EDCinDET]

Where is the best place to buy the Sangean CL-100? I found it for $56 after the coupon code was applied at DataVis.com do you know of a website that has a better deal for it?

Thanks

 

[StarHalo]

Where is the best place to buy the Sangean CL-100? I found it for $56 after the coupon code was applied at DataVis.com do you know of a website that has a better deal for it?

Looks like the best deal at the moment..

 

[Lebkuecher]

Where is the best place to buy the Sangean CL-100? I found it for $56 after the coupon code was applied at DataVis.com do you know of a website that has a better deal for it?

Thanks

I bought mine from Amazon

My Sangean CL-100 woke me up this morning with a severe thunderstorm warning.

I disabled most of the alert codes so I'm not being pestered by unwanted alerts, my main concern is tornados. I found the radio to be an excellent listening radio as well and I also us the radio for an alarm clock. The alarm starts off with low volume beeping and gradually gets louder or I can choose to be woken up by the radio. I have been very pleased with the radio.

I read some reviews where people had issues with the radio keeping time. I think part of the problem is the radio uses time data from the RDS feature so if the radio station you select to auto sync time messes up then your time will not be right. You can program the radio to auto check time via a selected radio station or you can disable the sync time feature and not run the risk of having the time change unexpectedly.

 

[Flying Turtle]

My Sangean has been sounding off with flash flood and tornado warnings the last couple days. Luckily, no real troubles in my area, yet, but there's still tomorrow. I've very much enjoyed owning the CL-100. It sits by my favorite chair and gets a few hours use each day. Thanks, again, StarHalo for calling it to my attention at least a year ago. I think I paid just over $30 on Amazon.

Geoff

 

[EDCinDET]

Got my Sangean CL-100 in the mail today. It is really nice! I disabled most of the alerts and set the S.A.M.E. for my county only. Between the Sangean CL-100 and the CC Solar Observer we're ready for the storms! Thanks StarHalo for suggesting both units, they are both high quality and were exactly what I was looking for. I'm glad I decided to get two separate specific designated units. Although it would have been nice to have a radio that covered all the bases but that doesn't exist at this time as far as I know.

 

[StarHalo]

I'm glad I decided to get two separate specific designated units. Although it would have been nice to have a radio that covered all the bases but that doesn't exist at this time as far as I know.

What makes a good emergency/outage radio and a good weather radio are essentially polar opposites; an outage radio should be designed to run as long as possible, which means analog tuning, no alert services running in the background, and lots of methods to power the unit. Whereas a weather radio should give you as much info as possible and should alert you as needed, so clever power methods aren't really realistic.

The closest thing to an all-in-one unit currently is the Kaito KA600, but its weather alert feature means a few days on battery power tops, even without using it otherwise. It could be fun for camping, but short of that, your two-radio setup is ideal.

 

[EDCinDET]

Well we had a tornado warning here in Michigan and the Sangean never alerted us? If it wasn't for the local tornado siren we would have never known to take cover. I checked the setting on the Sangean CL-100 and everything was set to alert us? I restored the defaults and reset our county code and still no alerts. What a bummer now I guess I have to send it back for a new one. Unless someone has had a similar issue and found a solution.

 

[DaFABRICATA]

EDCinDET, I live about 50 miles west of Detroit and we also had the warning sirens go off along with an alert from my cell phone that I neverknew existed. Over the weekend I picked up a Midland NOAA radio with built in flashlight/ hand crank/ solar charger that runs on an 18650. I went through the manual and set it up with the alert to go off when a warning is issued. The radios alert never went off even though we had tornado warnings with the sirens alerting several times along with the alerts that sounded on my cell phone.
Looks like this ones getting returned and may have to pick up something different....or maybe I just don't know what to expect from a NOAA radio.

 

[EDCinDET]

Well after talking to the Sangean customer service apparently the switch that says weather needs to be in the up/on position. I felt pretty stupid because that was the first thing he said could be the problem. He said "well the first and most obvious answer is the weather switch needs to be on". Honestly though this was not on the quick set up instructions. He also had me enable all alerts and set county to all. Just until I find out if it's working correctly. I'll let you know if it works.

As far as doing business with datavis.com I would NOT recommend purchasing from them. I spoke with them and asked if the unit proves to be defective would I have to pay for shipping to exchange for a working unit and they said yes. While it was the best deal at the time with free shipping I don't think the customer should have to pay to return the unit to get one that works. I wish I would've ordered through a more reputable company who would email me a free prepaid return label in the event that the radio is defective.

 

[EDCinDET]

Everything is working fine now that the weather switch is in the up/on position. I received an alert for a flash flood warning the other day. So I now adjusted the alerts for only the most important pertaining to my region. I really like the weather alert radio and highly recommend it.