Is this a good weather radio????

[jusforsean]

I saw a link on weather radios saying something about same technology but now i cant find it. I just bought the Storm Tracker tv/lantern/am/fm/weather alert radio at costco for 47.00. Is it any good for all uses? Also general weather alerts thruought the year? Thanks!

[southerngale]

I'm not familiar with that one, so I looked around and couldn't find very many reviews on it. If this is the correct one, the VEC135, and I'm assuming it is based on the price, here's a few links for the reviews:

Home Depot

Direct Depot

There's just not many out there. Hopefully one of our members can give you more information.



As for the thread about weather alert radios with S.A.M.E. technology, is this the thread you were looking for?
I love my Midland one I got from Amazon and it has S.A.M.E. With it being on sale there, it's the same price as the one you got at Costco. Plus it's free shipping at Amazon. That's if you're looking for one with S.A.M.E. I don't think the one you purchased has it, but it may otherwise be a great weather alert radio.

[jusforsean]

thanks southerngale, that the one!!
It looks pretty cool I am guessing its a new addition due to the new need

Yes the thread with the s.a.m.e. stuff, this one doesnt have it but what exactly is it?? Do i need it??

[southerngale]

thanks southerngale, that the one!!
It looks pretty cool I am guessing its a new addition due to the new need

Yes the thread with the s.a.m.e. stuff, this one doesnt have it but what exactly is it?? Do i need it??

You're welcome. You don't need it, but it allows you to program the weather alert to only give watches/warnings that apply to YOU so you don't get woke up by a watch or warning many miles away that doesn't affect you. You can also choose state, county, or nearby counties if you want....you can choose up to 30 programmable codes. I live near a county line so I have both counties programmed in mine, plus one farther north where my brother lives. I think it's worth having, going from one that didn't have it, but it's not necessary.

Read the reviews about it on Amazon and that should be helpful too. If you like the Midland one with S.A.M.E. better, it might be worth returning the other one. I'm not familiar with Vector, but it may be an excellent brand as well. I'm sticking with Midland because it's a proven brand to me. My last one was a Midland and it lasted forever. It still works, but I just upgraded and have that one put away in the closet in case I ever need another one.

[Persepone]

We have plug in weather radio (old) without SAME technology and a newer one (gift) with the SAME technology. They virtually broadcast the same warnings so I'm not sure what the advantage is/is supposed to be. The point is that SAME is more "selective"--so the one technology will still save your life, although it might wake you up in the middle of the night.

Where I do NOT like SAME technology is in portable weather radios that live in (a) my pocketbook and (b) my husband's car. If you are "on the road" what you do NOT want is a weather radio programmed to get only certain alerts--you want to hear alerts for where you, what you are potentially driving into, etc. So my vote is NOT for SAME technology in a portable weather radio.

Our portable radios have saved us from harm on several occasions. They are espcially useful if you do something like "go to the beach" or go skiing, etc. because they warn of approaching thunderstorms, etc. that you may not "see." They give you that extra few minutes to get the kids out of the water and into the car and on the road... If nothing else you don't get caught in the traffic jam out of the beach parking.

My old Radio Shack radio (which they don't seem to make anymore) is smaller than a pack of cigarettes--it is easy to slip in a pocket, a fanny pack, a pocketbook, etc.

By the way, on alert, these things do need their batteries changed frequently... But they are worth their weight in gold and the batteries are cheap, all things considered.

[brunota2003]

Well Perse, on most wx radios you can turn the same off (i think the code is 9999999 or however many digits there are) I have a portable radio, it has like 6 different channels and if I leave one programed onto my county, then if we go anywhere I will switch channels to one of the open channels. I hardly go anywhere without something that can pick up a warning, and at night I always sleep with my radio (an actual radio) on to listen to music, if the alert goes off it will wake me up...

[jusforsean]

O.k. so I have been playing with the storm tracker first thing I have noticed is that it seems on a scale of 1-10 to be an 8 in the cheaply made quality. Could be a little better. Other wise I have trouble getting reception on the t.v. which i can finally get a channel or two and especially a weather station it takes like 5 mins to get a station the other day i had it locked on alert and it did go off twice once for a flood waring and another for a thunderstorm warning. However I can see how the same technology is useful so I went on amazon and bought a midland same raido for 28.00 with free shipping. seems like it will be good. I hope the reception is better. I dont know if it can be my area? Otherwise the stormtracker does have 2 lights a t.v. am/fm and the weather radio so i will keep it for the season it also has a hand crank, batteries, car plug in and regular plug in adapter. But i am looking forward to getting my midland ill let you know how it is.