Sangean CL-100 NOAA, S.A.M.E and Public Alert Certified Weather Alert Table-Top Radio with AM/FM-RBDS, and EEPROM Back Up for Preset Stations

I've been in the market for a home weather radio for a few years now (yes, a few years). It was actually a frustrating search as I couldn't find one that had all of the features I wanted without annoying issues. Midlands wouldn't shut off at EOM, Reecom had a back-to-back alert bug, Radio Shack models had reliability issues, and I even looked at a few others but they didn't have everything I wanted. Even this radio had a lot of problems when it was originally released, but I tracked it through all of the firmware updates until it finally seemed like it would work how I wanted it to. Thankfully, it has. Overall, I absolutely LOVE this device. As a matter of fact, I was waiting for our first alert (besides the weekly test) to go off while we were home so I could hear it work before posting my review. We had a severe thunderstorm watch right as we were going to bed and it alerted us exactly how I expected. It does have a few drawbacks, but they are nothing that make me regret my purchase. Here are the pros and cons I found while I've had it: Pros: -You can set the date/time to use RDBS, which is a fancy way of saying it can sync the date/time from a local radio station if they transmit it. Mine has stayed synced with no issues since I've had it, so it's working great. -It honors EOM. I almost asked for a Midland weather radio for Christmas as they seemed highly recommended online. Thankfully I found some reviews on Amazon that mentioned they do not honor the 3 burst EOM signal at the end of an alert and constantly go off for 5 minutes. That was a deal-breaker for me. This device works perfectly as right after the 3rd EOM burst, it shut off the radio. We could go back to sleep without having to get up to turn it off or be forced to listen to it for 5 minutes. The manual seems to indicate it works like the Midland, but it's incorrect as it shuts off after the EOM. -It allows you to silence certain alerts. For instance, the weekly test is disabled, so it will receive the test and show it on the display, but won't do any audible alerts. I believe some alerts, like tornado warning, don't allow you to do this, but I feel that's excellent as events like those shouldn't allow you to accidentally disable them. -It allows SAME codes, either single, or multiple, so you only get alerts for the counties/parishes you want. If you set multiple, you can even toggle them on and off in the menu instead of having to delete and add, if you want that type of control. -It shows when the active alert will expire. -It has 3 LEDs that light up for warning, watch and advisory. That's nice if you miss the broadcast, like if you're outside and you come in and see an LED you can know you have an active alert and what type it is. -It has a weather button that you can press to listen to the weather channel you're using, which broadcasts current conditions and forecasts. I sometimes listen to this in the morning while getting dressed to get an idea of what the weather will be like today and for the week ahead. They even discuss the tropics during hurricane season, which being on the south coast is something I'm always monitoring. If you press the weather button again, it turns off. -You can choose to have a siren alert, or voice alert, though the voice alert starts with a siren before the message is announced. -The siren doesn't start off at full volume. Reviews of earlier versions of this radio indicated that in voice mode, there was no way to adjust the siren volume and it came on full blast. With this version, you can change the siren volume and it will affect the siren level that goes off before the voice alert, and it even does a "humane" version where it starts off low and increases in volume until reaching the volume you selected (Low, Middle, or High). -It has the ability to add new alert codes in case new alerts are added to the system. I don't know if they'll ever add any new codes, but at least you have the option to add them. -It has a history of expired alerts that you can scroll through. -Display can be adjusted to turn off and you can adjust a timer for how long it stays on after a button press. This can be good if you use it in your bedroom and the light from the display is too much. I don't have it right next to my bed so I always leave the display on and it doesn't bother me. -It comes with 2 alarms that are very customizable. Each allows you to wake up to a radio station or an alarm sound. You can set the time, the individual days of the week, and adjust the volume for the radio alarm and alarm sound (they both have their own volume setting). These both do the humane waking where they increase in volume to the volume you set. -Sound quality is very good for a radio this size. You can even adjust the treble and bass, though I think it sounds fine with the defaults. -It has a battery backup that uses 4 AA batteries. This is crucial since in severe weather, you want your weather radio to still work if the weather knocks out the power. Cons: -My main gripe is that it doesn't show the date/time of expired events while scrolling through them. The main reason why I would like this feature is because I wanted to use the weekly tests to verify that the radio is working correctly. Without the date/time of expired events, I can't easily see if the last alert I received was the weekly test for this week or weeks past. I have a workaround that relies on the fact that when you press the button to scroll through the alerts, if you do it again later it remembers the last one you were on. So I'll scroll down to expired alert # 3 for instance, and when I press the button to scroll later and it's on the same alert # 3, I know I haven't received a new one. If it resets me to #1, I know I had an alert since I last checked. I'm at least glad I discovered this so I can still use the weekly test to verify the radio is working, but it would be nice to know when those expired alerts happened. -The display could be a con depending on where you have the radio as the angle is not adjustable and the viewing angle isn't that great. I'm not using this as my primary alarm clock, so it's not a big deal for me, but it's something to keep in mind if you want to be able to see the time while in bed. -The menu exits after a little while of inactivity. This was annoying while trying to set up the radio since if you pause to figure out how you want to set something, it will frequently go back to the main screen and you'll have to browse back to the setting you want to change again. Once I had it programmed though, I rarely go through the menus except to change the alarm, so it hasn't bothered me since setup. -The quick start manual is terrible. I usually read the manuals for electronics I buy, but the quick start is one I probably should have skipped. I find the main manual is much better to use when setting up. For instance, the quick start just says to select the channel of the weather radio you will use, with no mention of what channels map to what frequency. I found my local transmitter on the NOAA website and got the frequency, but I had no idea how this radio mapped the channels to the frequency. I found this information near the very end of the main manual, which IMO, is a terrible place to put it. That chart should have been in the beginning of the quick start so you could know what to enter. -It does the humane volume increase while browsing for radio stations. The humane volume increase is great for alarm or weather alert mode, but is bizarre for channel surfing the radio. -The description of "Defeat Siren" should be "Defeat Alert" since it controls if either of them do an audible alert. Overall, the pros easily outweigh the cons. This is definitely the weather radio I've been waiting for and the one I would recommend to anybody looking to purchase one.

I just received my Sangean CL-100 in the mail. I'll update this review in the future with comments about it's durability and battery life. Keep in mind that I bought this primarily as 1) a kitchen radio, 2) an emergency radio when the power goes out, and 3) a weather alert when I know big storms with potential hazards (like tornadoes) are coming through the area. On these fronts, it's about perfect. Although it has alarm clock functions, I did not purchase it for these purposes. Before purchasing the Sangean, I had a similar weather alert radio made by Radio Shack [Catalog #12-519], but I returned it a few weeks ago. It worked fine, but the Sangean cost less and potentially had better sound and reception (which it turns out it did). Throughout the review, I'll compare the Sangean to it's Radio Shack competitor even though it appears that Radio Shack has discontinued the radio I bought from them, replacing it with a new one that has a completely different design [Catalog #12-996]. PROS: --Well Made: It feels and looks like a high quality product, much more so than the radio I had purchased from Radio Shack, which felt fine for something that cost $20 to $30, but I had purchased it on sale for $60. --Great Sound: The speaker produces great sound for it's small size. It works well in our kitchen. The default mix is just right for classical music, NPR, and talk radio, and you can adjust the bass and treble if needed. The sound is better than the competition from Radio Shack. I don't think the comparable Midland or Reecom products have an equalizer either. --Great Reception: It picks up stations very clearly, including the closest weather station. Again, it does this better than the radio from Radio Shack, which only picked up one weather station while the Sangean picks up 2. The Radio Shack radio struggled to pick up the local NPR station while the Sangean does not (although I have to extend the antenna for it to come in at full volume). --Weather Alerts: It has the same weather alert capabilities as its competitors. However, you do have to know your county FIPS code, which isn't hard to look up online, while some of the competitors have all of the counties listed in the radio by state. --Stereo Headphone Out: You can use this as your radio receiver and plug in bigger speakers if you need more volume (assuming the external speakers have their own amp). This is a nice plus over some of the competition, including the Radio Shack unit I previously owned. --Small Size: I was surprised how small it is and how much sound it's able to produce for being so small. This is a plus if you don't want your whole night stand or kitchen counter taken up by a radio. --Ease of Use: It was pretty easy to figure out how to set everything up. I only had to look up a couple of things in the manual. There are some quirks, which I discuss below. MIXED BAG (could be Pro or Con depending on your views): --Siren Volume: Even the quietest volume setting for the weather alert siren is quite loud. Of course, the purpose of a weather alert is to alert you of an emergency. CONS (though these are quibbles): --Screen: The screen is fine if you're just using it as a radio. I like all of the information it shows, but as an alarm clock, it wouldn't work well. The angle is bad. It should be on the front of the unit like the screens of most alarms instead of on the top at an angle. The text is small for an alarm clock and would be hard to read even if the angle weren't bad. As far as screen location and size, the Radio Shack competitor was much better, but it had a bright blue background that lit up the whole room and made it difficult to read the time from an angle. The Reecom and Midland competitors also have screens on the top. So in the end, this con does not put it at a disadvantage to the competition. Plus, I don't use it as an alarm, so it doesn't matter to me. --Location of LED Warning Lights: The Sangean has LED warning lights for the different weather alerts: red for warning, orange for watch, etc. However, they're on the top of the unit, so if you have it on your night stand, it would be hard to see the lights without sitting up a bit. This is one area where the Radio Shack competitor wins out. --Automatic Menu Exit: If you're in the menu and don't push a button after 5 seconds, it will automatically exit you out of the menu. That's annoying, but once you have the alert codes set up, this isn't an issue. --Lack of Handle, Non-Upright Position: It would be more portable if the unit had a handle and was made to sit up-right. You can sit it up right to save space, but it can be hard to read the screen when it's in this position.

After spending apx 8000 on radio and 1500 on Antenna I am not getting proper indoor signal coverage . Nothing special in sound quality....its ok ok. Battery consumption is also high. No special sound effects. Valume is also low. Better go for Some 3 in 1 option of good brands like Sony or Philips which is cost effective also. Overall I m not satisfied with quality compare to cost

J'aime bien cette radio. Elle est capable de capter des stations éloignées, tant du coté météo que du côté AM et FM. Le son est surprenamment très bon pour une radio de si petite taille. Et probablement pour cette raison qu'il y a une prise externe permettant à cette radio de fonctionner comme un haut-parleur externe. Côté météo, rien à redire. Entièrement compatible avec la technologie "SAME" utilisée par Environnement Canada pour son service météo sur VHF, je reçois très bien leurs alertes avec cette radio. Fait surprenant, cette radio affiche sur son écran les messages textes diffusés par la plupart des stations FM. On ne s'attend pas à cela d'une radio météo! Seul point négatif: L'écran. Il est tellement petit, pas facile à lire (à moins d'être directement en face de la radio) et surtout, il y a tellement d'information affichée sur un si petit écran que la lecture n'est pas aisée. Cette radio gagnerait beaucoup à avoir un écran de meilleur qualité et au moins au double de sa dimension actuelle. Somme toute, une très bonne radio météo multi-fonction !

Gostei de todos os recursos desse radio.

Este Radio Sangean tiene excelentes prestaciones, tiene AM, FM incluye RBDS ( datos que te indican el nombre de la canción y/o artista, entre otras cosas, ojo, siempre y cuando la radiodifusora lo tenga instalado) además incluye recepción de la señal de clima, a través de la cual en la Ciudad de México nos envían la Alerta Sísmica. Tiene Reloj despertador, con dos alarmas, las alarmas pueden ser un sonido de alarma o despertarte con el radio, tiene 10 memorias para que guardes tus estaciones preferidas y mantiene tu configuración y/o preferencias usando 4 pilas "AA". La calidad de audio y recepción es muy buena, incluso para el clima, además tiene la opción de controlar tonos bajos y agudos para un mejor sonido. En fin es un excelente radio, muy estético y de calidad, 100% recomendable.

Para México, Solo Alarma Sísmica (cdmx). Al Menos Que No Lo Haya Programado Correctamente . Esto Por Comprobar Hasta Qué Haya Un Temblor Qué Active La Alerta Sísmica. Por Referencia Que Tengo Con Otros Equipos No Dudo Que Funcione Tal Como Se Esperá.