All Snow, No Weather
Written: Dec 21 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Inexpensive, good battery life, comes with A/C power cord.
Cons: Difficult to tune, unreliable.
The Bottom Line: This radio was not only difficult to tune and unreliable, but grossly overpriced, even at the discount charge I paid for it.
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| autoamerican's Full Review: Emerson RP1103 AM/FM/Weather/TV Radio |
I first got interested in owning a weather radio when I found out that I had unknowingly moved to one of the most flood prone areas of the city of Richmond, Virginia. In fact, I found out (not long after moving in) that the apartment complex I was living in actually had one entire building wash away during Hurricane Gaston a few years back (ironically enough, the put a playground on the lot where the building once stood - I guess that explains why I always saw kids playing on the slide with life preservers on).
At any rate, I decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea if I went ahead and bought a weather radio, just for emergency purposes. I already had a combination CB / Weather radio in my truck, so it made sense to have one in the house.
I went to Wal-Mart and started browsing, and not know much about the weather radios they had on hand, just grabbed the cheapest one and headed for the door. I figured at $15, it wouldn't be that bad, and since it was only for emergency purposes, why not.
Boy, was that a waste of $15.
I guess if it's just for emergency purposes, then it wouldn't have been a bad purchase. I started leaving it on at night during the hurricane season (since it won't get a weather alert unless it's turned on - unlike other weather radios that are always monitoring for emergency broadcasts), and that incessant, repetitive, metallic voice became something I actually needed to sleep at night. I started to leave it on all night, every night, and that's when I realized the many negative points of this radio.
Before I start tearing it apart, let's just view the basics:
BANDS
This radio picks up AM / FM broadcasts, UHF television audio, and the NOAA Weather Radio bands.
PHYSICAL STATS
Monoural speaker
Analog tuning
Telescoping antenna
Uses 4 AA batteries or included wall outlet cord
The biggest problem I had with this radio is not only was it difficult to tune, but the tuning seemed to change from one night to another, depending on the battery status (I ran it off rechargeable batteries). The weather radio tuning wasn't with the normal tuning knob on the front of the unit, but on a tiny little screw type of knob on the back of the unit - it didn't even "click" into positions at the seven pre-defined weather radio frequencies.
Every night, before going to bed, I'd turn on the radio, and then twiddle with the screw-knob on the back, trying not to bump the antenna as I reached around the back. I'd twist back and forth, sometimes squeezing the radio seemed to help reception (I think mine may have had a bad tuning mechanism). It was part of my nightly routine, along with brushing my teeth and taking out my contacts.
Well, finally, one evening I had enough and I literally smashed it against the floor, after trying desperately to pick up the channel that was for my local area. It was totally ridiculous how difficult it was to tune this thing, not to mention the fact that the mere act of touching the radio would knock it out of tune. The signal would go in and out throughout the night, with the accompanying snow / static noise and speaker whining.
I also tried using it for AM / FM broadcasts at one point, but had the same results, even though the AM / FM / TV band tuning was with a much easier to use knob on the front of the unit. I gave up on the music on this radio after just one attempt - everything came in with cross-talk, static, and speaker whine. Even local television stations that were broadcasting a mere fifteen minutes' drive from my apartment were almost impossible to tune in on this radio.
I honestly don't know why this radio was so poorly made; maybe I just got a bad one on the run, but judging by how quickly it was pulled off shelves, I think it's safe to assume that this radio was known to be pretty lousy from the start.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
autoamerican
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Location: Here, there, everywhere . . .
Reviews written: 132
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
I like whining, so epinions is a natural outlet for me.
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