Am/fm Emergency Alert Clock Radio

• 7 NOAA weather channels with SAME local alerts
• Receives 79 messages including Amber Alert and 911 call outage
• Automatically sounds a loud alert siren when emergency conditions occur in set area
• NIST atomic auto-set clock
• AC operation

In early Jan 2006 I purchased a WX-268 weather radio. After setting up the unit everything appeared to be fine. . Reception was good. The only feature that I could not test was the alert feature. The next day a weather alert was received but the radio did not alarm. The indicator light on the radio was lit. Further examination revealed that the radio had locked up. It would not respond to any attempt to unlock the unit. Finally, I had to disconnect the power and remove the batteries to completely reset the radio.

I reprogrammed the radio, and waited. Within hours a second warning alert was issued by the National Weather Service. The radio locked up again, requiring removal of all power to reset the radio.

At this point I packaged up the radio and sent it back to Amazon requesting a replacement. Three days later the replacement arrived (Great service from Amazon). Installed batteries, programed it and set it on the shelf waiting for the next alert signal to be sent by the NWS. The weather had been calm and I suspected that the next alert to be sent by the NWS would be their weekly test signal that is sent on Wednesdays. In anticipation of the weekly test signal I reprogrammed the radio to unblock "test" signals.

On Wednesday the test signal was received by the radio and it failed to alarm. It completely locked up requiring removal of power to reset the radio. This was the exact failure experienced by the first radio.

This time I sent the radio back and requested a refund.

The WX-268 has a design flaw. It may be limited to the production run from which my two units were manufactured but that is only conjecture on my part. I am also troubled by the short 90 day manufacturer's warranty.

Based on my first hand experience with this radio and its short warranty I cannot recommend this radio. Two thumbs way down.

Think long and hard before you trust your safety to this radio.

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I purchased 2 of the WX-268 radios over the holidays. One for myself and another as a gift for a relative in Michigan.

This radio has nice features: big screen, lots of options, I love that it can charge NiMh batteries for power failures, etc. However, about 2 days after I had it hooked up I received the "radio reception error listen to broadcast" warning message. It has returned several times regardless of where the radio is in the house (I have tried it in 3 places in about 2.5 weeks).

Then, I talked to my relative in Michigan this evening, and they were awoken at 3am this morning with the same "radio reception error" warning.

I called Sima Corp (the manufacturer of these radios) and was advised I need to send it in. I will be returning this radio. But I'm wondering if I really want another replacement. There appear to be serious issues with this radio. It leaves me little confidence that it will actually work as its supposed to. I have yet to receive a test alert as well, though I am unsure if this is due to a radio issue or that my local station doesn't do weekly tests.

Like I said, if the problem is fixed I think this radio has wonderful specs. But as such with my experience with 2 of them, I don't think I can recommend it.

EDIT (April 9, 2006): Bought another one. Haven't recieved the radio reception error, but radio failed to alarm during tornado watch. I recieved the alert via my computer, verified with the NWS that the watch was active for my county. Even after 45 minutes I had not recieved an alert.

I'm returning the radio and have purchased the Midland WR-300. I have several family members completely satisfied with the Midland. Its too bad. I love the rechargable battery capability on the First Alert, the atomic clock, and the AM or FM alert capability not on the Midland. But in an emergency, having a radio that works trumps any cool features. And the fact is the First Alert just doesn't work.

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This was my first weather radio purchase. The day I opened the box we had tornado warnings in the area and 15 minutes after plugging it in I received an alert. I like the atomic clock feature and scrolling text. As far as it alerting to inclement weather it does a fine job...BUT

The second night that I had the radio, somewhere around 3 in the morning, the alarm went off. I did not recall the news saying there was supposed to be any bad weather so I glanced at the radio to turn off the audio and the screen said "Radio Reception Error-Listen to Broadcast." I did just that but there was no weather emergency-in fact it was clear as could be outdoors. I turned it off and approximately 45 minutes later it did the exact same thing. At this point I was concerned and I just flipped the switch to mute the alarm.

I moved the radio to different areas of the house thinking that these error messages could have something to do with a possible weak signal. No matter the location I would the get alerts/error messages-sometimes as much as 5 per day.

I think this radio would be great if it were not for the error messages I have been receiving. I have boxed up the radio and it is on its way back to Amazon for a replacement. I will give this radio one more chance. If the new one does the same thing, I will buy another brand.

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This radio should be taken off the market. The other reviewers are absolutely right. It constantly alarms (usually in the middle of the night) with "Radio Reception Error" message yet there is nothing in the manual about this. Not a clue as to what the problem might be or how to reset or disable it. You have to unplug the device and remove the batteries to reset it and it comes back again within hours. The customer service was no help. All they said was that I would have to send the radio in to them to have it repaired. A brand new radio just out of the box? I don't think so. It is being returned to Amazon for a refund. Too bad, if I could have just turned that one alarm off or disabled it everything else about this radio worked great.

This was my first weather radio purchase. Having recently moved to the Florida coast I figured it would be a good investment for storm preparedness. When selecting a product I relied on the First Alert name.

Like several of the other reviewers we repeatedly seem to get the "Radio Reception Error-Listen to Broadcast" message. It occurs frequently -day or night -with no apparent trigger or cause. The standard alarm feature is difficult to set.

I made the mistake of throwing out all of the original packaging and paperwork or I would have returned this product for a refund. This radio is NOT user friendly. Very disappointing performance from First Alert, a company that usually offers a good product.