My GEM, ISY, Dash Box, Insteon Home Automation Install

[Teken]

WEATHER RADIO - OREGON SCIENTIFIC WR602N:

On September 05, 2016 I was able to pick up a nice used Oregon Scientific WR602N for $14.00 USD on Ebay. On September 15, 2016 this little radio arrived in the mail. As some of you may recall I was pretty hard on the previous Oregon Scientific WR-8000 weather alert radio. A friend asked me to consider buying and reviewing one of their newer models - so I did.

Since this weather alert radio has so many features it will take most of this single post to review it. So grab a tall cup of hot coffee and kick back that recliner - here we go!

FEATURES:

- NOAA Auto all hazard alerts supports over 60 emergency related events
- S.A.M.E technology for specific area messaging encoding
- 3 level / 2 color alert LED indication and LCD icon
- Desktop AC charger and rechargeable NiMH battery
- NOAA Travel / Home mode
- Dual alarm clock & 8 minute snooze
- 12-24 Time, Day, Month, Year
- Accepts 3 standard AA batteries
- Blue back lighting 5 second momentary
- S.A.M.E 9 FIPS code memory storage
- S.A.M.E options of Single, Multi, All
- S.A.M.E 50 State & County label coding
- Scrolling LCD message display
- Low battery visual indicator & charging power status
- None Volatile Memory - Recalls all settings
- Alert Type: Voice & Tone, Display
- Supports: English, French, Spanish
- Key pad lock out function
- Signal strength indicator
- 7 Position volume: 1-7
- 8 Event weather memory storage
- 3.5 mm headphone / speaker jack
- Sentry Mode - Validates Weekly / Monthly Test
- Lanyard hole
- Condition: Displays countdown time of hazard.

The WR602N came to me with the charging cradle, proprietary battery cell, transformer, and paper manuals.



The WR602N face has six plastic buttons to select travel / home, exit, up & down, menu, and memory recall which is denoted by the envelope. The LCD display has no less than 20 dedicated icons for notification along with the multi dot LCD.



The back of the units rear casing which have ribbed notches for better handling and grip.



The rear battery compartment is secured at the bottom using a similar plastic clasp as seen in the Midland HH-54. The perimeter of the battery compartment has what appears to be foam and a plastic frame to ensure a tight seal.



As can be seen the WR602N takes a proprietary rechargeable battery pack that has a dual pin plastic jack. Which I found out is simply a cordless phone battery.



Battery pack removed from the housing. Its obvious the tiny cells being used required the maker to build a case with tabs so it would fit securely into the radio. Taking the plastic shell apart exposed the very tiny cells which indicate offers a 3.6 VDC with a mere 600 mA battery supply?!?! I don't pretend to know (yet) how much energy this radio consumes. But have to gather it can't power this radio for more than 24-36 hours and assumes this is on standby and not actual use.

I will test this out and update this thread when I know more.



Fortunately the radio can accept three standard AA batteries.



Which ensures I can install high output 2400 mA NiMH rechargeable cells for much longer operational run time.



The top of the WR602N has a fixed stubby antenna which I will talk about more later. Next to it is the multi function power button and dual back lighting button.



At the top are two holes for a lanyard which this unit didn't come with. No worries I have tons of these laying around and will secure one in short order.



The charging docking pedal-stall has a single red LED when the system is charging. I was surprised and pleased to see the maker used some common sense when designing this base station. As it has a (approx) 30 - 45' slant which I will talk about later in how it impacts the viewing angle.

The base has two tabs on either side which engage the radio to charge. In the center is a plastic nub which I believe is used to center the radio which I will also talk more about later.



The bottom of the charging dock has four none marring rubber feet. The unit uses a right angle plug to insert the 9 VDC plug into the base. I've seen lots of plugs in my time but nothing that was right angle and certainly not this small. Meaning if you lose or break this power supply you will be hunting for awhile for a replacement.

Assuming you can't find one - you will probably need to bend over and take it hard from the vendor for a replacement!

The center of the case has four slits for venting and moving forward I am going to measure how hot this base station gets when charging / idle.



When the radio is first powered up *Unique* to this weather radio it will begin to prompt you to select 12 / 24 hour time preferences.



Next the hours and minutes will be displayed for entry. As some of you probably noticed the AM - PM proceeds the time which I am not a big fan of.



Unique in this radio is having the ability to select which format of display for month day vs day month. I prefer to see the day month as it just seems more natural to me.



Once that is selected the device will prompt you to enter the day, month, year. I'm really starting to like this radio already!



Also unique to this hand held weather alert radio is the option to select English, French, Spanish. Offering this global language just makes sense and ensures a wider audience for sale. This obviously helps out those who don't understand English very well but still have information that pertains to weather hazards.

Well done Oregon Scientific in being able to look past your nose unlike so many other American companies!



The bottom of the WR602N charging pins which I would like to remind you to focus on the center docking pin for later review and feedback.



The side of the radio includes a standard 3.5 mm audio output jack for headphones for private listening or to a external powered speaker. Using various head sets I found the sound quality to be very good in all aspects and didn't have the same back ground noise heard in the AcuRite model.



The radio has a 1-7 volume selection option but no zero (off) position.



A quick test of the volume settings indicated it provided more than enough (dB) sound volume in most environments to be heard.



Pressing the envelope with the lock symbol will display the weather alert messages. The manual indicates this unit can store up to 8 messages. It does not say whether these messages are for current vs historic memory recall.

I will update this thread once the first weather alert comes in to this portable hand held. It should be noted the same *Envelope* key with the lock symbol is intended to lock the front panel keys to protect it against accidental engagement of the buttons.



Another unique feature is this portable radio includes (2) alarm clocks?!? When an alarm has activated it will sound out for 1 minute. Pressing the top back lighting button will invoke a 8 minute snooze. Pressing any button on the face of the radio while the alarm is sounding will turn off the alarm and will reset for the next days scheduled alarm.

Once again, I am impressed and quite blown away someone had the mindset to incorporate this dual alarm feature.



The next page is to select the NOAA frequency channel for the area of use.



In my specific area channel 7 is the main channel to tune into.



Yet another *Unique* feature normally only seen on table top weather alert radio's is having the ability to select one of the 50 States & Counties for S.A.M.E. FIPS codes!

What does that mean in plain English you may ask?

It means if you live in the great country of the United States of American you will see the actual names of the State & Counties instead of the FIPS code. This speeds up the process for setup as you don't need to look up the 6 digit code from NOAA etc.

Once again well done Oregon Scientific at the present pace of *Unique Features* the race may be over for the others.



The system allows (9) S.A.M.E FIPS codes to be entered and saved. For those of us not so lucky to live in the USA you can still enter the FIPS codes manually but obviously won't see the City / Province.

Canada is like the retarded cousin I feel sometimes . . .



As indicated up above the device allows (9) FIPS codes to be entered. It has a reserved (0) slot which can be toggled to be on for (ALL) or off. Setting it to (ALL) means any alerts with in the frequency channels reception area will activate the weather alert radio.

Essentially OS has given you the ability to select: Single, Multi, and All. I would prefer a selection box to choose via one press for all the above. As Multi requires you to activate each zone individually and not simply by pressing a single option key.



The WR602N incorporates another unique feature seen on the HH-54 Midland radio. That is having the ability to enable *Travel vs Home* modes. I haven't read the manual but would assume it operates the same where if placed in this travel mode. The system will scan for the strongest NOAA channel and lock into it.

The benefits of this is the computer will do this continuously to ensure the user is always connected to the weather channel. Another well done addition to the hardware not seen very often in portable radios.



As noted up above the device has a multi mode power switch and hope you can follow along. In this image capture you will see NOAA icon to the right of it is a circle with a line threw it. In this state the radio is in standby ready to receive any weather alert broadcast.



The next image shows a speaker with a hash line threw it which means the radio will display only the weather alert messages and light up the colored LED. Essentially this is a display only mode for the weather radio.



In this image capture there are no icons lit at the top. Essentially this means that the weather radio has been turned off and only the clock / calendar is operational.



This image capture indicates if the NOAA icon is lit the unit is setup to listen to the weather broadcast indefinitely. The WR602N also includes a in range and signal strength antenna symbol and works quite well.



Lastly, the WR602N weather alert radio is one of the few portable units that actually allows the end user to turn the entire unit off! I really don't know why this is so hard to incorporate into these devices. Regardless, Oregon Scientific has probably earned more browny points with Teken then any single vendor that makes weather radio's!



This image capture is the alarm clock in the disabled state.



As noted early on Oregon Scientific (OS) created a stand that allows a person who is approaching the weather radio a decent view of the display. Almost every portal radio I have on hand its near impossible to view the display unless the person is dead center.



Another higher view of the display and over all its still quite view-able in my eyes.



An extreme shot of me hovering over the weather radio and you can still make out the displayed information.



Unfortunately, the viewing angle from side to side is quite limited. But since it does so well from the top it gets a pass from me. Considering all of the other weather radio's did so poorly in this same area.

The WR602N has a blue back lit display which surprisingly can only be invoked by pressing the top button. I haven't checked the manual yet to see if it can be toggled to light up the radio when buttons are pressed or that it lights up when a incoming alert is present.



The WR602N will always display the weather channel, time / date, and the mode of operations regardless of what state its set to. As it was noted in the Midland HH-54 review if the weather radio was invoked to be listened to you could not see the time. The WR602N is also very similar to the Cobra CWR-200 in that it displays the Advisory, Watch, Warning in defined text and multi color LED which is located at the top right of the display.



UPDATE SEPT 21, 2016: I wanted to update how the WR602N reacts when alerts or weekly tests happen. During the weekly broadcast test the unit would light up the blue LCD screen.



The system will blink the defined phrases in this case the *Advisory* indicator. The siren would go off and the scrolling message would be presented on the LCD.



It was also noted a time stamp was listed but I am not sure what it means? As the weekly / monthly tests happen at (approx) 12:00 PM CST and last for three hours.



Yet the device indicates a count down time which doesn't seem to translate to the three hour window? Below in the Radio Shack weather review you will see that unit has an elapse time counter which makes perfect sense. In that it will indicate that condition will remain in effect for XX:XX hours or like the AcuRite it will simply state the approx end time.

But this radio indicates a (current) time with a count down which makes no sense?!?



I can also confirm this radio respects the 1050 Hz EOM tone. Unfortunately this radio also doesn't continue to sound out and requires the person to press a button to hear the voice message.

SUMMARY: The WR602N weather alert radio given the extremely short testing period of eight hours has really impressed me. Its safe to say this newer model surpasses the ancient 1980 WR-8000 model reviewed in this forum.

As noted up above this weather alert radio has many unique features not seen or very common in portable hand held radios. Those encompass the 12-24 hour time display option, full calendar date display which also lets you select how its represented from day month vs month day.

The fact the makers of this radio included (2) alarm clocks with a 8 minute snooze is unheard of in a portable. Another great feature is the Home vs Travel mode which operates exactly like the Midland HH54 and automatically seeks for the strongest NOAA channel while in this mode.

Like the AcuRite & Midland HH54 this radio allows you to set the unit to a *Display* only mode and muting all sounds. There are use cases for this and its a welcome addition to a great weather radio.

I absolutely love the fact this radio will allow you to listen to the weather channel all the while you can still view and select the time and date! This radio mimics the Cobra CWR200 where it has dedicated icons for Advisory, Watch, Warning embedded into the LCD.

The volume even though it doesn't have a off (0) setting is more than fine because at the 1 setting its a perfect back ground level that could fit into any room or office setting. The sound quality was very good and touching the stubby antenna didn't seem to impact reception very much.

The base station and radio over all has one of the best viewing angles of the hardware I have since tested. The slanted cradle was properly executed for daily use and viewing. I very much like the fact it has a signal (antenna) strength indicator unlike so many others.

The manual indicates the device will light up its antenna icon for a *10 day no receive message alert* similar to the First Alert systems which is called *Sentry Mode*. I will need to monitor this to see if that is the case.

Since the above seems to be a glowing review of this weather alert radio let me temper some of the items which I found odd, annoying, and really WTF?!?!

This radio has no method to disable the beep tones, the back lit display can not be set to remain on at all times nor can it be programmed to come on when any button is pressed. The blue back lit isn't very bright at all when compared to the others and borders on matching the other Oregon Scientific WR-8000!

The manual indicates this unit only has a two color LED which is green and red? Instead of the customary yellow, orange, red for weather alerts. The device comes with a pathetic 600 mA NiMH battery which based on quick testing wouldn't last 24 hours. The base of this charging unit seems to have a springy feel and doesn't seem to sit and engage the two charging pins very well. Its like there is too much tension on the base station and based on my quick review this seems to impact whether or not the unit will charge.

The base station will not recharge third party batteries and must use the wired and proprietary battery pack which *Google* indicates is just a common wireless phone battery. My future plans are to make a custom battery pack with a similar wire plug.

Like its older brother (WR-8000) when this radio is turned on to monitor the NOAA weather channel it has an annoying green LED pulse which repeats every second. The radio has no ability to select tone, voice & tone and assume it will just beep and then start to talk.

Minor nits is this weather alert radio doesn't have any option to select and customize and filter out the S.A.M.E messages. Another minor rub is it has no belt clip and just a lanyard hole.

So far based on the above this radio appears to be a solid contender in taking the top place as the best in class weather alert radio. More long term testing will be done in the next few months to determine the final ranking.

Some outstanding things I need to confirm is how this radio reacts when a weather alert is received. Will it respect the 1050 Hz EOM tone? Will it continue to talk once the EOM has ended? Will the unit be able to recall historic events or will it only be displayed while *Active* conditions exist? How long will it operate on my 2400 mA NiMH batteries and will it beep when a low battery condition is present?

All of these questions will need to be answered in the next few weeks / months.

PROS: Signal strength indicator, LED & Text alert indicators, S.A.M.E support, Single-Multi-All S.A.M.E option, Dual alarm clock, Calendar Display, Multi charging port, Multi language support, Good sound quality, 3.5 mm audio output is clean, Home vs Travel mode, Good viewing angle, Solid construction and finish, Low battery indicator, Displays weather channel in use, Respects the EOM 1050 Hz signal, None Volatile Memory, Can operate with out batteries in place, Can be completely powered off, Sentry Mode: 10 day no message alert.

CONS PENDING: Eats batteries, Operates for 3-4 days on single charge, Charging dock doesn't seem to work, No long term memory to recall past weather events, No scrolling interval, Only tone & voice, No method to filter or customize which alerts to receive or ignore, No AM-FM radio.

[Teken]

WEATHER RADIO - RADIO SHACK 1200993:

On September 03, 2016 I was able to pick up a NOS Radio Shack 1200993 Weather Alert Radio for $15.00 USD. On September 16, 2016 that same weather alert radio arrived in the mail. With out further ado here is a review of this fantastic hand held radio.

Features:

- NOAA Auto all hazard alerts supports over 60 emergency related events
- S.A.M.E technology for specific area messaging encoding
- AC charging supports rechargeable NiMH battery
- Single 2 HR alarm clock & 7 minute snooze
- 12 HR time display
- Accepts 3 standard AA alkaline / rechargeable batteries
- White back lighting from on-off vs 15 second momentary
- S.A.M.E 20 FIPS code memory storage
- S.A.M.E options of Single, Multi, All
- S.A.M.E 50 State & County label coding
- S.A.M.E Alert / Hazard Filtering
- Scrolling LCD message display
- Low battery visual indicator & charging power status
- None Volatile Memory - Recalls all settings
- Alert Type: Tone, Voice & Tone, Display
- Supports: English, French, Spanish
- Signal strength indicator & reminder
- Weather alert reminder
- 16 Position main volume: 1-16
- 10 Position siren volume: 1-10
- 20 Event weather memory storage
- Detachable belt clip - Lanyard hole
- Sentry Mode - Validates Weekly / Monthly Test
- Condition: Displays countdown time of hazard.









Enclosed with the Radio Shack (RS) 1200993 is the radio, swivel belt clip and full users manual.



The face of the unit has a multi dot LCD display, five soft rubber buttons for up - down, select, exit, and weather / snooze. Below is 1.25" speaker which you can actually see threw the mesh grill.



The back of the unit which has a sticker indicating the product number, working frequency, battery types, and AC power supply requirements. At the top is the mounting hole for the detachable belt clip.



The unit opened and some of you may be having some Deja Vu because the bottom locking clasp is very similar to the AcuRite, Midland, Oregon Scientific radios. This weather alert radio accepts three standard AA batteries. Later on I am going to high light one incredible feature which I have not seen on any other portable hand held unit.

Keep this area in mind unless you have really sharp eyes!

Like the OS unit the cover has an extended frame which appears to engage a rubber / foam seal. The maker claims the RS 1200993 is weather proof but don't know if it actually has a IP rating and will take that with a grain of salt but will offer you my insight about the case and how it feels to me.



The side of the RS 1200993 has a 6 VDC input port which isn't very common to see these days. So moving forward I will need to look into my junk drawers for variable PSU or dedicated one which I recall I have?



The top of the radio has two buttons one is for the LCD back lighting and the other is the power switch for the RS 1200993 weather radio. This fantastic little radio can also be turned off completely just like the Oregon Scientific WR602N.



The back of the unit show casing the lanyard hole which I must comment is a decent sized hole. Many other portable hand held units have an extremely small hole so this limits the type and style of rope or lanyard to be used.



The RC 1200993 uses a positive insertion clip (PIC) which simply requires the person to press down on the top which compresses the plastic dowels.



Initial tests show it inserts and holds on to the radio quite well but probably wouldn't count on it for extended travels where extreme movement is present.



The belt clip attached to the frame of the RS 1200993 - As seen it extends the radio further away from the body which I am sure has some use cases or negatives.



When the RS 1200993 is first powered up the system will indicate the current time, battery status and level, and WB radio reception status. More of these details will be discussed further down because there are some unique features not seen on other units I have on hand.



When I simply inserted the AA batteries into the radio I wasn't expecting very much to be honest. One of the things I haven't mentioned in any of the reviews of these units is I try to figure out how to operate these devices with out reading the manual.

Doing so quickly tells you the engineers used lots of common sense and took into account what is known in the industry as *Human Ergonomics*. Part of this tells you with out much thinking a lay person can learn and complete the tasks with out other user intervention(s).

In later follow up reviews I will high light which radio's were the easiest to set up vs those that required the full users manual. Along with how well the human element was accomplished or not for some of the radio's I have played with.

Anyways as I mentioned upon powering up the radio and pressing the weather / snooze button the RS 1200993 immediately showed channel 7 in use and the WB could be heard?

More about this later . . .



This device has a volume range from 1-16 and no (0) setting and must to tell you this radio is freaking loud!



The volume steps are evenly spaced and most will find a setting that meets their needs.



The RS 1200993 has 20 S.A.M.E FIPS memory code storage.



Very similar to the Oregon Scientific WR602N this device is programmed with all 50 United States locations and counties. I thought it was pretty funny to set this radio for my dear friend BBB who lives in Arizona.

I'm coming for you BBB maybe some of the ice and snow might follow to cool off that McMansion you live in the desert!



For the poor bastard sons of Canada we still have the ability to program in the S.A.M.E FIPS codes but the city and province won't show.

Given we are truly the 51st State . . .



The RS 1200993 has the ability to offer Single, Multi, All S.A.M.E locations. Single is very easy you simply add in the FIPS code. Multi still requires the person to enable each location you wish to monitor there isn't a one on-off to enable multi. But (All) simply requires the person to enable it in the radio.



The unit has one single alarm function when activated the bell icon is indicated at the top right of the display. Pressing the snooze button will invoke a 7 minute sleep timer - Incredibly this device will sound off for 2 hours if no button is pressed!



All I can say is holy sh^t that is a long time and believe there will be some use cases for me for this alarm.



The RS 1200993 has several options for alert status which are normal and warning. In normal mode as I understand it if there is an alert condition the radio will sound off, talk, and scroll across the threat, once that threat has passed it will go back into standby mode.



The next is *Warning Only* this limits the radio to only come on when there is a warning condition. Advisory and Watch statements will not activate the radio and this has lots of value and use cases for many for sure.

When activated the radio will sound out its tone alert.



Unique to this weather alert radio is a *Alert Reminder* which will beep the radio every 30 seconds. You can stop the reminder by pressing any button or wait for the weather alert to expire. I have to tell you all this is something I am very interested in trying out and know there is a specific use case for me.

I will update this thread once I know more and have a few months of trials to see how well it operates.



Another unique feature I have never seen or heard of is a *Signal Reminder*. This incredible radio when it detects a loss in the Weather Band (WB) RF signal will beep in a staged manner. It will beep in intervals of 30 seconds, 1 min, 1.5 min, 2 min, and so on up to 5 minutes. It will continue to beep every 5 minutes until the weather band RF signal has been received.

My initial tests confirm this works and have to say wow!

It was observed the antenna icon would also flash indicating a loss of signal on the LCD.



The RS 1200993 has a independent (1-10) *Alert* volume adjustment which is separate from the main radio volume. This weather alert radio also uses probably the most distinct and crazy siren I have ever heard to date.

Its safe to say you won't mistaken this device for anything else and will know there is a threat present when it activates. I am super impressed with the features of this radio that I find in the next few months the TSR (Teken Star Rating) for this unit will be quite high!



The RS 1200993 also enables the person to select tone & voice or tone unlike the Oregon Scientific WR602N which had no choices at all.





As many of you know or those who have taken the time to read this massive weather radio review. I have a huge pet peeve with vendors placing the AM-PM at the beginning of the time!

The RS 1200993 does what?

That's right folks, it wasn't a retard designing this radio it was someone with lots of common sense!



What is topping out this weather alert radio for the TSR rating is what? You guessed it this $15.00 radio has the ability to filter and customize all the NOAA / S.A.M.E events! Unlike the AcuRite unit which limited you to disabling only advisory and watch statements. This fantastic weather alert radio allows all 60 plus NOAA and Public Alerts to be deactivated.

















The RS 1200993 like many other portable weather alert radio's has a limited viewing angle.



This image capture is about one foot away and 45' from the radio to show case the viewing angle. Viewing from side to side is just as limited but given the type of LCD used it can be viewed quite well in bright sun light too.



As I noted up above what does this portable radio offer that no other one does? If you look closely this radio has a small white toggle switch which lets you select alkaline vs rechargeable batteries!

All it requires is the 6 VDC transformer and nothing else - It does not require a custom dock nor does it require a proprietary battery cell. You can install what ever high output batteries of your choice and Rock On!

Its apparent to me all of the old school engineers were tasked in the development of this radio.



UPDATE SEPT 21, 2016: This week I was able to confirm how the RC weather radio reacted when an alert / hazard was present. First the white back light would come on then the incredible unique and annoying siren would go off.



As I mentioned early on up above no one will mistaken this sound when a hazard is present. The system then indicated a three hour count down timer. In this case our weekly tests run for three hours before they send the EOM signal.



As of this writing the counter is going down as one would expect.



Unlike the OS WR602N which indicates what appears to be a time and starts to count down? I really don't understand what it means because it initially started at 11:XX AM and now is going down to say 11:34 AM?

Three hours from then would be 8:XX AM?



Sadly, this weeks test also confirmed this radio does not continue to sound out after the initial alert. I can confirm the 30 second alert reminder does indeed work because I could hear the beeping until I pressed a random button.

So essentially it does respect the EOM command . . .

SUMMARY: I don't even know where to start about this radio because I am so blown away a $15.00 radio offers so many features not seen in the current 2016 product lines. Considering this is a very much legacy device not in production anymore there are some elements I won't hold against the (RS) vendor because they are more nits and minor wants opposed to operational use and needs.

One item I didn't cover up above because I thought it should be called out in the summary page is the RS 1200993 has unique back lighting feature. Pressing any button will light up the (white) LCD for about 15 seconds. If you press and hold the top rubber light button for 30 seconds it will remain lit permanently. The maker claims this can be used as a poor mans flash light?

Based on my quick review and use you would need to be in complete and utter darkness for this LCD to light up anything and that would probably be mere inches if that. Having said that once enabled the display appears to go into 30% more brightness when invoked.

The RS 1200993 has a limited viewing angle which is on par with many others. Its near impossible to see the LCD from any position besides dead on. From side to side its pretty limited to be honest.

The entire side and rear case is covered in a soft rubber material and the front red portion appears to be hard plastic. Based on just a quick observation of how the battery compartment is sealed it would offer light weather protection but not water proof. The fact you can see the speaker through the grill I'm not sure if this would impact the radio because I don't know if the cone is treated to be water repellent vs just being a paper cone?

So lets go through all the good and bad parts of this radio before anyone gets a funny idea its the next coming of Christ!

In no specific order of importance I am going to list off some things I found disappointing first about this radio. This radio doesn't come with the required 6 VDC adapter and isn't very common these days to be honest. The RS 1200993 doesn't offer any colored LED's to indicate the threat condition. There are no 3.5 mm external output for head phones / speakers. Like the Midland HH-54 radio if you turn on the system you can not see the time and only the weather channel is displayed?

The rubber antenna is a little sensitive if you poke or stroke it otherwise the sound quality is clear and very loud in any setting. I love the white back lighting and its great it lights up when any button is pressed and you can force it to remain on.

I don't know how much invoking the back lighting to remain on will impact the run time of the system but at least that option is there. The fact the user can define both the listening volume and the alert siren is fantastic. Having the ability to filter and customize NOAA threats that meet your specific needs is again outstanding.

The S.A.M.E FIPS 50 State / County support assures quick setup with out the need to look up the six digit code. I love the fact the clock indicates the AM-PM at the end and one thing I didn't mention is the vendor selected a LCD display that scroll across like those high end bill boards.

Its hard to explain what that is but rest assured if you see it the first time you will say holy sh^t because that isn't something I've seen on any radio to date!

The fact this radio includes a Weather Alert & WB RF signal reminder is truly useful and unheard of in any portable I have seen. Lastly the alarm clock which the maker claims will sound for two freaking hours is something I haven't seen before. Either they sound off for a few moments to sounding off forever.

As noted up above this fantastic weather radio can also be powered off completely. This radio also incorporates the same *Sentry Mode* as the First Alert WX-150 & WX-200 where if the radio does not receive an alert in 10 days it will declare a fault message.

Also unique to this hand held weather alert radio is the option to select English, French, Spanish. Offering this global language just makes sense and ensures a wider audience for sale. This obviously helps out those who don't understand English very well but still have information that pertains to weather hazards.

Lastly, the RS 1200993 can record up to 20 weather alert messages. The manual indicates pressing the select button will allow review but only if the condition is still active. Meaning this device can not store the events for later historic recall.

In the next few weeks I will be testing this unit for battery run time, how it charges and what happens, along with low battery condition. One thing I will be interested to learn is if the radio respects the 1050 Hz EOM tone and if it will continue to play like the Eton unit.

As of this writing the Radio Shack 1200993 in my eyes is one solid ass radio which was built way back in the day when engineers were truly on their game.

Pros and Con's appended below will be updated in a little while so please ignore that section as i simply copy and pasted some of the common elements which impact most radios.

PROS PENDING: Signal strength indicator & reminder, S.A.M.E support, Single-Multi-All S.A.M.E option, Alarm clock, AC charging port, Multi language support, Good sound quality, Solid construction and finish, Low battery indicator, Displays weather channel in use, Respects the EOM 1050 Hz signal, None Volatile Memory, Can operate with out batteries in place, Can be completely powered off, Separate volume & siren, Weather reminder, Condition State Counter, Sentry Mode.

CONS PENDING: Eats batteries, Operates for 3-4 days on single charge, No long term memory to recall past weather events, No scrolling interval, No AM-FM radio.

[Teken]

HOLD

[Teken]

HOLD

[Teken]

HOLD

[Teken]

COMMUNICATIONS PORTABLE RADIOS - ETON E100:

Since the current theme is about communications the following threads are products I use and rely on when home or on the road. One of the first SW (Short Wave) radio's I purchased way back in the day was the Eton E100 when the company engineered outstanding products.

The one major theme you will probably notice is I have lots of old school gear that I rely upon on a daily basis in my life. This probably shocks more people than anything else besides my flat top hair cut! I've grown up reading and being around some of the best in class technology in the world and have always really admired solid construction, features, performance, and true value.

This is probably why I've dedicated my life just surfing around the Internet's scanning for a good buy. One of my favorite pass times has always been to go to random forums and just read what the latest gear is and what kind of features / performance they offer.

More often than not I have always read countless threads where people have referenced some real old school hardware that just works. So with out further ado please follow along in my journey of the following portable and not so portable radio's that I rely upon for short and long distance communications and data collection.

FEATURES:

Pocket sized AM/FM/SW Radio, 4.9" X 3" 1.2" dimensions, 7.4 oz., 2 AA batteries, Continuous SW Range 1.711-29.999 MHz. 200 memories, Direct keypad entry, slew, and tuning knob options for tuning.

Global User Rating: 4.6 / 5.0 Stars MSRP: $100.00

The Eton E100 was one of the first multi band radio's I bought for my travels. Besides the clean lines this model radio was known world wide as a real performer in pulling in some of the weakest RF signals in the city and on the road. As can be seen this radio is well grouped in its buttons and feature sets.

You don't need to read the manual to figure out what needs to be done. One of the key reasons I purchased this radio was it had excellent battery run time. Knowing this radio would be on the road with me for extended periods of time with out any source of external power I needed to have a radio that I could count on to operate for weeks if not months.



The back of the unit indicates the AM-FM-SW frequency bands this radio is able to support and tune in to. This radio accepts standard AA batteries and has a telescopic swivel antenna.



On the left side is the Low, Medium, High antenna gain along with the 3 VDC external input and the 3.5 mm audio headphone jack. The radio's headphone jack is extremely quite and the S/N ratio is incredibly low.



The back of the radio where the frequency chart is flips out to perform as a slanted kick stand.



The other side has the fine tuning knob to allow precise frequency adjustments for hard to reach RF signals. The three remaining buttons are the low and high tone, button lock out, and volume dial.

I've taken this radio on many field trips because its light, compact, and a real performer. The fact it can run so long on regular AA batteries is the major reason I stow it in my back pack. When at home many of these radio's sit on my communication desk and lets me tune in to various channels of interest during emergency's.

COMMUNICATIONS PORTABLE RADIOS - GRUNDIG YB-P 2000 DESIGNED BY PORSCHE:

FEATURES:

Sterling silver World Receiver designed by F. A. Porsche. Frequencies and SW bands can be directly keyed in, 2 international times are adjustable, 14.2 x 9.2 x 3.5 cm small and 330 g light
(without batteries).

Global User Rating: 1.3 / 5.0

http://manuals.grundig.com/uploads/tx_g ... 000_GB.pdf

COMMUNICATIONS PORTABLE RADIOS - GRUNDIG SATELLIT 800 MILLENNIUM:

FEATURES:

Frequency Range:
0.1-30 MHz AM, USB, LSB Modes.
87-108 MHz FM Mode.
118-137 MHz AM Mode (VHF Air band).

Sensitivity:
SSB: Less than 0.5 µV, 0. -30 MHz. (10 dB S+N/N):
AM: Less than 2.0 µV, 0.1-30 MHz. (10 dB S+N/N).
AM: Less than 4.0µV, 118-137 MHz. (1000 Hz, 30% Mod).
FM: Less than 4.0 µV, 87-108 MHz. (20 dB S/N) (monaural).

Frequency Stability:
±10 ppm, 0° to 50° C.

Frequency Accuracy:
Better than ± 100 Hz, @ 25° C.

Selectivity - SSB, AM:
6 kHz @ -6 dB. less than 12 kHz @ -60 dB.
4 kHz @ -6 dB, less than 9 kHz @ -60 dB.
2.3 kHz @-6 dB, less than 5 kHz @ -60 dB.

IF Frequencies:
AM/SSB: 1st IF 55.845 MHz. 2nd IF 455 kHz.
FM: First IF 10.7 MHz (Single Conversion).

Image Rejection:
Greater than 60 dB 0.1 to 30 MHz.
Greater than 60 dB 118 to 137 MHz.
Greater than 50 dB 87 to 108 MHz.

IF Rejection:
Greater than 80 dB, 55.845 MHz.
Greater than 80 dB, 455 kHz.

IP3 - Intercept Point:
Greater than + 10 dBm @ 100 kHz spacing. (@ 50 Ohm Ant. Input, Attenuator OFF),
Greater than - 20 dBm @ 5 kHz spacing.

AGC Performance:
Threshold: 1.0 mV. Attack Time: 1 millisecond.
Release Time: SLOW 3 seconds, FAST 300 milliseconds.
Less than 6 dB change in audio output for 90 dB RF input change (referenced from the AGC threshold point plus 3 dB).

Internal Antennas:
56 3/4 inches (1.414 meters) telescoping whip (for use on all bands).
Ferrite rod antenna (for use from 100 kHz thru 1800 kHz).

External Antenna Inputs:
0. 1 - 30 MHz: 50 Ohm SO-239 connector or 2 terminal compression connector for: 500 Ohm input with ground.
87 - 108 MHz and 118 - 137 MHz: 75 Ohm “F” type connector.

External Speaker Output:
1 Watt each nominal into two 4 Ohm speakers with 9 VDC supply voltage.

External jack:
Two-way for Stereo output.

Line Audio Output:
300 mV, 4.7K Ohms.

Headphone Jack:
1/8 inch (3.175mm) stereo/mono type.

DC Power Requirements:
Input: 7-10 VDC @ 1 Amp. supplied from 120 VAC ADAPTER, external DC Power Supply or 5.7 to 9.0 VDC supplied by six internally mounted “D” cell (1.5V) batteries (not supplied).

Current requirements:
From 9.0 VDC Supply or Batteries with 1/4 W average Audio Output, Mode Dependent:
510 mA minimum with lamp off, 830 mA maximum with lamp on.

Operating Temperature:
0° to +50° C.

Weight:
14.55 lbs. (6.6 kg), including AC adapter, (batteries NOT included).

Size:
Width: 20 7/8 inches (53.6 cm).
Height: 9 1/4 inches (23.5 cm) with handle retracted.
Depth: 8 1/2 inches (21.6 cm) including front handles.

Supplied AC Adapter:
Input: 110-127 VAC 60 Hz.
Output: 9 VDC @ 1 Amp maximum.

Description: The Grundig Satellit 800 Millennium gives you the ultimate in features, performance, convenience, and sound. It's incredibly powerful. Technologically sophisticated. Yet easy and intuitive to use. Whether you're an experienced shortwave listener or a newcomer to the world of international broadcasting, this is the radio to get. Your ordinary shortwave receiver doesn't have features like:

Synchronous detection to improve the purity of shortwave and AM reception. This helps clarify fading signals and reduce interference from adjacent frequencies.

AGC- Automatic Gain Control. The on board microprocessor monitors signal strength, adjusting gain up or down to compensate for atmospheric and other conditions. It's like an on board radio engineer. Choose either fast or slow AGC mode.

Excellent sensitivity and selectivity. The Satellit 800 Millennium receives stations most radios can't, including weak daytime shortwave signals.

Three built-in bandwidths for shortwave, using electronically switched IF filters: 6.0, 4.0 and 2.3 KHz. You aren't limited to shortwave signals. The Satellit 800 Millennium is the ultimate portable AM/FM radio, too. Enjoy FM stereo with headphones. Listen to the VHF aircraft band from 118 to 137 MHz. Many of the same advanced features which enhance shortwave broadcasts do the same for AM reception, too.

Listen to distant AM stations at night without fading. Pick out those weak stations on adjacent frequencies.

Enjoy legendary Grundig audio quality from the 4" built-in dynamic speaker. Adjust the sound with bass and treble controls - tailor it to your room or your taste.

Global User Rating: 4.1 / 5.0 Rating MSRP: $699.95

The Grundig 800 is probably the best all band radio created to date as the quote up above. I have relied upon this beautiful radio for a long time in capturing global news, pirate radio, air craft, and HAM chatter. When I became more interested in SSB listening this radio was always one of the first ones listed by amateurs to semi pro's.

The quality of sound, power and long distance RF reception when tied to a proper antenna array is second to none in the global market. During times of global conflict, war and natural disasters this fantastic radio lets me tune in to real news and not the propaganda that is seen on CNN, FOX, etc.



This radio has been the *Listening* work horse for my communications room for many years and expect it to be doing the very same for years to come. Everything about this radio screams old school mixed with the new and everyone who see's it the first time just wants to touch and turn all the knobs!

I always tell the perverts to stop screwing around with my knobs . . .



The back of the Grundig 800 radio show casing all of the input / outputs.



This radio takes six D sized batteries when not running on the mains. Its safe to say the radio doesn't last very long even with using this many. Since this radio consumes so much power I have 12 high output rechargeable batteries sitting next to the radio when needed.



Three optional antenna inputs: Coaxial, Dipole, BNC. Selection switch for the various antenna's in use.



Left & Right analog line output which feeds into my stereo system. 9 VDC power input jack and speaker output which connects to a dedicated amplified speaker.



A top view of the radio to showcase the two massive front protective handles.



Graphic chart of all the frequencies and bands this radio can tune into.



Global map indicating the UTC offset time zones.



Another close up of the various feature buttons and the massive fine tuning frequency knob.



A close up shot of the massive single speaker which is incredibly clean in output. All of the various super large rotary knobs that give you that fantastic old school analog feel.



Image of the deep green back lit display on this radio tuned into one of my favorite rock channels.



Signal strength indicator to determine the S units and decibels of the tuning / tuned station.



As can be seen this fantastic all band radio comes with one of the longest telescopic swivel antenna's ever created by man. Just using this internal antenna will allow me to capture hundreds of distant AM-FM-SW- and SSB radio stations all across the world.

When its connected to my external antenna array this radio allows me to listen to broadcasts not available in North America.

[Teken]

COMMUNICATIONS PORTABLE RADIOS:

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COMMUNICATIONS PORTABLE RADIOS:

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BATTERY CHARGERS - DURACELL CEF27NA2:

As noted up above in the weather alert radio review it was stated I would follow up with the testing mythology and components used to validate the tests. Doing so would ensure each radio was given a fair and even chance to perform and offer the longest run time.

In past threads I already touched upon the batteries in use which are Duracell *Duralock* 2400 / 2500 mA NiMH rechargeable cells. Along with Sanyo / Panasonic Enveloop LSD (Low Self Discharge) NiMH battery cells.

The majority of the batteries are recharged using the Duracell four bank charger. In this group photo there is supposed to be six of these units for display. But unfortunately number six was busy doing his job charging some test cells.



This specific unit can accept four AA or four AAA batteries at one time. It supports a wide voltage range of 100-240 VAC 60/50 Hz for world wide use but only charges NiMH battery cells. This unit consumes 10 watts when fully loaded in all four banks.



The system is considered a high speed charger and outputs 775 mA for AAA and 1550 mA for AA battery cells.



The system has a fold and close two prong AC outlet placed in the center of the housing.



The unit is based on the clam shell body style which affords a small form factor and small foot print for storage.



The unit folded and in its closed position which results in a very thin profile.



The system has two independent status and diagnostic dual colored LED's. When batteries are first inserted the system will cycle through red to green. This process verifies the batteries inserted and in use.

The system will light up solid red when that port is charging. When the batteries are fully charged it will light up solid green. Should there be a fault in the batteries or abnormal conditions exist the system will blink the red LED.

Newer models of this charger will blink green indicating batteries are ready to use. Some of the con's of this unit is batteries must be inserted in pairs. You also can not mix or match different sizes of battery cells in each bay pair.

The charger is also limited to charging battery cells not exceeding 850 mA for AAA and 2500 mA for AA batteries. Over all this battery charger has been a great work horse in my home. As of this writing this system has never presented any issues besides becoming slightly warm in long term charging duties.

BATTERY CHARGERS - DURACELL CEF14NC:

The Duracell CEF14NC is one of the oldest chargers I have on hand and was bought when I was just in my teens. As you can probably tell this old school charger has seen lots of heavy use and has the battle scars to prove it.

If you look very closely on the left hand side one of the banks is melted. This was caused by a exploding cell that shorted out while being charged.

The Duracell CEF27NA2 is a four bank charger that accepts four AA or four AAA which must be charged in pairs.



It supports a wide voltage range of 100-240 VAC 60/50 Hz for world wide use but only charges NiMH battery cells.

This unit consumes 7 watts when all ports are used.



Since this device was made so long ago it only outputs 180 mA for AAA and 360 mA for AA battery cells. This system is definitely not a high speed charger but does serve me well in recharging cells at a slow and low current input. Doing so not only extends the battery life but ensures the cells are properly charged.



The system has a center two pronged AC outlet which is based on the fold and close concept.



Since this device was built and designed way back in the day solid state electronics were not as refined. Thus you can see the massive ventilation ducts in this housing as lots of wasted energy is released as dissipated heat.



The hardware is pretty chunky when compared to today's standards but for its time its still pretty sleek.



The system has two independent dual colored LED's. The system will light up solid red when its charging. It will light up solid green when the cells are fully charged. Its been quite awhile and don't have the manual any longer but don't ever recall this device ever blinking red?

Over all this has been a solid charger for me over twenty five plus years of service. The only down side is if you have high output cells it can take several hours to fully recharge them.

BATTERY CHARGERS - SANYO NC-MQH01U:

The Sanyo NC-MQH01U is what came with my Enveloop LSD batteries way back in the day. This device is a two bank AAA and four bank AA which can recharge either NiMH or NiCd battery cells.

The two outer ports are quick charge outlets and the inner are normal. Unlike the two Duracell chargers up above this unit allows you to charge a single battery cell.

The unit only has a single LED status indicator which I will talk about more below.



This unit supports a wide voltage range of 100-240 VAC 60/50 Hz for world wide use. Output is 1.2 volts at 2.30 amps and consumes 14 watts when all ports are used. The hardware has a silly off center fold and close AC output plug.



The system has a tri-colored LED and in normal operations the unit will turn solid red when charging. The red LED will turn off once the charging cycle is complete. Unique to this hardware is a battery check function.

When a single cell is placed in the *Check Position* the red LED will blink for 5 seconds. The LED charge indicator will then display the remaining capacity of the battery for about 5 seconds before returning to charge mode.

If the LED is red the remaining capacity is 50% or less. If the LED is orange the battery capacity is between 50-80%. If the LED is green the remaining capacity is 80% or more.



Over all this charger has been very solid for me but does have some limitations which I will note below. This device can only charge two AAA cells at any given time instead of four. The unit only has a single LED to indicate charging status and if both ports are being used it can lead to confusing as to a completed charge.

The device isn't one of the quickest chargers I have on hand but does offer solid charging capabilities for those still using legacy Ni-Cd battery cells.

Does anyone still actually make and sell them anyways?!?!

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BATTERY CHARGERS - OPUS BT-C3100:

So up above I took awhile to explain what I use on a regular basis to bulk charge all of these batteries I have on hand. Now I will show case the two different diagnostic battery chargers I use to test, validate, and cycle the cells.

The Opus BT-C3100 V2.2 has been one of my primary diagnostic tools to validate a batteries ampacity, voltage, resistance, and current capacity. The BT-3100 is a multi port charger which supports recharging NiCd, NiMH, Li-Ion from battery types ranging in: AA, AAA, C, D, 10340, 10440, 14500, 16340, 18500, 26650, and 26500.

This unit has a 20,000 mA charging capacity to suite any battery on the market today.



The rear of BT-C3100 high lighting the LCD and four option selection keys which I will detail more about below.



Illustration of the four independent modes that can be invoked in each charging port.



The BT-C3100 in the off position at the top are the spring loaded independent ports for testing, diagnostics, and charging. Below is the white colored LCD with the split option status screen. At the bottom are the four selection keys which are the Mode, Display, Current, and Slot.



The bottom of the unit has four soft rubber none marring feet. The entire case is heavily vented to ensure charge / recharge heat is dissipated effectively. Silk screen information as to what battery types and cells are supported and current firmware installed.



The back of the unit incorporates a 1.25' exhaust fan and the 12 VDC power input. This specific model was also selected because it did in fact operate on 12 VDC so any of my power sources could be used during a grid down event.



When the unit is first plugged in the unit will conduct a POST test to verify the system is fully operational. Once the POST has past the system will indicate a *Null* label if no batteries are detected.



QUICK TEST: The system can measure the internal resistance of any battery cell to determine its over all health. In this image capture you can see brand new Duracell's with various internal resistance of 76 - 242 milli-ohms. A high quality and good condition battery will have an internal resistance ranging from 20-80 milli-ohms.

Battery cells which exceed 500 milli-ohms are not capable of supplying high current for high draw devices but are OK for lower current hardware. This also indicates the battery is starting to age and the number of full cycles are fast approaching the vendors upper tolerances. A *Initial* high internal resistance is also an indicator the cells needs to be refreshed and fully cycled 2-3 times to obtain the highest (amps) capacity and lower the internal resistance since manufacture.



DISCHARGE TEST: The next image capture illustrates me completing a full discharge cycle on a few new batteries. The three ports 2-3-4 were set to discharge at 500 mA rate and once completed it indicated these three (2500 mA) batteries had an initial ampacity of 2490, 2465, 2426 mA.

This is extremely close to Duracells claims of 2500 mA and expect after a few *Refresh Cycles* they will either meet or exceed the makers stated 2500 mA capacity. As you can see just this one test can validate and confirm what you bought is in fact true.

You will never have to guess if a battery is meeting specs or is not capable of holding a charge. Even if it does you won't know whats in the battery gas tank. But with the BT-C3100 diagnostic tool you won't be guessing you will know 100%!



It should be noted the discharge rate (current output) can also be defined and each port can use a different setting if required.



The system can display the total time to discharge in minutes and hours based on the defined current used. As seen this discharge cycle took almost five hours to complete.



The system can be toggled to display the current voltage of all the cells. In this image at the time of image capture ports 2-3-4 had a voltage of 1.25, 1.27, 1.28 VDC.



Once the system has discharged the cells to a safe defined level the test will stop. This image capture shows the final voltage of ports 2-3-4. The safe limit has been preset to 0.90 VDC and the system will halt the discharge if it determines its no longer safe to do so. The system will apply a trickle charge to the battery cells to ensure they do not continue to drain thus damaging the cells.



This image capture shows the unit is no longer loading the cells and drawing down on the batteries.



CHARGING: Like the discharging mode the charging cycle offers the very same parameters where you can define the input current from 200, 300, 500, 700, 1000, 1500, to 2000 mA and of course each port can be individually set and defined.











Ports 1 & 4 are reserved for current output of 1500 - 2000 mA.





Meaning this device can mimic a slow or high speed charger to suite any battery needs. This can range from extending battery life to speeding up the charging cycle when batteries are needed.

In the image capture ports 1 is defined as the (default) 500 mA charge rate and the other ports 2-3-4 were 700 mA.



This image capture illustrates the time to charge when compared to 500 vs 700 mA. As of this writing port 1 was set for 500 mA and was still charging for 4:02 hours and counting. Ports 2-3-4 was only running for 1:XX hours.



As you can see simply by increasing the input current from 500 mA to 700 mA has brought the batteries almost near the full capacity and they were only in there for about an hour.



Below illustrates the current injected into the battery cells and ultimately they should all be around 2500 mA's per the Duracell's claim.



After a long day discharge & recharge this first set of brand new cells took 4-5:XX hours to recharge based on 500 - 700 mA input current.



As can be seen the base value of 2500 mA has increased to 28XX mA for each cell. That is more than 300 mA more than OEM spec's just by following the makers cycle recommendations.



Floating voltage after a full charge cycle all came in at 1.42 VDC.



As noted up above once the cells have fully charged they are given a trickle charge to finalize the entire process.



Once finalized the system will indicate a *Full* state and continue to maintain the cells with a float current.



The system programmed to charge test (port 1) - discharge (port 2) - quick test (port 3) - charge (port 4).



As you can see this fantastic charger offers incredible insight and diagnostic tools to determine battery health and extend the cells performance. The key attributes for me is the fact this device can let me know when a cell is reaching its end of life.

Normally this is seen by the internal resistance going up - This is followed by the fact during a discharge cycle the rated OEM ampacity is no longer being met. When charging is presented to the cell(s) the system will clearly indicate to the end user the input current the battery was able to accept.

Failure to accept input current regardless of (input mA value) is another key indicator that a cell is fast approaching its end of service life. So what does this all have to do with my weather radio's or electronics in general?

As seen in this Duracell instruction manual item (3) clearly indicates that new cells must be used and cycled 2-3 times before full and optimum performance is seen.



This diagnostic tool allows me to know and use like battery cells for the hardware in use. Meaning I can quickly identify which cells share the same ratings and capacity. Matching like cells with similar performance will ensure the hardware in use obtains the most power when required.

In plain English this means longer run time between charge cycles.

The adage of *You're only as strong as your weakest link* is very true in high drain devices like these weather radio's. I have noticed depending upon maker the voltage cut off of when the system will declare a low battery condition vs the hardware turning off. Varies with maker and design criteria set out by the engineers - meaning, some hardware have a much lower threshold before it trips which results in the device running longer.

Whereas others will trip at a much higher voltage - meaning even though the batteries still have plenty of ampacity to supply the design or cut off of the hardware will still terminate the operations of the device.

This is why knowing, testing, validating, and confirming these stats are paramount if you require these systems during an emergency condition.