An NOAA radio is one of the items on our flood preparedness lists, and certainly not a bad idea in general. It is also applicable to many other weather related preparedness scenarios like hurricanes. I found one on a discount website I frequent and was hoping for some feedback from those who have experience with this kind of radio. The one I found is here so if anyone can comment on the maker, or even the specific model, or any of it's features, it would be greatly appreciated. What I like most about it is the battery and crank power options.

I have one similar to this one, and two smaller versions. The larger one is pretty good, gets a clear signal from the nearest NOAA station.

I'm not a fan of crank powered radios even if they have as many power options as this one has. I have a solar charger separate from the radio and use that to keep a set of batteries charged. I haven't seen much use for NOAA weather in general. If it's bad enough AM and even FM stations will broadcast.

I feel Eton is a good, reliable brand. I had this one on my wish list,http://www.amazon.com/NFR160WXB-Microlink-Self-Powered-Weather-Flashlight/dp/B001QTXKB0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392829284&sr=8-1&keywords=eton+fr160; and received it for Christmas. It's become my go-to when I want to listen.

hmmmm, i'm wondering now if we even have an NOAA station nearby, is there any way I can find out?

The crank is definitely a last resort, keeping extra batteries on hand will definitely be a priority, I do wish this had a solar option

I've noticed eton mentioned in many previous emergency radio threads, thought it might be a good choice

Most of the country should be within range of a transmitter. It's been a long time, but I seem to remember a webpage somewhere, probably the National Weather Service website, that showed coverage maps of transmitters.

Many places can pick up more than one transmitter. That could be an advantage when weather approaches from different directions. If bad weather, say a squall line, is approaching from the direction of transmitter A, then listen to that channel to get a bit more forewarning. Other times, transmitter B may have more relevant info for your area. It all depends.

If a weather radio has SAME encoding, it can be helpful to encode your own county as well as the neighboring county in the direction that bad weather usually comes from. That way, you can get earlier warning of bad weather that is likely going to head your way while minimizing warnings for counties that don't involve your own location. This technique is probably most useful for fast changing/moving weather, like thunder storms and tornado warnings.

But regarding that radio you mentioned, I'm not familiar with that particular model, but I've had good luck with Eton in the past. Not really a fan of crank charging, though, although it seems so appealing.

I'm sure you do. NOAA Weather Radio covers virtually the whole nation. Go to http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/. Click on the "Coverage Maps" link.

I think NOAA Weather Radio is a good thing to have. It is a continuous broadcast and is updated frequently.

The AM and FM stations usually just get their info from NOAA, so you are assuming they will update their info in a timely manner, and that they will not screw it up. The NOAA broadcast also often includes detail that the commercial stations sometimes leave out.

Mark... I would suggest a good table stand weather alert radio with SAME county specific warning alerts...unless you need the charger, most of the night stand versions have AA backup, with regular AM/FM and alarm clock functions...I have standardized my hurricane electronics to AAs where possible...I do have an old dynamo crank Grundig FR200 (either Eaton bought Grundig or vise versa) that has done good service, but after the 04 hurricane season, I decided on a digital TV for entertainment and weather updates ...
Martin Forcazio commented that his Midland W300 had suddenly quit, and that he had found others with the same problem, so when my W300 picked up a lot of noise, I purchased a Reecom R1630 (without AM/FM but has alarm clock)... when I programmed it, I noticed that I had entered the frequency for a repeater station and not the main broadcast station.... I checked the older Midland and found that I had done the same there... when I entered the main freq of 162.55mHz both were very clear... so now I have two alert radios....peace of mind