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| Reviews Summary for Reecom R-1630 NOAA WX RADIO with SAME |
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Reviews: 4
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Average rating: 4.5/5
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MSRP: $60
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Description: Actual Size: 203mm X 138mm X 47mm (8" X 5.43" X 1.85")
S.A.M.E. Features:
Monitors up to 20 user selectable counties or ALL counties
Defeat Siren Option to let users to suppress siren but display the alert message on the LCD
10 memories for Hazard / Weather events storage
Voice mode alert / warning siren mode selectable
Alert Message Display / Indicators:
Including Amber Alert, NWS Alerts and E.A.S Alerts
Effective Time count down function
Event Alert Message and Effective Time Display on LCD at a Glance
LCD Backlight Display
e.g.
Responding Alert Types:
- Child Abduction Emergency (Amber Alert)
- Tornado / Hurricane / Severe Thunder Storm /
- Flash Flood / Flood / Special Marine / Winter Storm / Blizzard
- High Wind / Tsunami / Avalanche
- Fire / Volcano
- Chemical Spill / Radiological Hazard / Hazardous Materials
- Civil Danger / Shelter In Place
- Nuclear Power Plant Warning
- Earthquake Warning
- 911 Telephone Outage Warning
- Tropical Storm Warning / Watch
- Dust Storm Warning
- And More...
Indispensable in school, childcare centers, health care facilities, business and homes
Alert level indicators for Warning, Watch or Statement
General Features:
Digital PLL tuning all seven (7) NOAA channels from 162.4MHz to 162.55MHz
50 miles reception range
Easy Programming with flashing icon assistance
Loud audio dual tone alert ( > 90dB loudness level)
Time Function: built-in real time clock and auto-calendar / week day display
Digital Volume: Sixteen (16) Adjustable Levels
UL listed AC / DC adapter
Battery backup for more than 30 hours in alert standby mode when AC failure
Four (4) AA batteries (6 Volt DC) operation and battery back-up
(Batteries Not Included)
Low battery detection and indication.
External Jacks:
External antenna jack for an even stronger signal in remote areas, e.g. RA-1601 External Antenna
External alarm out socket / jack for other accessories, e.g. Reecom Strobe/Flash Light RA-1603
(e.g. hearing / visually impaired, flashing light, in/outdoor siren / alarm).
External audio output jack for real time NOAA broadcast through external audio power amplifier
(for use in school / child center and other critical facilities)
One Year Warranty
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More info: http://www.reecominc.com/index2.htm
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write your own review of the Reecom R-1630 NOAA WX RADIO with SAME.
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W3PCJ
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 15, 2008 20:30
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Much better then the last 4 I had.
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have had both the Reecom R-1630 and the R-1650 for about 2 weeks now. In the past 30 years we have had 4 Radio Shack (RS) models. So I can only compare the Reecom to the Radio Shack models. I was very surprised at how big and heavy they were. They were no harder to set up then the other SAME units I have had. I was disappointed though that it did not have a key slot in the back where I could put it on the wall.
I have the R-1630 hooked up to my outdoor scanner radio antenna and the R-1650 sitting next to the window facing the NOAA transmitter tower about 20 miles away. I also have my old RS model next to it. All 3 radios are set to receive all alerts as I wanted to see how well they did with both base antennas and the supplied out of the box antenna.
In the last 2 weeks there has been 2 alerts and 2 tests on Wednesdays. I have to say I was very surprised that the RS model only worked on the tests and did not work on the actual alerts. Both test days were nice days with a clear 5/5 signal. The 2 alerts were both on bad weather days with audio signal 3/5 with the supplied antenna and 5/5 with the one on the outdoor base antenna.
I was hoping to give my RS model to a friend of mine that lives in a trailer park but I think I’ll just get him a Reecom instead.
I will definitely recommend a Reecom to all my friends and family.
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N5CSU
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 25, 2008 20:06
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Lots of Features
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I ordered this radio based on the reviews here on eham.net, and I'm glad I did. This model has the most features I've ever seen on a weather radio.
I especially like disabling the siren and having a "voice alert" only; it may save me from a heart attack from those midnight alerts!
Another feature I like is the radio's memory; you can scroll back through alerts and tests by date and time going back a week or two.
The Reecom has performed flawlessly in its first month of operation in east Texas, where the nearest NOAA transmitter is about 35 miles away. It replaces a Midland WR-100 that missed most of the alerts!
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N1AUP
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 13, 2008 18:20
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Nice Weather Radio
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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After missing too many weather warnings because I was using a scanner as a weather radio, I decided to purchase a SAME monitoring receiver. After reading the reviews on this site, I narrowed the choice down to the Midland and the Reecom R-1630. After some consideration, I ordered the Reecom. Here's why:
1. Company customer service was pretty decent. I ordered the radio by fax on Sunday night, and the unit was in my hot little hands on Wednesday. When I asked the company to call me to confirm receipt of the faxed order, they called back in an hour. I did ask for a tracking number, but they told me that I'd have the radio in a couple of days so I shouldn't worry. I would have preferred a tracking number, but it did make the trip from Georgia to Massachusetts in two days.
2. The unit arrived without any of the problems mentioned by previous reviewers. The display lens was firmly attached to the radio, and there were no loose pieces floating around in the case. This radio is NOT a commercial Motorola unit. It's consumer quality, complete with a lightweight case, a light duty, telescoping antenna, and consumer quality parts. Regardless, it's perfectly fine for the application. The display does need to be read from direct on, so it's not a great unit for a bedside application. My solution was to install some big rubber feet on the rear of the unit to give it some tilt forward.
3. The display offers a decent amount of information, and is reasonably easy to decipher without looking at a manual. Some of the items on the display are kind of small, but even with my middle-aged eyesight, I can make everything out without a problem. The display can be backlighted all the time (which is great for night operation), or the backlight can be turned off.
4. Programming is fairly straightforward, and I was able to get the radio completely set up in about five minutes with average contact with the manual. NOAA offers the SAME county codes on the web as well as via a touch tone accessible, telephone database. The manual lists this contact info for NOAA, and it appears to be up-to-date.
5. Receiver quality isn't FT2000 quality, but sensitivity is on par with the better quality police scanners out there. I can receive weather channels from 60 miles away as long as I properly orient the built-in antenna. Even though there is a AM broadcast station within five miles and a heavy duty FM station within 8, I see no evidence of overload or intermod with the built-in antenna. I haven't tried an external antenna with the unit (which can be hooked up through an RCA jack on the back of the case). Audio output is sufficiently high to listen to the broadcasts in a high noise environment, and the small speaker produces tolerable quality output. We're not taking about Bose music quality, but it's good enough for most people.
Likes: One of the things I hated about my old RadShack weather warning receiver was the inability to silence the obnoxious siren that announced weather warnings. I'd come home on Wednesdays to a screaming radio that had been blaring since the 12 PM test. I couldn't disable the siren, nor could I lower the volume. The Reecom can be configured to announce a weather event in many different ways:
A. With a siren (playable at 16 different volume levels) that stays on for five minutes or until you manually silence it. You can then manually turn on the NOAA broadcast.
B. An 8 second siren (playable at 16 different volume levels) followed by an unsilenced NWS transmission.
C. No siren, but the radio unsilences the formerly squelched NWS transmission.
D. No siren, and no unsilenced radio. Although I haven't yet tried this configuration, I believe that colored LEDs announce the type of warning in this mode, while the LCD display provides info about the warning, the counties affected, the time of the warning reception, and the current time.
Individual LEDs light up, indicating an advisory, a watch or a warning, and events can be recalled from memory if need be. The ability to control the types of events that trigger the radio is very flexible.
I also love the fact that the "radio on" and "radio / alarm off" buttons are huge compared to the rest of the buttons on the radio, and are very easy to find in the dark or without looking at the radio. This means when a winter storm warning causes the radio to fire at 3:00 AM, it's easy to quiet the radio from a groggy state without looking at the front panel.
Dislikes: They're all very slight.
1. The lowest volume is still on the high side, but this is a very minor gripe. The unit will wake the dead if you increase the volume to the highest setting.
2. You need to go into the programming menu to select the desired weather channel. Sometimes I like to listen to coastal weather from the Boston or NH weather service, and there's no easy way of changing the channel without going into program mode. Also, the normal, standby display mode does not give any indication of the NOAA channel currently programmed. Having said this, it's easy to change the channel in program mode, and you can actually hear the quality of the received signal while you're changing the channel and without leaving program mode.
It would have been great if Reecom made the unit with a PC interface that could be used for programming. There are many settings that can be controlled on this radio, and it would be great if the unit could be interfaced with a software, programming package so that these settings could be easily ascertained. It isn't horrible though to keep track of these settings or to program the unit manually.
The unit does "pop" when keys are pressed, but it isn't distracting or annoying.
The manual isn't the best, but it is sufficient for any programming chore.
Conclusion: So far, I'm happy with the unit, and I'd buy the same unit again for myself, friends or family. I see the radio as a valuable addition to any home, ham shack or especially a field day site. If I'm sleeping in a field day tent, or operating on top of a hill surrounded by towers and antennas, I want to be aware of what's going on weather-wise, and this radio seems to be a good choice here.
P.S. I didn't bother with the AM / FM radio option (the R-1650) because other users suggested that the AM / FM unit had rotten selectivity, and was very sensitive to overload and intermod. If there's one thing I hate is cruddy quality AM / FM radios.
P.P.S. When I bought my unit, I discovered a deal through a Phoenix TV station. If you used the order form downloaded from their web site, you'd save $20 or so off the final price. Here's the link to the discounted order form:
http://www.wpsdtv.com/content/wxradio/default.aspx
P.P.P.S. I did not test this radio in a high RF environment. I don't know how it's going to react if a 200 watt HF rig is transmitting right next door.
Good luck.
N1AUP
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So far the radio has been working as expected. For some reason though, the radio only sounded an alert for the usual Wednesday test as well as winter storm warnings. Any advisories or watches failed to fire the radio.
I called NOAA in Taunton, MA, and asked them about this. They indicated that a SAME activation sequence was only sent out for Warnings. NOAA radio sent no activation for watches, advisories or other weather events. He did indicate that this was a local decision, and might not apply to other NOAA offices.
So, if you new weather receiver fails to sound off, this might be the reason.
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AB0RE
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Rating: 4/5
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May 30, 2006 21:51
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Good weather radio with a few quirks
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I purchased four of the Reecom R-1630 weather radios directly from Reecom Inc. After owning the weather radios for a little over a month, here are my initial impressions:
Customer Service: 3/5
If you order factory direct from Reecom you must do so via fax. They do not have provisions to accept internet orders, which I found odd (this is the 20th century; right?).
A representative from Reecom had a question about my order and called the Monday following the weekend I faxed my order in. The represenative was both courteous and knowledgeable about their product line.
I had a follow-up question shortly after receiving the weather radios. I called the company and left a message on their voicemail. I never did receive a reply. This is not acceptable customer service.
Design: 4/5
Overall the design of the radio is okay. One thing that is a bit concerning is that the display is not slanted to render it readable when the radio is set on a desk. And, the radio has no keyhole slots in the back in which to mount it on a wall. So it's not ideal for either a desktop or a wall-mounted installation (Where am I going to put this thing? :-). A couple keyhole slots in the bottom of the case would add very little to the production cost and make wall installation considerably easier.
The radio is a bit bigger than what it appears on the company website. After seeing all the empty space on the inside of the radio I think a the plastic enclosure could be re-designed to make a more compact, sharper looking enclosure.
Another "glitch" in the design of this radio is that the audio output jack is placed right behind the telescoping antenna, making it difficult or impossible to plug in an extension speaker while still keeping the antenna vertical.
The backlight of the display is not very bright. Reecom should look into brighter lights behind the display. Also, it'd be nice if there was an option to have the backlight always on if hooked to AC power.
The back of the radio (and the manual) indicate that a 10-12V DC input voltage is needed to power the radio. If one were to interpret this literally it would mean that you could not power this radio from your ham radio power supply or inside your vehicle. I would tend to think that if one were to power it this way (13.8 - 14.4VDC), these voltages would still be within range of the internal voltage regulators of the R-1630. I called Reecom to confirm this was the case but, as mentioned above, I never received a response. So if you get the R-1630 and attempt to hook it to a higher voltage than recommended, please let me know how it goes for you.
Quality of Construction: 3/5
A few construction problems surfaced in the radios I purchased. Of the four radios, two of the plastic display windows were laying loose in the box when they arrived. It appears the double-sided tape Reecom uses to secure the display to the plastic enclosure does not offer sufficient adhesion.
One of the radios failed the "rattle test". After opening the radio I discovered a small chunk of plastic that had broken loose from the inside of the radio. I'm still puzzled how that could have broken loose.
Another construction problem found on all four of the units is that the base of the radio is not level. When you press the buttons on the front of the radio it will rock back and forth. Although this is just a minor nuisance I'm puzzled how every one of the radios could leave the assembly line with this problem.
Ease of Use: 5/5
Before I purchased the R1630 I owned a Midland WR-300. The Midland was somewhat complicated to program and the front of the WR-300 had so many buttons it'd often take several attempts to figure out how to mute the alert when the siren went off in the wee hours of the morning. I sold my Midland WR-300 on a rummage sale and took a gamble on the R1630, hoping it would be easier to use. I found the Reecom *much* easier to program and use. Part of the increased ease of usage may be attributable to the R-1630 not having a built-in alarm clock and AM/FM radio. (Note: The Reecom R-1650 does have these features built-in so it presumably would be more difficult to use.)
Setting the clock, date, alert mode, and county codes on the R-1630 was easy. I'd estimate it took less than five minutes. Reecom thoughtfully included a quick setup guide that made reading the manual cover-to-cover unnecessary.
My primary intention for trying the R-1630 was to find something more user-friendly and I could not be happier.
Functionality: 5/5
Bottom line is that this radio works great. It has a good set of features including: voice or siren alert; single, multiple, or all county alert modes; siren defeat for each type of alert (tornado, thunderstorm, flood, weekly test, etc); all weather channels are pre-set in the menu; customizable alarm socket function; etc. I think Reecom did a good job at including all the necessary features in the R-1630 without over-complicating it.
The receiver on this radio is very good. It picks up the weather channel well without the need for an external antenna in my location. (Note: The radio does have an external antenna jack, but it is a phono jack so you'd need an adaptor from Radio Shack.)
Really, the functionality is where this radio shines. It has already sounded for several alerts in my county (and the surrounding two counties) and has performed flawlessly. What more can I ask for?
Overall: 4/5
Although I picked the radio apart in the review above I would recommend buying it. As I've only owned a couple weather radios I cannot say how this thing stacks up against other competitors' products (Oregon Scientific, etc). I can say without hesitation that I'm happy with my purchase and would definitely purchase another R1630 if I needed an additional unit in the future. You'll notice that most of my complaints are related to the cosmetics and minor design defects, but the bottom line is that this radio works well and that should be the major factor during while you're shopping for a weather radio.
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