Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Sima First Alert WX-167

Category: Receivers: Weather Alert

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Sima First Alert WX-167
Reviews: 7MSRP: 80
Description:
Public Alert Radio meets new CEA-2009 standard for Public Alert Monitors. Database of over 3000 state and county locations, select up to 20 to monitor. Selectable Event Blocking and Alerting Options. Receives important alerts from local, state, federal services.Can be user programmed to a specific geographical area within a county.No missed alerts, this unit is proven to receive %100 of all alerts by the CEA!
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.simacorp.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0072
K7AAB Rating: 2009-09-01
worked well for me Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I guess some were lemons but I ordered mine after they were released and it worked great for me for five years until a power surge. No false alarms on my end unless they were mis dispatched at NOAA or a DEM office which has happened on few occasions. I would call a DEM office on such occurrences and verify somebody false alarmed the system.

Once I set up the codes menu for only the warnings I wanted the unit never gave me a false alarm or missed one.

I have since replaced it with an updated first alert receiver that's worked perfectly.

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by K7AAB on 2004-11-10

This is a new product produced by Sima in Oakmont,PA. I must say that I was quite suprised by the quality of the product, this is a unit one would expect to find in EOC's and dispatch centers. The unit is feature packed and you cant go wrong as the unit is the only on the market meeting the new CEA-2009 standard for public alert monitors. National Weather service is collaborating with Local, State and Federal services to bring you EAS alerts on weather frequencies.Display is large, backlit and easy to read. 5AA Nicad, NiMH, or alkaline battery backup with low battery warning. External antenna jack.Alert audio output and alert remote output. The unit is PC programmable so it will never go out of date. The CEA standard link is

http://disastersrus.blogspot.com/2004_01_04_disastersrus_archive.html

http://www.ce.org/press_room/press_release_detail.asp?id=10490

Buy one, you will be happy you did. I recommend it to those living near Volcanoes, lahar or flood valleys. Flash Flood and torando areas. Hurricane and Tsunami coasts. Earthquake areas. Forested areas (wildfires), Avalanche areas. Nuclear power plants, chemical dumps, etc etc. And if you dont think you need one... something is always bound to happen anywhere.
AB2TC Rating: 2007-01-18
False alarms make this radio a piece of garbage Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Agree with last reviewer; these radios are seriously flawed with false alarms that can not be turned off! I had customer service politely talk me through a full reset and reprogramming of the unit to no avail. I then received a replacement unit. Same problem. After it woke us up at 3AM for the 10th time, I literally threw it out the window. This radio is still being advertised on the Hurricane Watch Net web site. Shame on them; I have E-mailed them about the problem, but they don't seem to listen. Please let them know.
WT3844 Rating: 2006-07-14
SEVERE PROBLEMS Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I HAVE 2 167 AND 1 268 ALL GIVE FALSE ALARMS AND THE DISPLAY LOCKS UP THREW THE ALL AWAY AND BOUGHT A MIDLAND 100.THERE IS SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH THESE UNITS.
N1KSN Rating: 2006-05-19
Quality Control Issues Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased this radio several months ago. It took me a while to figure out that the unit did not pick up weather alerts as it should. Fortunately it was still under warrenty. I sent the old unit in and received a new one, but with no explanation from Sima/First Alert. The second unit works just fine.

To have the "atomic clock" feature work, I could not put the unit in my bedroom, where time signal reception was poor. Darn metal siding on the house. I found a good spot in the sun/TV room. If we lived in a tornado alley, I'd probably move it to the bedroom when storms threatened.

It was easy to set up S.A.M.E. without even knowing any codes.

Overall worth it, but getting a dud was a pain.
N2DY Rating: 2006-05-18
Works Perfectly Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have had excellent luck with this receiver. It is sensitive and the alert features are cool. I receive 4 different WX stations at my QTH, sometimes more if the band opens. Once I got the hang of setting it up properly for the alerts, it has worked flawlessly and exactly as advertised. I have looked at competing models or at using one of my Uniden scanners with the alert features and this model comes out on top for flexibility and reliability. No complaints here.
N7KNK Rating: 2006-05-18
Pretty Useless Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased the WX-167 about a year ago. I live on the West Coast in tsunami-land.

The WX-167 receives the two local NOAA stations just fine, but it will not respond to a test tone, and alerts at very inconvenient times (5 am) displaying an "error in broadcast" type message. I suspect the receive sensitivity is about that of a watermelon, or there is something more fundamentally wrong with it's guts. Technical support gave unhelpful (but standard) suggestions such as relocating the unit to another window location. Being a good sport, I did that, but the unit still didn't function. I moved it to my office in another city which has a better view of the NOAA transmitter, and the same problems continue to this day - no test alerts, only random false alarms.

Very frustrating for a $50+ radio.
KF6UZB Rating: 2006-01-14
Useless! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
As a receiver goes, this unit picks up my local NOAA broadcast just fine. However, the alert mechanism is horrid. It triggers Warnings (the most severe alarm) when there are no actual NOAA Warnings in effect. All it shows on the display is "Radio reception error - listen to broadcast". It hasn't received a single valid Advisory or Watch. The only thing it does receive are the weekly tests. I can't trust this unit at all.
Note, I'm on my second unit, after the first was returned to Sima for a warranty exchange for the same problems.
Their technical support department had such pearls of wisdom as "Try putting it closer to a window" and "Plug it into a different outlet."