POS

I've owned several of the Midland-produced weather radios with SAME functionality - the ones where you can program in your county code, and you'll receive over-the-air alerts specific to your area. None of these radios worked particularly well. I'm not saying they didn't work, I'm saying they didn't receive very well. I live in an area that sits between two NWS weather radio broadcast towers. Neither of the two stations comes in very strong to my location. This is as much a factor of my physical location (on the side of a hill), and the two broadcast stations in relation to my location. Still, I can normally receive one or both of the signals reasonably well with a general coverage receiver with a built-in antenna.  

As general weather radio broadcast receivers, these Midland radios are poor performers. Considering their purpose in life - to receive NWS signals and trigger alerts - they just don't do their job very well. Several folks I've brought this issue up to say, "Brian, just fiddle with it a bit. Move it to a new location, hook up a better antenna, get a new power supply..." To all that I say, bullshit. Here's why - a weather alert radio is a piece of life-safety equipment, like a fire extinguisher or a defibrillator. You expect it to work right out of the box, no fiddling or tweaking necessary. 

I know radios, and I'm willing to experiment a bit to get these Midlands working as they should, but even I've had little success. Plus, think of Midland's target market for these radios - the average consumer who lives in tornado alley. They want a radio they can trust to wake them in the dead of night and tell them to get to shelter. They want to put it on a table, plug it in, pull up the antenna, power it on, and feel safe. In my experience, unless you live right next to an NWS broadcast tower, you are likely not going to get what you expect out of these radios - they are at best middling receivers. 

The Midland's a piece of s**t, a lousy receiver. And it's not just this particular radio.
I've found the whole range of Midland receivers to be underwhelming.
The Sangean weather radio is a far better receiver. What's the difference between the two?
The Sangean will receive weather channels 5 & 7 with no problem. The signal is a bit
scratchy, but otherwise clear and strong. The Midland, in the same location (upstairs bathroom),
is deaf to any NWS frequency

Save up your money. Buy something better.

W8BYH out