Sangean CL-100 out of stock everywhere?

[4phun]

I really want a CL-100, actually several after I get a chance to test one. It has all the features I need in an NOAA CERTIFIED ALERTING RADIO FOR PUBLIC PLACES.

I really want at least one for myself as I hate the typical low end SAME technology ones (read Midland weather radios and almost all other mass market ones under $100) that ignor the End of message data and shut the warning audio off. I didn't even know about this one until I had to replace a defective Midland WR-100 at a hall Monday night. if I hadn't had an iPad to follow the tornado outbreak we would have been in deep doo doo there. Fortunately I checked that Midland radio's operation and discovered it had been hit by a power spike and ruined even though it appeared ok when looking at it on STANDBY.
I understand the reliability of Midland has dropped sharply this last year.

I bougth an interim WR-300 from Midland and a STROBE to replace one of mine I am immediately donating to that public hall. Minutes after the WR-300 shipped Tuesday I discovered the much more capable CL-100 from Sangean. That is the one we should be using!

So, why are there none available? Was it the quake in Japan?
Was there a defect or reliability problem that resulted in a recall of the CL-100?
So far I have not been able to determine who currently is shipping the CL-100.

The NWS just determined two tornadoes touched down in Gilmer County GA around 10 Monday night. Seven lost their life in those storms in GA as they swept through the state including one in Atlanta.

[burner50]

It is the beginning of severe weather season... maybe they are just out of stock?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[4phun]

Originally Posted by burner50

It is the beginning of severe weather season... maybe they are just out of stock?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

That occurred to me but I had no problem ordering any other weather radio for instant delivery.
I went ahead and ordered a CL-100 from Amazon also as they seem to indicate they expect more, but i want one right now.

[wizardb]

It looks like ambientweather.com has them in stock. Also carried by Universal Radio but I can't tell if they are in stock.

[4phun]

Originally Posted by wizardb

It looks like ambientweather.com has them in stock. Also carried by Universal Radio but I can't tell if they are in stock.

I raced to your tip to oder and met this in red "OUT OF STOCK - Email me when back in-stock:".

Thanks for trying, Inappreciate it.

Ki4je

[4phun]

MacConnections says around 4-15-2011 for more Sangean stock of the CL-100.

[W9RXR]

Originally Posted by 4phun

I really want at least one for myself as I hate the typical low end SAME technology ones (read Midland weather radios and almost all other mass market ones under $100) that ignor the End of message data and shut the warning audio off.

Trying to make sure I understand your issue.

You are saying that SAME radios should mute the audio at the end of the warning message, correct?

You are saying that the Midland WR-100 and WR-300 do not mute the audio at the end of the warning message, correct?

I have a Reecom R-1630 that mutes at the end of the warning message. However, I am not impressed with the build quality of this unit.

[4phun]

Originally Posted by W9RXR

Trying to make sure I understand your issue.

You are saying that SAME radios should mute the audio at the end of the warning message, correct?

You are saying that the Midland WR-100 and WR-300 do not mute the audio at the end of the warning message, correct?

I have a Reecom R-1630 that mutes at the end of the warning message. However, I am not impressed with the build quality of this unit.

You are correct and a bit clearer than I was. I am aware that Reecom correctly handles EOM and that on HAMWEB the hams love it's features but are less than pleased with the hardware as you mention. I am uncomfortable with any distributor who says NO RETURNS FOR ANY REASON, so I mentally passed on Reecom for my own use. Sangea CL-100 is significantly more expensive than the R-1630 and the 1650 but they also include a second antenna with a magnetic base which is meant to add directional properties when used in a building. I believe it may be possible to slap that onto a car roof or trunk and take the CL-100 mobile in a pinch. One needs to examine the product carefully before trying that as I have had the elements of a cheap mag mount come unscrewed due to vibration and be lost on the highway, a real bumer!

So for me mid April is when anyone expects more Sangea in the states, no one knows if the quake has affected it when I called around yesterday but that is also a possibility.

[W9RXR]

Vic, I ordered a Sangean CL-100 from Universal Radio this morning via their web site and, so far, no indication that they aren't going to be able to ship.

[4phun]

Originally Posted by W9RXR

Vic, I ordered a Sangean CL-100 from Universal Radio this morning via their web site and, so far, no indication that they aren't going to be able to ship.

You gave me an idea and I found one. It has to come fom another state plus I have to pay sales tax. By the time it gets here I could probably get mine through Amazon next day for only four bucks.

I did compare the WR-300 manual with the CL-100 manual to see if I could spot the differences.
The directional radio thing is a loop antenna for AM on the CL-100. the WR-300 AM suffers from digital noise from two clocks here. I bet the CL-100 will have the same problem. The WR-300 is rather directional on AM. FM is ok but broad in the WR-300.

Tip

Download the PDFs to these devices. On the iPad they are much easier to read than the printed copy plus you can annotate them as needed. I look for PDFs on everything I own as they are easier to keep track off than the dead tree version which is filed away. I also use the iPad when out working on someone else's stuff and I need a quick visual detail or "how to".

[jimform2k1]

Hi,

You might want to check the reviews on amazon.com for this unit.

' J. Hannah "Radio Junkie" ' wrote on amazon:

" I have found a few minor annoyances with this radio. It allows you to disable the alert siren for things like the Required Weekly Test BUT you cannot disable the Voice Alert for the same alerts. What this means is that if your receiver is set to VOICE mode rather than Siren then you cannot disable the alert and are still forced to hear it go off. Also, you cannot set the alert volume for Voice Alert. I just got a Tornado warning and the damn thing blasts you out of the room at full volume. I don't know why Sangean overlooked this. If your radio is set to Siren you can set it to LOW, MEDIUM or HIGH volume."

Originally Posted by 4phun

You are correct and a bit clearer than I was. I am aware that Reecom correctly handles EOM and that on HAMWEB the hams love it's features but are less than pleased with the hardware as you mention. I am uncomfortable with any distributor who says NO RETURNS FOR ANY REASON, so I mentally passed on Reecom for my own use. Sangea CL-100 is significantly more expensive than the R-1630 and the 1650 but they also include a second antenna with a magnetic base which is meant to add directional properties when used in a building. I believe it may be possible to slap that onto a car roof or trunk and take the CL-100 mobile in a pinch. One needs to examine the product carefully before trying that as I have had the elements of a cheap mag mount come unscrewed due to vibration and be lost on the highway, a real bumer!

So for me mid April is when anyone expects more Sangea in the states, no one knows if the quake has affected it when I called around yesterday but that is also a possibility.

[reedeb]

Check with H R O [Ham Radio Outlet] they had some in the catalog, might still have some.

[W9RXR]

The one that I ordered from Universal Radio arrived Monday. Seems to work, but I've not tested it extensively. And it doesn't feel cheaply made like the Reecom.

[4phun]

Originally Posted by W9RXR

The one that I ordered from Universal Radio arrived Monday. Seems to work, but I've not tested it extensively. And it doesn't feel cheaply made like the Reecom.

The CL-100 is now in stock at Amazon.com and shipping. Let's see how long it is before they sell out.
So far we have had a historic tornado outbreak of 250 tornadoes in one storm system which has never happened before while I waited.

Fortunately a WR-300 woke me to the F0 that eventually touched down near us Saturday morning.
The plan is to donate that one to a good cause and standardize on the CL-100 if it meets my needs. I found out the CL-100 is produced in Twain, not Japan, Korea, or mainland China.

[Whodatteacher]

The radio is out of stock again and the site says it usually ships within 1-2 MONTHS.......wow.

[4phun]

Originally Posted by Whodatteacher

The radio is out of stock again and the site says it usually ships within 1-2 MONTHS.......wow.

What?

I was going to order another this weekend and send the MidLand WR-300 back to Amazon. I had the Sangean CL-100 alert during the tornado outbreak for Cobb County GA when the WR-300 missed the alert! Bad WR-300, the last thing I want is a flaky Midland when life is at stake.

The Sangean is a rather nice radio in many ways. The Midland WR-300 sends an alert pulse to a flashing strobe (extra cost item) all of less than 10 seconds and that compromises the alert tones and data delivery portion of the alert.

I put that same strobe on the Sangean and it flashes and flashes and flashes like the energizer bunny during the alert but it shuts off when the end of message tone is sent. Nice! I like the fact I do not have to fumble for the kill switch to kill the on going ramble about the weather for five more minutes as cheaply made radios do. At the End of Alert message, the CL-100 goes back to silence or playing your local FM station.

The Sangean also gently but rapidly wakes you up from a dead to the world sleep so there is no bolt of heart stopping adrenalin from a sudden loud warning in the middle of the night. But wake up you will between the red strobe which you can see with your eyes closed and the increasing volume of the alert message.

I also am getting a lot of mileage out of the dual regular alarms built into the Sangean clock. I can set one for one part of the day and another for my wife at a later time. If I wake before my alarm sounds I can clearly see on the screen when I fumble the switch that I have turned off mine alone leaving hers sill armed.

I was able to move two large digital alarm clocks, one to an table top part way across the room and the other to a bookshelf in my office by placing the Sangean in their place.

My wife will not let me give the WR-300 away because she does not think it is as desirable as the Sangean which she likes a lot. We have still another WR-100 in the living room which she also detests compared to the Sangean.

The WR-300 looks good but it is crappy old technology compared to the new Sangean.

Also as the excitement died down last Wednesday late at night I went to bed and fell asleep listening to WSB FM on the CL-100. Lots of additional information there live as people had to pass through tornado ravaged areas and they competed calling in to WSB Atlanta, a clear channel station after dark on 750AM.
I already knew if another weather alert came in for Cobb the CL-100 would pause the commercial radio audio and deliver the alert just as if the radio had been in silent weather alert monitoring standby.

--

I just checked, your are right about Amazon.com. The tornado season will be over before they ship another batch now. Scenes of the destruction and the knowledge some have that on or close to May 10-12 there will probably be another outbreak must have spurred many to act on grabbing a new weather radio. (Source WeatherAmerica Newsletter April 30, 2011 prepared by meteorologist Larry Cosgrove who specializes in forecasting Weather Extremes)


Price: $72.99 & eligible for free shipping with Amazon Prime
You Save: $66.96 (48%)

Usually ships within 1 to 2 months.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

BUMMER!

I had my Amazon order on ship for next day when they came in. Amazon shipped almost as fast as they sent me an email alert that they had arrived and in less than 24 hours I had it. Good service Amazon on taking care of one problem while I have hundreds to deal with.

IMHO you can trust Amazon and I order often from them. I will pay more to buy directly from Amazon rather than try one of their partners who have been less than perfect in honestly delivering the goods. If Amazon can not immediately deliver they are at least honest about it up front. Not so others on the Internet who will take your order and leave you hanging and then who make it almost impossible to cancel.

[Whodatteacher]

I have had one of these radios ordered for over a week from amazon. I intend to replace my wr-300 with it. I received notice today that my order estimated delivery date is between May 16-June 29. How's that for a wide range?

[W9RXR]

Vic, I ordered my first CL-100 from Universal Radio a few weeks ago and received it in a matter of days after placing the order. This past Friday, I ordered a second CL-100 from them and expect to receive it this week.

[4phun]

Originally Posted by W9RXR

Vic, I ordered my first CL-100 from Universal Radio a few weeks ago and received it in a matter of days after placing the order. This past Friday, I ordered a second CL-100 from them and expect to receive it this week.

I am glad to hear it. I JUST HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH GPS CITY in the same time period I got the CL-100.

I am a little bummed by it, but it happens from time to time, especially on items like the CL-100 that are not readily available locally. I was going to buy a CL-100 from my local HRO but they did not have one locally so they were going to hit me up for a fee to UPS it from another store plus an outrageous local sales tax at the location of their local store. I live in one of the lowest sales tax areas in GA and I do not even pay that if ordered online with most retailers like Amazon.

Now I just bought a 2011 MacBook Pro yesterday on sale from MicroCenter that was cut so much they even beat Amazon.com's best offer by over a hundred dollars even with my having to pony up $60 local sales tax.

So Amazon can be beat as you just noted if you keep an eye out.

I just got their authorization to return the WR-300. I have to mail it back on my dime which should be about $5.

[W9RXR]

I received an email this morning from Universal Radio saying the Sangean CL-100 was back-ordered and that they expect to have stock on May 16, 2011.