Weather radio driving me crazy. HELP!

[SheWhoLaughs]

I currently have a Midland 120EZ weather radio. Brand new...that I cannot get it to work. Prior to this one, I had the near same Midland radio, model 120 for 5 years. It worked great in my home...loud, clear, and reliable. It just quit working one day, so I figured, "Oh, well...everything has a shelf life", and I purchased the new one. Needless to say, I am familiar with how to program it and set it up.... which I immediately did on the new one. No reception. Just continual static on the weather button, and no transmission on the set frequencies. Midland does not offer customer technical support by telephone, so after a period of back and forth emails their only suggestion was that they send me a new radio. Which they did. Same thing. I then purchased an outside antenna (from Midland), and put it on my roof. (mobile home). It made zero difference. Using its battery power, I walked the radio out to the middle of my lot, about 75 feet away from the house, and I began to get reception from the weather announcements button. So its easy to deduce that it is not picking up the signals from inside the home. I just don't understand why the old one...same model worked so well, and this one does not. Midland had no answer for me about that. So, I guess my questions are....Is there anyway to get this radio to pick up the signals better? Or what weather radio would you recommend I purchase to be able to get alerts. I'm a 72 yr. old woman whose 93 yr. old mother lives with me. We are smack dab in the middle of Tornado alley. In the last 10 years, we have had 3 tornados go through our area within 3 miles and the last one whizzed past us 1/2 mile away. The town we live in is rural, population 600, and has a lot of mobile homes....so I think we are ripe for the pickin' one of these days. I'm on guard all the time with bad weather, but I need a reliable alert radio for the middle of the night. BTW, the NOAA stations surrounding me are 22 miles, 38 miles and 44 miles away. It just baffles me why the old one used to work, and not these. vvvAppreciate any help or suggestions. Christa

 

[wgbecks]

It sounds like some sort of RFI has developed in and immediate vicinity of your house that might be responsible for your reception issues.
However, I am surprised that the outdoor antenna placed on the roof of your mobile home didn’t resolve the problem.

You might try isolating anything electronic in your home to determine if there is an offending device. Be sure to unplug any sort of
wall wart as these devices employs switching type power supply circuits that are notorious for generating RFI and don't overlook LED
and other types of energy saving lamps and lights.

Worst case scenario is that you might have to move your root antenna installation to a point out in the middle of your lot to get away from
whatever might be causing the possible interference!

 

[merlin]

You might consider a different model such as the WR400. Might run double the 120EZ but the best for the money.
I get two NOAA stations where I am. the strongest and clearest is not always on the air. The weaker, generally is always up.
You can check for outages or degrades here:

Outages

PS: if your radio beeps every 10 minutes, it is saying it missed the weekly test and would indicate it is working as it should.

 

[SheWhoLaughs]

I always kept the radio in my bedroom, and there is only a bedside lamp, and my laptop. But nothing has changed since the old one worked in the room. Could my neighbors be doing something that interferes with the frequency. Across the street, the guy has a giant tower antenna on his roof. But that's always been there.
Is there a specific radio...no doubt more expensive....I could get that is stronger that would overcome this interference. As you can probably tell, I really don't know what I'm doing, but I need to get some type of alert system.
So if I were to put an antenna in the middle of my lot, I would have to get it mounted on a tall pole or something....then run a long wire to the house which seems impractical and would look ridiculous. I'm stumped. I'd like to try a different radio I think. Just don't know what to buy.
Thanks for the response btw.

You might consider a different model such as the WR400. Might run double the 120EZ but the best for the money.
I get two NOAA stations where I am. the strongest and clearest is not always on the air. The weaker, generally is always up.
You can check for outages or degrades here:

Outages

PS: if your radio beeps every 10 minutes, it is saying it missed the weekly test and would indicate it is working as it should.

I guess I can buy the WR400 from Amazon, and if it does not work, I can return it. Is Midland the best I can buy? Their customer service was horrible. Any other brands to recommend?

 

[dave3825]

Midland does not offer customer technical support by telephone,

Interesting, guess things changed. My manual for the WR120 gives a number to call for tech support.





The Wr120ez manual only lists the number to arrange repair.



So you had a radio, that just stopped working. Then got a new one and it wont receive. They send a replacement and same result, no reception.

First, as outlined in the support section, contact the broadcast center nearest you to confirm they are transmitting.

It sounds like some sort of RFI has developed in and immediate vicinity of your house that might be responsible for your reception issues.

You might try isolating anything electronic in your home to determine if there is an offending device. Be sure to unplug any sort of
wall wart as these devices employs switching type power supply circuits that are notorious for generating RFI and don't overlook LED
and other types of energy saving lamps and lights.

Do as I did when my scanner would not receive my local trunked system. Put fresh battery in the unit and shut off each breaker in your house. If you all of a sudden get reception, then start figuring out what exactly is on that circuit.

In my case it turned out to be the baby monitor. If it was on, scanner would not receive.

 

[techman210]

Just transport the radio somewhere else and see if it receives a weather station.

 

[rivardj]

I always kept the radio in my bedroom, and there is only a bedside lamp, and my laptop. But nothing has changed since the old one worked in the room. Could my neighbors be doing something that interferes with the frequency. Across the street, the guy has a giant tower antenna on his roof. But that's always been there.
Is there a specific radio...no doubt more expensive....I could get that is stronger that would overcome this interference. As you can probably tell, I really don't know what I'm doing, but I need to get some type of alert system.
So if I were to put an antenna in the middle of my lot, I would have to get it mounted on a tall pole or something....then run a long wire to the house which seems impractical and would look ridiculous. I'm stumped. I'd like to try a different radio I think. Just don't know what to buy.
Thanks for the response btw.

It is possible that the transmitter site nearest you is out of service, so no signal. I don't know where you are located but use the link below to check the status of the transmitters in your area:

Outages

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I currently have a Midland 120EZ weather radio. Brand new...that I cannot get it to work. Prior to this one, I had the near same Midland radio, model 120 for 5 years. It worked great in my home...loud, clear, and reliable. It just quit working one day, so I figured, "Oh, well...everything has a shelf life", and I purchased the new one. Needless to say, I am familiar with how to program it and set it up.... which I immediately did on the new one. No reception. Just continual static on the weather button, and no transmission on the set frequencies. Midland does not offer customer technical support by telephone, so after a period of back and forth emails their only suggestion was that they send me a new radio. Which they did. Same thing. I then purchased an outside antenna (from Midland), and put it on my roof. (mobile home). It made zero difference. Using its battery power, I walked the radio out to the middle of my lot, about 75 feet away from the house, and I began to get reception from the weather announcements button. So its easy to deduce that it is not picking up the signals from inside the home. I just don't understand why the old one...same model worked so well, and this one does not. Midland had no answer for me about that. So, I guess my questions are....Is there anyway to get this radio to pick up the signals better? Or what weather radio would you recommend I purchase to be able to get alerts. I'm a 72 yr. old woman whose 93 yr. old mother lives with me. We are smack dab in the middle of Tornado alley. In the last 10 years, we have had 3 tornados go through our area within 3 miles and the last one whizzed past us 1/2 mile away. The town we live in is rural, population 600, and has a lot of mobile homes....so I think we are ripe for the pickin' one of these days. I'm on guard all the time with bad weather, but I need a reliable alert radio for the middle of the night. BTW, the NOAA stations surrounding me are 22 miles, 38 miles and 44 miles away. It just baffles me why the old one used to work, and not these. vvvAppreciate any help or suggestions. Christa

You might bring it by your local fire department HQ to see if anyone there can help you out in setting it up and programming SAME codes etc. If indeed NWS is not transmitting someone needs to notify them. I live outside Orlando and on many occasions the NWS transmitter has gone off the air with seemingly no concern by NWS.

Edit: I reread your original post and it sounds like you have it figured out. So either the TX is off the air or something locally is interfering. I would take both the old and new ones and drive a couple miles away and try them on batterry and if nothing call NWS. If they do work, something nearby you is interfering. That I would also call NWS about if it is difficult to locate.

 

[a417]

KEC55 (15mi) and WNG651 (35mi) have no current reported outages.

Doesn't mean they're not out, but being in tornado alley - people live and die by them...so my guess is they would have been reported.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Looks like your station is out of service among 21 others in the country.

NWR Transmitter Propagation

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

KEC55 (15mi) and WNG651 (35mi) have no current reported outages.

Doesn't mean they're not out, but being in tornado alley - people live and die by them...so my guess is they would have been reported.

You are right, KEC55 162.550 MHz would be better, if on the air.

NWR Station Search

 

[SheWhoLaughs]

Looks like your station is out of service among 21 others in the country.

NWR Transmitter Propagation

I went to the link, and I think you are looking at Godley Texas. I am in Godley Illinois.

 

[a417]

You are right, KEC55 162.550 MHz would be better, if on the air.

NWR Station Search

KEC55 is reportedly on the air, KEC56 is not.

I searched by the zip of 76044, which brought up the two closest by proximity.

 

[SheWhoLaughs]

You might bring it by your local fire department HQ to see if anyone there can help you out in setting it up and programming SAME codes etc. If indeed NWS is not transmitting someone needs to notify them. I live outside Orlando and on many occasions the NWS transmitter has gone off the air with seemingly no concern by NWS.

I have been fiddling with this radio for a month now. If it is off the air, it's been off a long time. I checked to outage map, and it does not show an outage. And it does work in the middle of my lot 75 feet away. I think I need a stronger radio (is there such a thing) ?

I have been fiddling with this radio for a month now. If it is off the air, it's been off a long time. I checked to outage map, and it does not show an outage. And it does work in the middle of my lot 75 feet away. I think I need a stronger radio (is there such a thing) ?

Or I have to mount the antenna on a pole in the middle of my lot with a 100 ft. wire dangling to my house. I guess. (sigh)

KEC55 is reportedly on the air, KEC56 is not.

I searched by the zip of 76044, which brought up the two closest by proximity.

I'm in Godley Illinois....and they all seem to be ok near me. Thanks for checking.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Or I have to mount the antenna on a pole in the middle of my lot with a 100 ft. wire dangling to my house. I guess. (sigh)

When you have it on battery power , try turning off main breaker to your house and see if it works inside or on the new antenna. If so you have some nasty electrical device in your house. I would blame LED lamps, but then they should be off during the day, unless they are not.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I'm in Godley Illinois....and they all seem to be ok near me. Thanks for checking.

Of, the link on your profile goes to Texas. And i sensed an accent. Never mind...

 

[SheWhoLaughs]

Of, the link on your profile goes to Texas. And i sensed an accent. Never mind...

Oh, that's weird. OH WAIT...I think it was a drop down menu, and maybe I chose the wrong Godley.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

You have four different channels to choose from. Do none of them work?

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I am not saying its the BRAIDWOOD NUCLEAR STATION,,, BUT.. You would expect the NWS coverage to be pretty spiffy where you are located.....

 

[SheWhoLaughs]

You have four different channels to choose from. Do none of them work?

None of them work.....in the house. I have them all programmed in, triple checked the,, and others for my kids areas. Nothing works. With the old radio, they all worked. It must be an interference problem. (shrug). I'm going to try your suggestion tomorrow with shutting off the main power. It's dark right now....and I have to move a bookcase to get at the breakers. I'll let you know if I figure it out. Thanks for everyone's concern and help.