Oregon Scientific WR602 Weather Radio with Charge Cradle

I love gadgets and quickly opened and started the setup for this weather radio. My excitement quickly turned to disappointment when I placed it upon the charger and found that the red charging light did not illuminate ... after some basic trouble shooting (trying different outlets, checking to make sure the plug was in securely, checking to see if the device was actually charging despite no light, confirming that the battery connection was secure), I ultimately determined that the radio was not coming in contact with the metal components of the charging cradle. Not wanting to send it back and incur additional expense, I cautiously attempted to pry the connections in the base up slightly so they would come in contact with the radio when placed in the cradle. I was successful in getting the charging cradle to work, but I have to wonder what the longevity is of this device if something this obvious isn't working at delivery. What ever happened to quality control?That said, the radio was pretty easy to set up and seems to be working as expected.

This is a very good weather radio which, in all but one feature, improves on previous Oregon Scientific weather radios.The improvements are that it is easier to program this radio for local conditions even if you do not know the SAME code for your location. This makes the radio far more functional as a true portable weather radio than prior versions. It also provides a scrolling display of the various warnings that are in effect in your location. Finally, it can run on both rechargeable and standard batteries, so you can save by not using batteries at home and use them when traveling.The bad part? There is a display light which flashes either green or red depending on whether any warnings are current in your locale. The light is woefully dim and nearly impossible to notice in daylight. This diminishes from being able to make one quick glance at the radio and know if a warning was received by the radio while you may have been away from the radio. To me that is a glaring fault because the purpose of the radio is to warn and including a poorly designed function does not help its basic purpose.The good features outweigh the bad feature. Were it not for the inadequate warning light this radio would get 5 stars.

25 years ago we purchased our first Oregon Scientific NOAA weather radio and it worked great and still does, we just decided it would be a good ides to upgrade to an All Hazard version and we are not dissappointed with the results. I do a lot of camping and on the very first trip the radio came in handy. I gave a warning in the Grayling, MI area of a high wind advisor followed by possible severe thunderstorms to follow. With this warning I was able to add extra tie downs to the screened tent as well as the sleeping tent to make sure evry thing was still there in the morning. As it turned out the weather came through and it was rough through out the night. What I had learned the next day was that 4 people lost their lives due to this storm where the wind blew a tree onto a camp ground killing them. This tool make you aware of possible situtations allowing you to properly position your equipment in a safe location in the event of hazardous conditions. I would definitely recommend this to others with the recommendatioon to have one in the home to warn you of bad weather. You might ask what I did with my other NOAA radio, I gave it to my daughter so she can take action when needed. What a handy little All Hazard radio. I purchased this from Great Big Outlet they have excellent service( 4 days from day item was purchased to delivery) and a great price.

I purchased the WR601N for my son and daughter-in-law as a 2014 Christmas gift. When my wife and I visited them in Georgia in early January (we live in Michigan) I learned that the WR601N didn't work unless regular AA batteries were inserted, it appeared the battery pack, or the charger, for the radio was not supplying power. I brought the WR601N back to Michigan and took it to Batteries Plus where the components were tested. The battery charger for the battery pack was found to not be working. Batteries Plus did not have one that fit.Since my son had thrown away the packaging Christmas Day I did not attempt to return the WR601N to Amazon. I contacted Oregon Scientific directly to inquire about a replacement battery pack charger. The first reply from Oregon's Customer Service was that they do not sell this item for this model. I was surprised at this response given this was a brand new item. I was asked to provide proof of purchase by return email which I did. Oregon Scientific Customer Service immediately replied that that my communications was being turned over to the Corporate Office. So that's where it stands now for nearly two weeks.This is the first time I have ever had an issue with an Oregon product. I have an Oregon WR601 radio that has worked flawlessly for several years. I have both a wireless Oregon indoor/outdoor thermometer and an Oregon wireless rain gauge. My recent WR601N purchase it turns out wasn't wise on my part. I end up biting the bullet this time.Update: On February 12, 2014 after three weeks of waiting for a response one finally arrived. Of course I had to write again to make it happen. I was told that there are no longer any adapters/chargers available for this model but that I can easily go to any hardware store and get one. This of course does not address that will not fit the base. It is the same situation I would have with Batteries Plus. I have learned that this is an out of date product which was not clear to me when I made the purchase. I don't know how I missed that information since it was more expensive than others.

The radio is good, battery terrible lasting less than 12 hrs, my old model still lasts about 36 hrs on an 8 yr old battery. Works well in Canada if you can get a signal, we have poor coverage here.