NOAA Weather Radio Portable AM FM Transistor Battery Operated by1500MAH Battery with Strong Flashlight Emergency SOS Alarm Ultra-Long Antenna Best Reception Hurricane Tools

I live in Dodge County Wisconsin where the recent tornado hit - it literally passed directly overhead but thank goodness didn't touch down. I realized I no longer had an emergency radio - something I'd always kept with a couple good flashlights and extra batteries, but had gotten lost through several moves. I live in an apartment and most residents had gone to the basement. Someone had a radio going which reminded me how important this is. I ordered mine on Saturday and it came today (Monday). It is perfect! The extra features are cool but all I really need is the WB/FM/AM radio. For the price it's just what I need and can take it with me anywhere I go

I gave one of these to a long time Homeless Friend, and with daily use, living rough in the wild, it lasted him about six months, which is better than the radios he was getting.So I'd say it would last a not homeless person quite a long time if not dropped in the dirt and such.

Overall this is a pretty decent little pocket-sized radio. Runs on two AA-batteries so it's handy in case of weather-related power outages. It's not only AM/FM but also has weather frequencies.Couple of quirks:The clock is in military (24-hour) time.The battery cover comes open rather easily sometimes under normal handling so a piece of tape is recommended. Also the batteries are held rather firmly in place so the batteries should stay in place in case the battery cover does open unintentionally.Overall this is a recommendable radio.

Few comments on the RD218:o Stereo headphone output is nice. Most radios in this price range do not have it.o Battery compartment a little small. Battery cover bulges when Eneloop batteries are used.o The Alert mode scans all seven NOAA channels which is nice.o Needs a digital volume control so the lock function will also lock the volume.o Needs a signal strength indicator.o Buttons are a bit small.o More presets would be nice.There are fairly minor nitpicks though. Overall the radio is pretty nice.

Am is fairly non existent in a rural area,plus a knowledge of what is available on fm or shortwave is key.works okay,but I don't get name brand batteries.

Maybe just my copy. I didn't really crank it up until the weather got scary and discovered it's incredibly flaky. Tune in a NOAA station, then tune off that station and come back to the same place on the dial and it's gone. The station wanders up and down the dial. Tune it in as good as possible, turn it to the alarm position and then back to on and the station is gone. It reminds me of the old 2-transistor AM radios in the early 60s. Haven't tried that AM and FM.

Small. Package. Good performance

Light but works good