Midland ER10VP Emergency Alert Radio with Flashlight - Portable AM/FM NOAA Weather Radio, SOS Strobe Signal & Headphone Jack - Ideal for Camping, Hiking & Emergency Preparedness

We live in Michigan and while we do not have hurricanes here, we do have severe weather in the form of tornados, severe thunderstorms, straight line winds, and blizzards. We really have a plethora of extreme weather events. I am 44 years old and have never really had any anxiety about needing to prepare for severe weather or disaster eventualities, but in the last few months my need to have four or five days worth of supplies for my husband and our dogs has started to be a priority.The government actually has a nice website where they recommend what to have on hand in case of an emergency. They recommend three days worth of supplies, but after the latest hurricane in Florida, we decided to have five or six days. This radio came highly recommended because it not only charges by electricity, but also solar power and hand crank. It also can be used to charge devices like cell phones for emergency use.I also like the flashlight.The first thing I did when I opened the package is tuned the radio to the emergency channel. It came in clear and was reporting the weather. We don't have an emergency near us currently, so it was reporting the normal weather and the beach hazard forecast for Lake Michigan which is nearly 45 minutes away. NOAA radio works great.I then checked the flashlight in a dark room. Both the strobing light (according to my husband) and the regular light are very bright and work great.We did test out the dog whistle feature and neither of our dogs moved a muscle. I am not certain if this feature actually works on our radio, but I will just trust in the power of the Midland radio and move on.Next I let the radio stay on with the flashlight until the battery died and then the next day I put the whole thing on our deck to let it charge. This was a very cloudy and overcast day, so I was not expecting much. To my surprise and delight the battery indicator started flashing almost immediately (the internet said to put solar powered devices facing south and this tip helped a lot) and it took about three hours for the radio to charge to two bars.A Note here - this radio will NOT charge past two bars with the solar charge. I have no idea why and this is why I am not giving it five stars.I loved that the indicator light blinked so I could tell it was charging.Once it was charged I used the flashlight and radio at the same time. I will update once I try to do two things: charge a device once I charge the radio to full from a USB and how long it takes for the battery to drain from a full charge.All in, I really like this radio. I feel better knowing we have a source of outside information (NOAA) in case of a true emergency that does not rely on electricity for power.This alert radio was a lifesaver during Hurricane Ian. Prior to losing all power, my alert radio advised me of numerous emergency alerts due to nearby tornadoes and incoming hurricane and flood conditions. After the power went out I was able to listen to the local radio and noaa channels to keep informed. The flashlight was also an added bonus in the dark. Come daylight my alert radio was able to charge through the solar option. It actually fully charged in about two hours. I will definitely buy a few more of these. It’s a must for SWFL or anyone who resides in storm prone areas.Hands down, this is a really nice product, and a valued addition to my hurricane prep kit. The radio is strong, able to pull in multiple stations. And the multiple energy sources (rechargeable battery, regular batteries, solar, hand crank) means you’ll never run out of power.The only thing Midland might work toward as a next step is an LED display rather than LCD. For people with low vision (like me), LCD displays can be rather difficult to read.Seems like it came 50% charged I had to watch several Youtube videos to get the hang of it and figure out how to charge it... Midland has videos but they are not all that complete. Thank goodness I haven't had to use it yet but its the best brand from what I understand and seems to be working I like the dog whistle feature and the crank and the ability to charge your phone.I purchased the Midland ER-310 Emergency Crank Radio as a backup for power outages and tornado season. The radio works pretty good and the feature makes sense. I like it and would purchase it again.Nice little radio. Mine came in from Amazon, and my wife liked it so I got her one too.The radio is easy to program. Sound is ok fo what it is. The WB and FM are really good. The AM is kinda weak.For 20.00 sailors I can't complain at all. And besides all that it's Red! Nuff said.Good directions. Easy to use/ program. Just what I need when the power or internet goes outWe used are radio during hurricane Ivan, it was easy to operate and sound was good.Brutal. Tried to charge it up and the unit started to smell like burnt rubber. Stopped immediately and returned to amazon for refund. Very very shocked as this looked like the perfect unit given it also runs on batteries and had the whole USB deal to charge up phones as well as having a digital radio tuner. If anyone out there can recommend me a crank radio NOT MADE IN CHINA and used by professionals that is reliable with at least the backup AA or AAA batteries' option, do pray tell.Out of the box I first tested the reception. Nothing but static as I searched for radio stations. When one finally came in, I could only get clear reception if the radio was turned a certain way. The same for a couple other stations that I eventually picked up.(In comparison, I had bought a pocket radio for $22 a couple months ago that picks up these same stations clear as a bell, regardless which way the radio was facing.)I didn't test any other features of this radio as there was no point. I packed it up and shipped it back the next day. Fortunately returning items via Amazon is painless.I bought this little radio for my work office to listen to the news while at my desk...PROS; looks and feels high quality...Great volume and has a flash light that l found came in handy...Cons;...I found the settings difficult to navigate and went through too many batteries after only a few days of minimal use...Also the batteries were very difficult to take out as you cant pull them out with just your fingers..I think this product would be great on a hiking trip or a day trek but not for regular home use...Es un gran radio de emergencias sin llegar a ser excelente, el plástico de la carcasa tiene un gran acabado y sin defectos, pero puede llegar a romperse al caerse sobre algo duro, yo pensé que la carcasa tendría un recubrimiento anti-impactos pero no lo tiene, puede utilizarse con 6 pilas AA no incluidas y/o una batería recargable ya incluida, se recarga por medio de energía solar y un dinamo, la pantalla digital y del panel solar pueden romperse o rallarse muy fácil, no es aprueba de agua, el volumen tiene 12 niveles de intensidad por lo que se puede escuchar bastante bajo o muy alto, tiene las dos bandas AM Y FM con una excelente recepción, aunque esta dependerá de la interferencia de la zona en la que se ubique el radio, creo que es un poco caro pero lo adquirí por la marca que lo fabrica, la lámpara es una gran ayuda en los apagones, en la ciudad de México se escucha el monitoreo volcánico y emergencias del gobierno de la CDMX.Poor quality speaker and AM and weather channel reception was poor. Left in the sun all day and battery didn’t seem to charge at all and the tiny USB charging port broke after the first charge....so it’s basicallly useless now. Ended up using the 15yr old emergency radio that this purchase was suppose to replace. Used during a tornado touchdown and subsequent power outage. This will not be going back into my emergency kit.