NOAA Weather Radio Beeping? Try this!

Image courtesy of Midland Weather Radios.

I woke up this morning to my Midland Weather Radio “beeping” every ten minutes and saying a “Reception Lost” error message. I checked the NOAA Weather Radio Outages Map. There is no outage for my area, but the NWS did provide some useful instructions that resolved my issue. Here are the instructions in case anyone else encounters this!

“Beeping” on certain Midland receivers and the weekly test

NOTE: If your Midland receiver is beeping, the following explanation is the most common, but it is not the ONLY explanation for a beeping receiver.

The Midland WR-120 desktop NOAA weather radio knows it is supposed to receive a weekly test from the National Weather Service every seven days. If the radio goes for ten days without receiving a test, it gives out one beep every ten minutes.

The radio will re-set itself at the next weekly test, or the next watch/warning issuance.

If you do not want to wait, you can cancel the beeping by unplugging the radio from the wall, turning the radio over, and removing one battery. Wait approximately 10-15 seconds, then replace the battery and plug the radio back in. The settings on the radio will NOT be affected by this, as the SAME county code, and all other information is stored on a flash memory chip.

But you WILL need to re-set the clock. To do so:

1) Push MENU. “SET TIME” appears.
2) Push SELECT.
3) Use the up/down arrows to adjust the hour up or down. To get from AM to PM, just continue past the hour 12.
4) Use the right button to move to the minutes setting.
5) Use the up/down arrows to adjust the minutes up or down. Right arrow to access both of the minute digits.
6) When you have set the clock to the proper time, hit MENU twice. The radio will display “SAVING”. You are done setting the clock.

We apologize for the inconvenience. The ten-day missed test alarm is a way to assure viewers that their weather radio is performing properly.

NOTE: The previous version of this radio, the Midland WR-100 does not make an audible beep. However, it will display the words “CHECK RECEPTION” until it is re-set using the same steps as outlined above. Like the WR-120, the radio will automatically re-set itself at the next weekly test, or the next watch/warning issuance.

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1 Comment

  1. Nathan, do you have any suggestions for a reasonably priced weather station? Are you familiar with the one that Ryan Hall advertises, although I really don’t want to spend that much? His is in the $300 range. Thanks.

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