Emerson RP6250 AM/FM/Weather/TV Radio ~ Great Value

Author's Rating:

Pros: NOAA weather reports instantly, AM, FM, TV channel tuning.  AC or battery powered, digital clock

Cons: Can get knocked over easily, AC cord difficult to re-store within the radio case.

The Bottom Line: 
Great emergency radio with NOAA local weather, AM-FM and TV stations.  AC or battery operated.  Great value.

Author's Review
When Hurricane Irene was forecast to hit New York I decided it was time to make some preparations, and one item I needed was a radio.  This little gem from Emerson was a great deal at just $19.99.

~ Product Description

The Emerson AM-FM, Weather/TV Radio is lightweight and portable.  It has a storable AC cord, or it can be used with four AA batteries, not included in the box, by the way. 

The radio has a large weather button, that when pressed goes instantly to the US Government NOAA weather reports for your local listening area.  You can tune into AM or FM radio stations, or listen to TV stations 2-13.  The speaker is wide-range and about 3".  There is a headphone jack, and a telescoping FM antenna, as well as a digital clock. 

The tuning features a slide rule type display that is controlled with a dial.  You can turn one dial to power off and on.  The other dial tunes to AM or FM, or the TV band.

The side panel of the radio case has the volume dial, and the tuning dial, to fine tune your stations.  At the top back of the radio case it a tuning dial for the Weather Station. 

The digital clock has fairly large numbers.  A button above the clock, when pressed, will backlight the digital clock numbers for easy reading.  The backlight only stays on for about a minute, then goes out, presumably to save battery life.

~ My Experience

I had no radio at all in the house, so this was something I needed anyway.  But having the advantage of the NOAA weather reports available instantly make this perfect for emergencies.  If you are listening to an FM radio station, for instance, and press the Weather Button, the radios goes immediately to the weather station.  When you press the weather button again, it returns you to the channel you were listening to. 

When you listen to the weather channel you will need to fine tune it with the dial at the back of the radio.  There seems to be a very find band for clear reception, but it works just fine.

The basic reception of this radio seems quite good, here in my NYC location.  There is a telecopic antenna that helps somewhat to fine tune and pull in reception as well.  As might be expected, some channels are much clearer than others.  

There is a fold-down handle for easy portability.  The radio has little "feet" on the bottom to keep it sturdy, but it still doesn't take much to knock it over.  The radio seems well built, but if you knocked it off a counter onto a tile floor, it might do some damage.  I'm not going to test it, but I'm just saying, an accidental elbow to the radio could send it off a counter. 

Sound-wise, this isn't a device for serious audiophiles, as the sound quality is kind of tinny and without depth, but I was expecting that.  You can get plenty of volume, and it doesn't rattle or squawk, as long as you have it tuned in well to the channel. 

Fortunately my power did not go out, but I had my handy Emerson Weather Radio ready in case.  If the power had gone out, at least I could listen to the latest weather reports, and news of what was going on, as well as music and TV stations for entertainment. 

The only problem I had was after taking the AC power cord out of its storage area within the radio, I had to sort of force the end connected to the radio into the slot designed for it, so that the battery compartment door would close.  That took a little messing around to accomplish, but I managed to do it.

Edit:  Something to note when it comes to emergency radios:  There are hand-crank powered radios that do not need batteries.  They cost a little more than this one, and I was in a hurry to purchase something that would get me by, and this was easily available locally, so I snapped it up, especially for $19.  Overall, for best preparedness uses, a hand-crank radio is probably the best choice.  But for my limited purposes, and with a stock of spare batteries, this does a fine job.

~ Final Thoughts

I was really glad I had the Emerson RP6250 AM/FM/Weather/TV Radio to see me through Hurricane Irene.  It provides easy access to local weather reports if the power goes out and keeps you informed, plus you can listen to AM, FM or a few TV channels.  It is lightweight and portable and totally worth $19.   Just remember to buy plenty of extra batteries.