To program a Midland WR120 or WR400, press MENU, go to SET LOCATION, choose SINGLE, then pick USA and work down to your county from the lists. Then go to SET CHANNEL and select the NOAA frequency that serves your county. That's the whole job on current models. Older radios and manual entry use your county's 6-digit SAME code instead of the list, and Midland's ER310 crank radios can't be programmed by county at all.
How we checked these steps
The steps come from Midland's own documents, read on October 15, 2026: its WR120 programming and troubleshooting articles (updated October and June 2026), the WR120 owner's manual dated January 2024, the WR400 owner's manual, and the ER310 and ER310PRO manuals and FAQs on support.midlandusa.com. SAME code facts come from the National Weather Service's programming page and county listing. Button names are written as they appear on each radio; the WR400 uses ENTER where the WR120 uses SELECT.
"How we pick" is our honest label for research from manuals and official sources. We didn't program these radios ourselves for this page. How we research.
Which Midland do you have?
| Model | County (SAME) programming | Backup batteries | Go to |
|---|---|---|---|
| WR120B (and the WR120) | Yes, 1 to 25 counties | 3 AA | WR120 steps |
| WR400 | Yes, 1 to 25 counties | 4 AA | WR400 steps |
| ER310, ER310PRO | No, alert mode only | Built-in rechargeable | ER310 steps |
Midland's support site has separate manuals for its other weather radios (WR300, ER10, ER40, ER210). We haven't covered those here, so use the manual for your model.
Step zero: find your SAME code and channel
Two numbers decide whether the radio works: your county's SAME code and the frequency of the transmitter that alerts for it. Both are on the NWS county coverage listing. Pick your state, find your county, and note the code and frequency. If your county appears on several rows, more than one transmitter covers it; use the one that comes in clearest.
No internet? The NWS says you can call 1-888-NWR-SAME (1-888-697-7263) or text "Go" to it. One NWS warning is worth repeating: "Do NOT program your radio for a louder or clearer station not designated as a SAME channel." A loud station that doesn't serve your county will never set off your alarm.
Midland WR120B: first-time setup
Install three AA batteries in the bottom (they're backup power), plug in the AC adapter, extend the antenna, and slide the ON/OFF switch on the side to ON. The screen shows WELCOME, then walks you through setup:
- SET LANGUAGE: press SELECT, choose English, Español or Français with the arrows, press SELECT.
- SET LOCATION: press SELECT, choose SINGLE with the arrows, press SELECT.
- When 01 EMPTY appears, press SELECT. Choose USA, press SELECT; scroll to your state, press SELECT; scroll to your county, press SELECT.
- SET TIME: press SELECT, use the left and right arrows to move between hour, minute and AM/PM, the up and down arrows to change them, then SELECT.
- SET CHANNEL: press SELECT and step through the channels until you hear the NWS broadcast for your area (the frequency from step zero). Press SELECT.
- Set the volume with VOLUME UP or DOWN, then press SELECT. The radio shows SAVING, then SETUP DONE.
Change the alert type to voice
Midland's own advice: the radio "often defaults to a Tone alert," and it recommends VOICE, which sounds a short tone and then plays the actual warning. Press MENU, scroll to ALERT TYPE, press SELECT, choose VOICE, press SELECT, then MENU to exit. Per Midland, VOICE sounds the tone for 8 seconds, then speaks the alert for up to 3 minutes. DISPLAY is silent, which is fine on a nightstand only if something else will wake you.
Entering a SAME code by hand
If your county isn't in the list, or you're working from a printed code, the January 2024 WR120 manual says to press the right arrow while the location slot (## LOCATION) is displayed, then use the four arrows to enter the six digits and press SELECT.
Changing it later
Every setting lives under MENU: SET LOCATION, SET TIME, SET CHANNEL, ALERT TYPE, SET EVENTS and ALERT TEST. To test the siren, choose ALERT TEST. Newer WR120 units add ALERT VOLUME (low, medium, high). Midland lists the siren at 76 decibels, loud enough to wake a sleeper, so test it before bedtime, not after.
Midland WR400: first-time setup
The WR400 runs its setup menu on first power-up, in a slightly different order, and its confirm button is ENTER. Put four AA batteries in the bottom compartment, plug in the adapter, then:
- Language: press ENTER, choose with UP or DOWN, press ENTER.
- Location: press ENTER, choose SINGLE (or MULTIPLE or ANY), press ENTER. At 01 EMPTY press ENTER, then pick the country and work down to your county, pressing ENTER at each list.
- SET TIME: press ENTER; set the hour, press RIGHT for minutes, then ENTER.
- SET CHANNEL: pull the antenna to full length, press ENTER, scroll to your channel, press ENTER. The settings are saved.
- Press WEATHER/HAZARD to listen and set the volume with the wheel on the side.
To enter a code by hand on the WR400: in SET LOCATION choose your option, press the RIGHT arrow at a county slot, use UP to pick each digit and RIGHT to move on, then ENTER. Press MENU three times to save. ALERT TYPE offers VOICE (8 seconds of alert, then the broadcast), TONE and DISPLAY in the manual; Midland's newer summary also lists a SIREN option, so your unit may show four.
One WR400 trap: holding WEATHER/HAZARD turns the weather receiver off, and the NOAA icon disappears. With it off, you get no alerts. Hold it again until NOAA returns.
Adding a second county (or a cabin)
Midland recommends one county for most homes, because every extra one adds alarms that aren't yours. Add more only if you live on a county line, or own property, work or have family next door. The rules from Midland's SAME guide:
- Program your home county first, in slot 01. Switching back to SINGLE later keeps only slot 01.
- For slot 02, choose MULTIPLE, press SELECT at 02 EMPTY, and the radio offers NEARBY, a list of adjacent counties. Or pick another state and county the normal way. Up to 25 slots.
- Every county you add must be served by the transmitter on your SET CHANNEL. A county alerted from a different tower never triggers your radio.
- For a vacation home, add its county in slot 02 and change SET CHANNEL when you arrive. Midland says transmitters reach about 80 miles; the NWS county page says about 40 miles on flat terrain, so plan on the shorter figure.
To delete a county on the WR120, Midland's FAQ says: MENU, SET LOCATION, MULTIPLE, SELECT, scroll to the county, press the right arrow then the down arrow until hash marks appear, then SELECT and MENU twice. ANY alerts for every county on the station; Midland calls it a recipe for "alert fatigue" outside of travel or camping.
Choosing which alerts sound
SET EVENTS has four choices on both models. ALL DEFAULT is how Midland ships it; the others are ALL ON, ALL OFF, and EDIT EVENTS for one alert at a time. Midland says the WR120 and WR400 carry up to 80 alert types. Some can't be turned off and don't appear in EDIT EVENTS at all, including Tornado Warning, Hurricane Warning, Extreme Wind Warning, Shelter-in-Place Warning, Tsunami Warning and Civil Emergency Message. Set ALL OFF and the radio still sounds for those, but not for Severe Thunderstorm or Flash Flood Warnings, so most homes should stay on ALL DEFAULT.
Midland ER310 and ER310PRO: alert mode, no county codes
The ER310 and ER310PRO are hand-crank emergency radios. They tune the seven NOAA channels (162.400 to 162.550 MHz) and can wake up for an alert, but there's nothing to program by county. Midland's ER310 FAQ is blunt: "The ER310 does not have the option to customize alerts," and it receives all alerts for your area, weekly test included.
- Press the band button until WX shows, and tune to the clearest weather broadcast. Use the frequency listed for your county.
- Turn on alert mode. On the ER310, press WX Alert; on the ER310PRO, hold the Alert button. WX flashes when alerts are on.
- Leave it be. The ER310 manual says alerts still come through when the radio is off, except while it's charging another device.
For a home, that makes a crank radio the backup, not the main alarm. Our hand crank emergency radio guide sorts the SAME models from the weather-band-only ones.
Beeping and error messages: what they mean
| What you see | What it means | Fix (from Midland's docs) |
|---|---|---|
| Soft beep every 5-10 minutes, three lights flashing, CHECK RECEPTION | No Required Weekly Test heard in 10 days | Set the channel to your strongest local station, move the radio to a window; slide ON/OFF off and on to clear |
| INVALID SAME | Code doesn't match the station you're tuned to | Recheck the code at weather.gov/nwr/counties and pick a station that alerts for it |
| NOAA blinking | Weak signal | Move the radio higher or nearer a window; Midland sells a window-mount external antenna |
| Static when you press WEATHER/SNOOZE | Wrong channel, or the transmitter is off the air | Change channel; check NWS outages |
| A beep, no broadcast, when you press WEATHER/SNOOZE | ON/OFF switch is off (WR120) | Slide it to ON and leave it there |
| No alarm during a storm | Your county wasn't under that warning, or SET EVENTS is ALL OFF | Confirm SET LOCATION and SET CHANNEL; set events to ALL DEFAULT |
Factory reset (WR120)
Unplug the adapter and remove one AA battery. Hold the WEATHER/SNOOZE bar while you restore power, then let go when RESET appears. Midland's two support articles differ on the last step (one says reinsert the battery, the other says plug the adapter back in); the 2024 manual just says hold WEATHER/SNOOZE "while powering on the unit." Either way, all settings are erased and setup restarts at SET LANGUAGE. The WR400 has a reset option in its menu.
Change the backup batteries every year: Midland's troubleshooting page says so, and on battery alone a WR120 runs about 2 to 3 days in standby by Midland's estimate.
Put it where you'll hear it
A programmed weather radio in the bedroom hallway is the first step of a family emergency radio plan. Two-way radios do the second part, keeping everyone in touch once the warning is out; see the GMRS emergency channel guide for which channel to call on, and Midland's walkie-talkies if you'd like NOAA weather on the handhelds too. Building a fuller kit? The GMRS radios for preppers guide covers backup power and range.
Steps from Midland's manuals and support articles; SAME code details from weather.gov, both checked October 15, 2026. Product details from each Amazon listing, checked the same day. How we research · Affiliate disclosure