marine radio Point83 Yacht Club

[Bo Ttorff]

[Alex]

[Razi]

Pretty much what Alex said. I prefer Icom to Standard Horizon just because I find their ergonomics and design superior. Functionally they are identical. They both have really similar features at similar pricepoints. They both have excellent warrantee departments etc. Uniden radios are fine, but their durability is just not on par with SH or Icom. If you are planning something as a backup for a cruising boat then Uniden is probably fine. Uniden radios cannot stand up to the beating that dinghy or small-catamaran sailing dole out to VHFs.

[Alex]

I think I'm just really lucky with my Unidens. They've gone under salt water with me a bunch of times (kayaking, wearing one in my PFD) and have never had any issues. I guess I'm just lucky. I switched after losing a more expensive Standard Horizon off of my kayak 3 or 4 years ago.

Jake has a small power boat, a 14 or 15' aluminum fishing type boat. The radio will probably get somewhat wet, but not as wet as on a dinghy.

Raz: Too bad you couldn't make it this weekend. I ran into a WYC group there.

[Alex]

Practical Sailor just had a review of handhelds.

They liked the Icom radios the best, seem mixed on Standard Horizon, didn't test Uniden, and disliked a cheap Midland Nautico 3.

[Bo Ttorff]

The fisherman in me has me looking at the simrad models, I guess the main question I have would be hand held or hardwired because my engine does charge my battery.

[limpyweta]

Maybe some handheld VHF's have their own ports/charge controllers/cords so one can power it with an outside battery, and still be seawater safe.

I chose a Standard Horizon because it came with a battery pack that could take rechargeable NiMH batteries, like in AA form. After the pack met seawater, the metal tabs to feed the radio corroded a little bit, and in the process of trying to scrape the rust off, I scraped the whole metal tab out. The lithium battery is still ok.

When the lithium battery with a certain mounting interface wears out, what could happen? I read it's not that expensive to get one made after the mass production lines retire, is it?

[joeball]

[Razi]

Y'all ran into my buddy Mike and his wife. Were there others? I think my friend Matt P. was there with his daughter too but I'm not sure where on the island he was. Incidentally, Mike lives next door to Jake.

I've heard of people using dialectric grease on battery leads in VHFs. I've not done it.

[Alex]

Jake: I can give you a hardwired one. Let me know today before I give it away to someone I don't really know. It's really not fancy (no scanning for instance), but it works just fine. It's sitting on my porch at the moment, but I could bring it down to Shilshole on Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday.

I just bought a Simrad RS35 for my sailboat which is pretty cool for a hardwired one. If you also have a GPS then it will draw big ships (AIS) on your GPS. It has the GPS-based distress features too (if your boat is sinking and you call the coast guard they'll get your location). It's not cheap though, about $300. There is a cheaper version by Lowrance (same company as Simrad) that doesn't have a remote mic that would work fine on your smaller boat. That model is called the Link-8 and is so little extra money over a normal hardwired radio that I'd get it.

Mike is the only guy that we talked to, but my impression was that the rest of his 5 friends walking with him also did some WYC stuff.

I've put diaelectric grease on the internal contacts of my handhelds. As I said they've been under salt water dozens if not hundreds of times (rolling practice on a kayak) and they've never had an issue. I do rinse them in fresh water once in a while.

[Alex]

If you take my free radio you will need to buy an antenna. There are inexpensive ones for fishing boats that will mount on the back rail. On my sailboat the antenna is at the top of the mast.

[Bo Ttorff]