Best hand held vhf

ST840

ST840

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As the Southampton boat show is soon upon us, I thought I’d go see if I could grab a bargain hand held vhf . Only needed as an emergency back up but, I don’t want a sh1t one. It needs to be dsc, waterproof and have a good battery and range.
What do you guys have and recommend ?
Thanks
 
I like my icom M23 handheld.. which floats and flashes. I think there is a newer model but basically the same.
It's not dsc nor does it have GPS but the battery life is months . I charge it perhaps twice a year .
I fact I will charge it now as the last time was in the spring.
 
I have an old Icom HH VHF and it lasts over a season on one charge. Good receiving and calling also. If I were buying new I would go Icom.
 
I have an old Entel HT 640 non DSC ive had for 10 years which still lasts 3 days on the battery and has an excellent receiver in it.
My new ICOM IC-M93D DSC lasts about 7 hours on its battery and its receiver isnt anywhere near as good as the Entel's

The ICOM does have a user friendly menu and DSC but TBH ive not been impressed with it. The plastic material ICOM have used also feels 'slippery' in the hand.

All depends what you want the hand held for, but i would recommend actually handling all the DSC radios at the show and then making a choice.
Oh and checking what the real world battery life is of each.
 
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I've got an entel 640 as well, I bought it at the Southampton show in 2006, its been bashed about, thrown in bags etc and still works fine. It's fairly simple with no dsc or ups, but does the job.
 
As the op asked specifically about a dsc set, not sure why the recommendations for non dsc models???

Battery life will always suffer with gps so you can not compare to non gps models.

Ive had the Icom 91D for 5+ years and for what you get the battery life is good, menus are simple and fits my hands well. Only real alternative is the Standard Horizon one which I have no experience of..
 
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I'm Not recommending the non dsc model that I have, but am recommending something else from entel that suits the requirements.
 
Standard Horizon HX890E. Waterpoof, feels good quality; I think there's a light that flashes if you drop it in the drink.

Battery lasts all day even with the GPS on (I use the 90% battery saving setting) and it also receives Radio 1, SAM FM etc.
 
Radio 1 and Sam fm eh..... just what you need in a potentially life threatening situation ... sh1t music played by idiots ....
does it pick up radio 2? Or talk sport ? That would be better !!
Thanks for the suggestion, I will take a look at it ! ??
 
Always Standard Horizon for me.
I have 3 of them.
Doesn't matter which model - they are all great sets.
I have had Icoms in the past which fell to pieces.
Definitely Standard Horizon.
Internal software seems to be ahead of the others as well.
 
NDB said:
Radio 1 and Sam fm eh..... just what you need in a potentially life threatening situation ... sh1t music played by idiots ....
does it pick up radio 2? Or talk sport ? That would be better !!
Thanks for the suggestion, I will take a look at it ! 
Click to expand...

All your comment says is that you are older than Gods dog! :rolleyes:;)
 
Hurricane said:
Always Standard Horizon for me.
I have 3 of them.
Doesn't matter which model - they are all great sets.
I have had Icoms in the past which fell to pieces.
Definitely Standard Horizon.
Internal software seems to be ahead of the others as well.
Click to expand...

I will second the recommendation for SH radios, handhelds and base units. I still have a 40 year old SH handheld that is like new. Won't float, never heard of DSC but receives signals better than the new ICOM installed in my power boat. Now have 3 SH base units and 4 HH units and love them all. Another plus, loader and clearer speaker than most other radios which is a real plus for aging ears.
 
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