Budget DSC radios, are they any good

[truebrit]

Have decided to go for DSC at last and am a bit baffled at which to buy, instinct says anything too cheap is not going to be much good, for instance there is a Cobra set available for £115 !!! going up to NASA Sx35 at around £185 and in between we have Neptune (made by Midland) Navman and XM . I only potter around the coast so Simrad, Icom etc are probably the better sets but not in my budget. We seem to have had a spate of comparative test of hanhelds in the boating press recently, but have I missed the fixed set tests or havent they done any yet? Would appreciate anybody owning or having experience of the cheaper sets , tell me if they are happy with them or to the contrary

<hr width=100% size=1>Mike....... V8s are sweet music

 

[steverow]

Nasa SX 35 is a very good set. I have one and it has proven OK over the last year. Not waterproof though so mine is on lower helm.

XM do a (supposedly) waterproof one at about £150 ish.

Steve.


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[sailorman]

why buy one read pbo, the Ryde Ferry skippers think its "Crap" their words

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[whisper]

Another vote for the NASA SX35 here. Proved fine in the wheelhouse of our recently departed Ryds 23

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[Jinks]

I paid about £145 for the XM which is absolutely fine. Reception is really good - I've picked up the coastguard from at least 50 nm away and it talks nicely to the GPS (with thanks again to Steverow).

<hr width=100% size=1>Of all the things I've lost - I miss my mind the most!

 

[Doug_Stormforce]

DSCs have now come down considerably in price and the market has been flooded with different brands.

The qualities I suggest you look for are

Large easy to read display
Easy menu system
Reasonable sized buttons
Waterproof (if on flybridge or cockpit)

Why not check out SIBS, all the dealers will be more than happy to show of there sets to you

Best Of luck

<hr width=100% size=1>For RYA Courses, click
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.stormforce.biz> Stormforce Coaching </A>

 

[wakeup]

Another vote for the Nasa SX 35

I've had one for over a year and it has performed well, none of the poor quality tx/rx issues associated with some of the other cheap DSC's.

<hr width=100% size=1>As independent as resources permit.

 

[Mike_Martin]

My advice as it is to many customers who ask me for it at shows when about to buy their VHF/DSC is:

You really do get what you pay for! the cheapness of some sets is due to their reduced casing, button and display sizes. Before buying it, cos it'll fit snugly in your cuddy, remember how DSC alerting works. You need to be able to properly use those buttons and read the display, possibly in heavy weather, possibly in a bit of a panic stricken state!

Many of the people who rushed to buy the smaller more compact (cheaper) sets have changed over to the bigger more expensive ones due to their ease of operation.

If your planning to buy at the Boat Show, remeber your boat is unlikely to have state of the art exhibition lighting and you could have to use the set, in anger, with a bit more of a swell than that caused by the Guiness Tent.

Mike

<hr width=100% size=1>Team Executive,
Maritime & Aeronautical Team, Ofcom

 

[gjgm]

navman (£180)I got seems a sturdy bit of kit, and wiring in the gps is a tricky task of connecting the two readiy stripped wires. Also a ready additional speaker cable.
Not an expert at all , but was told they re all made to same regulatory standard, so there isnt going to be much difference. You might just want to consider if you want more/less functions on the mike, and the size of the buttons. Also have a look at the size of the screen. Some of them seem bit small if you re boncing about on the sea...
Whats going to really change the quality is more the location and height of the aerial than what model you buy.
Just beware some adverts as i think EU has different spec to USA, which would make that ebay bargain useless (or illegal)


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[Mike_Martin]

Illegal is the correct answer!

Non CE marked equipment can't be used in Europe!

Mike

<hr width=100% size=1>Team Executive,
Maritime & Aeronautical Team, Ofcom

 

[Medskipper]

Well I bought and fitted a Silva S15 DSC in March, It was £327. Its rubbish! first one packed up while we cruised the south coast this August and the replacment which has only been on the flybridge two weeks has let in water behind the screen!
Its supposed to be waterproof! The sound quality is tinnyand reception and transmit is crap!

Barry

<hr width=100% size=1>I just want to retire with my boat to the Med!

 

[sjw]

Re: Another vote for the Nasa SX 35

Bought a new SX 35 in May and at the same time a new Garmin 176c complete with new antenna etc professionally fitted and the vhf picked up interference from the garmin continously, dealer tried everything including contacting Garmin and Nasa each blamed each other and in desperation changed the VHF for a new more expensive Simrad problem immediatly solved.

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[wakeup]

Re: Another vote for the Nasa SX 35

Err well mine is connected to a Garmin via NMEA (amature fitted) and no interferance issues, I've heard that If you fit them next to eachother they interfear so may be thats your problem.

<hr width=100% size=1>As independent as resources permit.

 

[sjw]

Re: Another vote for the Nasa SX 35

Tried different garmin gps products near the radio with no problems the professional opinion was that the colour screen was emitting a signal that only the nasa picked up as we tried the garmin 176c in different boats with different vhf radios with no problems and the garmin was placed as far away as the nmea lead allowed.

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[truebrit]

Many thanks folks for your experiences and sound advice, I think its going to be between the NASA and Navman because of their fairly large displays, although the higher specification Cobra (which I think is USA product) also has a very large display and is waterproof at £160. I will say all these products are from British suppliers, would not touch American stuff from ebay !!

<hr width=100% size=1>Mike....... V8s are sweet music

 

[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

I have just received my new Navman 7200, this morning in fact. Ok I have not used it in earnest but have been 'playing' with it today. It appears to be very well built and has some quite natty features, like the 24 hour barometer. The display in MHO is as good as the £500 Icoms, but that is just my opinion.

The main controls are very good, with a nice rotary for channel select, the 7100 does not have this nor does it have the full keypad which its big brother has.

All keys lit and a dimmer control to keep down glare. DSC functions are intuitive even SWMBO picked it up very quickly. I also like the fact I can just press 8 for example on the keypad and it goes to channel 8, I never knew they did this!

Also I like the 3ch scan with dual watch and full channel scan with dual watch, I expect these to be very handy, plus being able to reply to the last 10 DSC incoming calls.

The only thing I dislike is when you select ch16 it always defaults to full power (25W), I don't remember the last time I actually Tx'd at 25W, there is nothing worse than people in the marina etc. calling others in the marina at full power, it blasts around my saloon if I have the radio turned on. This is only a teeny complaint.

So far I think it is a great piece of kit, £219.00 (inc del) from <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.jgtech.com/shop3.htm>JG Technologies</A>

<hr width=100% size=1>Julian

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>

</A>

 

[alpha]

I would advise against the NASA, as I have had and continue to have several problems:

1. Mine refuses to interface with my MLR GPS, though I know that the MLR is outputting OK as it drives my Yeoman, and I have checked and re-checked the settings. NASA themselves were very unhelpful in tackling this.

2. It performs very poorly compared to my ICOM (401, I think) in terms of range and reception quality.

3. It sometimes locks out its receive mode immediately following a transmission: I call the marina, or whoever, and hear no reply, I then briefly flick the TX button, and it springs back into life.

So, I now use it only to RX, and this winter it hits the skip when I install the big ICOM 601.

Sad, as the front panel controls and ergonomics are excellent. The bits in the box behind just seem sub-standard, and the support is very poor.

I can't help feeling that you get what you pay for, and as the NASA is a very early budget DSC set, this is even more apparent.

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[Andrew_Fanner]

Had many problems with rfi between Navman Tracker and SX35 but now all cured by moving the twig to using a davit as a mounting. Looks odd but works fine. SX35 reception fine and the display is easy to read, even at night by myopic old me. TX: nobody has told me of issues and the memory scan works very well for me.

Of course, its now some £70 cheaper than when I bought it:-(

<hr width=100% size=1>Two beers please, my friend is paying.

 

[salamicollie]

The High Power and Ch 16 seem to be a designed in feature - all the newer VHF's seem to do it.... at least the cheaper one's that I looked at.

Got a SX35 and it works fine for me - the sticking in Rx mode that Alpha reports sounds like an issue with the fist mike PTT.

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[Andrew_Fanner]

Checked the manual for the SX35. If you use the 16 priority channel button (red 16) then high power is automatically selected.

<hr width=100% size=1>Two beers please, my friend is paying.