Cobra Hand Held VHF

[m1taylor]

I am looking to buy a cheap hald held VHF just for inshore waters use. There are adverts for a Cobra model at around £49 which seems a lot cheaper than any other sets.

So.. has anyone got one, and if so, is it ok as a basic set?

 

[l'escargot]

I haven't used one but have handled one. They are very small and only a low output (2 watts max I think).

 

[Colvic Watson]

Cobra has no M1 / M2. The Silva is 4W max and has M1 / M2 and only costs £69 new

 

[fireball]

If that is the Silva S12 your talking about, I'm on my 3rd in 2 years .. all replaced free of charge

 

[gjgm]

think i noticed that the power output was miniscule. Might be ok around the marina but i wouldnt like to rely on it for safety

 

[Colvic Watson]

I heard they could be unreliable as well - I guess it's too soon to have feedback from users of Cobra sets

 

[LadyInBed]

Re: Silva S12

Could you point me towards who is selling them for £69.

 

[Ships_Cat]

Not sure what versions are available in the UK but the HH100 and 200 are 2 watts and the larger HH300 and 400 are 5 watts.

I support your inference (if I read it correctly) that 2 watts is not appropriate in most cases, so is worth checking.

John

 

[pvb]

£47 inc postage....

You can get a Cobra from JG Technologies for £47 inc VAT and UK postage.

I think that, with VHF handhelds as with most other things, you get what you pay for. Because of that, I'd suggest you save up a few more beer tokens and get something that's likely to be a bit more reliable, maybe an Icom M31. You might have reason to really need the handheld one day, and it'd be better if it worked.

 

[JonBrooks]

Re: £47 inc postage....

2w may be ok for most use but what if you need that extra power.
Why not buy a 5w set and use the power button to use the lower setting.
Then if you need it the extra power is there.

Just a thought.

Regards

 

[yachtbits]

We don\'t and won\'t sell Cobra!

We don't and won't sell the Cobra products.

I have previous experience of Cobra, not impressed.

Silva is better than Cobra, but would always recommend Icom on quality grounds. I like selling Icom because it doesn't come back and cause me hassle!

Probably the same reason why Coastguard and RNLI use Icom.

Kevin

 

[Anthony]

I too went thru a few Silvas b4 getting a refund, certainly wouldnt bother with them again. I am sure PBO did review of handhelds an commented on the lack of stable output from it. You might want to look into the new handhelds from Alan, no personale experiance of them, but have Alan PMRs, and had their CBs in the past, nice stuff for the money.

I paid the extra and bought the Entel rather than the Icom, as it has much better battery technology, fantastic piece of kit!

 

[JonBrooks]

A bit misleading there Anthony

The Icom M1V and the Entel have identical battery tech.
Both use Lithium Ion
Both approx same capacity.
And now priced very close.
3 year warranty on the Icom
Not sure what you get with the Entel

Regards