Fixed VHF replacement

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Peter

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Got to buy a new fixed VHF, old u/s, could send for repair but need new quickly. It is the radio not aerial or anything obvious as all checks carried out and everything OK and check with a borrowed radio which worked. Any recommendation for make, model etc for approx £200 as cannot find any good reviews.


Peter
 
They are all much of a muchness at that price. Look for what matters to you.

I think the interface design is very important. I would want a knob for volume, squelch AND channel select. I don't like the idea of having to hit small rubber buttons to select anything I may need in a hurry. If I want to re-tune to the weather forecast.... I don't want to have to press a button a million times. Spinning a knob is far more intuitive.
The entry level Raymarine and the Lawrence Link-5 look like good contenders for me.

But.... each to their own.
 
Hi - I bought Icom's entry level VHF last year and hated it. It was a damned good radio mind, but the interface just didn't work while bouncing up and down feeling grim.

I sold the boat, and was happy to keep the radio on it and revert to an ancient Navco affair. in my 'new' boat.

By the look of it, this year's ICOM has a much bigger screen, but just think twice about the interface. There's no point in having tri-watch, for example, if it takes a 6 month course to find it under a complex button-mash-fest.
 
If service and back up matter to you there is one outfit with a proven track record.
ICOM are still prepared to repair FOC their marine radios with a ceramic filter fault even though in some cases the radios are rather old.
It makes them(the radio) a bit deaf.
Try that with your non Icom radio and see what the importer comes back with.:)
 
I've similarly heard less-than-good stuff about Icom's user-interface. Quality of construction and effectiveness of the radio they are good at, but software design - not so much. Didn't matter when radios were simple (channel, volume, squelch, that's about it) but it becomes a problem with the range of features nowadays - in particular DSC, which you will have to react to even if you never want to initiate.

My vote is for Standard Horizon, selected from their range according to budget. Although, if you think you will ever want AIS, it may be worth splashing out on the GX2100 as it works out much easier and almost certainly cheaper than a separate aerial, wiring, and receiver.

Pete
 
oldgit said:
If service and back up matter to you there is one outfit with a proven track record.
ICOM are still prepared to repair FOC their marine radios with a ceramic filter fault even though in some cases the radios are rather old.
It makes them(the radio) a bit deaf.
Try that with your non Icom radio and see what the importer comes back with.:)
Click to expand...

For reference : Standard Horizon after sales support is also second to none.
 
I can also confirm S/H support is good.My S/h 2100 screen had lines on it after about 26 months.Although it was technically out of guarantee the replaced the screen free of charge and got it back to me in 3 days.
No association just a happy customer.
 
I always find the best way of picking something like this is to create a short list from recommendations & the download the user manuals.

I did this a while ago & went for Raymarine 54e. Although operation is simple & it's worked fine, build quality is poor. The sprung cover over the emergency button has broken twice. I'm on my 3rd front panel. The first one failed & stopped accepting NMEA position info for the GMDSS. The mike fell apart on the 2nd one.

Icom do make good radios & I'd probably go for one of those if I replace again. I use these on VERY wet boats & they get a hell of a beating. Generally the radios are fine but the mics fail. But, this is very extreme treatment. They'd be fine on normal boating, especially if kept under cover.
 
wooslehunter said:
I did this a while ago & went for Raymarine 54e. Although operation is simple & it's worked fine, build quality is poor. The sprung cover over the emergency button has broken twice. I'm on my 3rd front panel. The first one failed & stopped accepting NMEA position info for the GMDSS. The mike fell apart on the 2nd one.
Click to expand...

Thats interesting as I always assumed that Raymarine were a quality product at a premium price....??
 
+1 for Icom.

I have always bought Icom and been very happy. The Icom M323 is under £200. I have always found Icom's aftersales service to be excellent - fast, helpful and good value.

Puggy
 
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