LiftyK
Well-Known Member
Do you have experience of Garmin VHF radio? I have had ICOM radios until now. They are great, bomb-proof and easy to use. The problem is that I have a long lasting ICOM VHF radio that is working perfectly but lacks DSC due to its age. Lasting forever has a disadvantage sometimes. My boat is without DSC or AIS and I'd like to fit both, prefereable with AIS transmit if I can afford it, to increase security as boat and skipper age gracefully. As my speed / depth / GPS plotter are all Garmin and NMEA 2000, and I love all things Garmin, my starting point is to look at Garmin VHF and AIS.
When I investigate the Garmin range, first everything seems to be very expensive, with our weak British pound no doubt having some influence, and second I never see or hear of anyone with Garmin VHF. As far as I am aware, Garmin does not have years of experience in building VHF radios. If forumites report favourably on Garmikn VHS, convenience would be high while bank balance would be low.
Investigations suggest that an alternative would be an ICOM VHF/DSC without AIS but with NMEA 2000, and add a separate AIS unit. But ICOM do not seemingly offer an NMEA 2000 VHF without AIS at present. Further, the ICOM VHF packaged with AIS seems to use an AIS unit which is not mainstream. Mainstream is good.
Vesper do some interesting stuff. Not cheap but certainly innovative and appealing. Their all-in-one Cortex package seems to have great functionality. It also appears to offer a software defined radio. Is this perhaps a little too new and pioneering?
Would you have advice to share on a good VHF DSC and AIS transmit receive, all with NMEA 2000 communications? Thank you.
When I investigate the Garmin range, first everything seems to be very expensive, with our weak British pound no doubt having some influence, and second I never see or hear of anyone with Garmin VHF. As far as I am aware, Garmin does not have years of experience in building VHF radios. If forumites report favourably on Garmikn VHS, convenience would be high while bank balance would be low.
Investigations suggest that an alternative would be an ICOM VHF/DSC without AIS but with NMEA 2000, and add a separate AIS unit. But ICOM do not seemingly offer an NMEA 2000 VHF without AIS at present. Further, the ICOM VHF packaged with AIS seems to use an AIS unit which is not mainstream. Mainstream is good.
Vesper do some interesting stuff. Not cheap but certainly innovative and appealing. Their all-in-one Cortex package seems to have great functionality. It also appears to offer a software defined radio. Is this perhaps a little too new and pioneering?
Would you have advice to share on a good VHF DSC and AIS transmit receive, all with NMEA 2000 communications? Thank you.
