Handheld VHF terms

[Mfc1955]

Can anyone help with the terms Triwatch and dualwatch, what do they do?
Also any experiences of good h/held vhf would be appreciated. Looking at the Garmin 725 and Icom models under £200?? Thanks

 

[rogerroger]

dualwatch allows you to listen to two channels at the same time - usually 16 and another channel, perhaps the channel for a nearby port so you can monitor shipping movements...

I can only imagine triwatch allows you to listen to 3 channels but I've never come across such a set.

Roger Holden
www.first-magnitude.co.uk

 

[graham]

On my xm2000 handheld vhf you can monitor the marina channel ,channel 16 and one other channel simultaneously.

Why you would want to I dont know.

Dual watch can be handy if you sail in company with people as you can both listen on a prearranged working channel and monitor 16 at the same time.

If more people would use working channels by arrangement with there friends it would reduce the amount of unneccesary traffic on 16.

 

[mtb]

I have a Navico which has both duel watch and also multi channel watch , Got it second hand for £100 one thing not very loud .
Mick

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/boats
I want a big steel ex trawler / tug v / cheap or swap for tug

 

[JeremyF]

Icom M3 has triwatch. Best price is about £145. Dont spend any more with DSC around the corner, and hand-held being a good back-up to a fixed set

Jeremy Flynn

 

[Guest]

As mentioned on previous posts, duel watch means that Ch16 plus another programmed chanel can be listened to with Ch16 always taking priority. Tri-watch is the same but two additional channels, say a call channel and a working channel can be programmed with Ch16 still taking priority.
The Garmin 725e is a good H/H. I've had mine for 2 years and its never failed (open boat cruising). A good size display with backlighting to both display and keypad. I don't trust the 'submersable' claim though and have always bagged it in a waterproof pouch. (Belt and braces.) There are no rotary controls, all operations are done via buttons.
Beware though leaving the radio down where it can slide into such a position to jam and the TX button held on! Not just an embarrasment but bordering on the irresponsible.
The price has dropped quite a lot since I bought mine though I believe that to be due to stiff competition from other makes.
It fared quite well in tests in the sailing mags in the past and to my mind one of the best things about it is the ability to pop in normal alkaline batteries if you find that the rechargeables have run out.
DSC hand helds are now appearing but I do question the advantages. The main advantage of DSC to my mind is the ability to send a distress call via a single push of the shrouded distress button. If you don't programme your position into the radio on very regular intervals then the main advantage of the system has been lost. Its a whole lot easier to have a fixed VHF/DSC set linked to a GPS on board your boat. A hand held by its very nature is not going to be manually programmed for lat. and long. very often unless it sits in a holster/plug arrangement with a link to the GPS for automatic updates? I might very well be proved wrong on this though.

An Ron Beag

 

[Peter_the_Grate]

I believe tri-watch originated in the USA, where channels 9 and 16 plus one of your choice are monitored. Don't ask me what channel 9 is for...

 

[Twister_Ken]

My decision to go for the Garmin was based on two criteria which I considered to be vital. First it's waterproof. Second, it will run on ordinary dry cell batteries.

My thinking was that it will live in a grab bag, with a tupperware box full of spare batteries. If I ever have to spend a long period in a liferaft, I want a radio that has both of those qualities, so that it won't die when damp, or when the rechargeable batteries go flat.

 

[rich]

had my 725 1yr can do all settings with one hand. no nobs to twiddel,

rich )

 

[Chris_Stannard]

Dual watch is as set out, the set will look at channel 16 for about 50 milliseconds every second ot two, even when you are receiving a call on the second selected channel. Ususally the way it works is you select a channel, say 8 and then press the dual watch button, the set will now spewnd most of its time on 8 but will monitor 16. If anything is heard on Channel 16, that channel will be preferred. so dual watch does not work very well at the weekends in the Solent where you get a lot of folk yattering their heads off. Tri watch is the same except that there are now two monitored channels, Ch16 will be the top priority, and the second channel, which you should be able to select, will work in the same way, but 16 has priority. The problem is that if you are receiving a message and you are on dual watch, you will notice little blips in the reception. Your brain fills in the gap, so it is not a problem. When they go to tri watch the gaps become longer and can be annoying.
If you want to monitor a number of channels the best way to do it is to set up a scan group, with say 16, 7, 8, 67 etc, that you select in it. When a transmission is heard the scan stops on that channel and will remain on channel until the transmissions cease.
Beware of sets will all buttons, thee on/off switch is software controlled and the set is always active draining the battery. The NiCad batteries do run down in any case over time, so do not charge you set and leave it. from that point of view a set that you can put throw away batteries in is a good idea. To get the best out of your batteries from time to time, about every three months or so, you shou8ld run the batteries right down, best done by leaving the seet switched on for a couple of days when you do not need it. this prevents the build up of so called memory effect, where the battery remebers how much it was charged and aonly charges to that level.
I bought an ICOM at the boat show for £145, I can not remeber the model number, but it does every thing above.

Chris Stannard

 

[bedouin]

Apparently in the US, Channel 9 is designated as the 'calling channel' (i.e. the channel on which one initially makes contact with another vessel) rather than Ch 16 as in UK.

 

[HaraldS]

I have an 'old' Standard handheld (at least five years old), it has dual watch to monitor 16 plus one other and memory scan. In the later mode you can put in any number of channels to monitor, the unit then walks over the scan list and alsways checks 16 in between. I have really never used that feature and usually use it on dual watch, watching 16 and one appointed ship-ship channel for communication with the mother ship.
It is still working great, but is from before the days when they became really waterproof. If I'd get a new one I would go for a unit that is waterproof and has an additional alkaline battery holder for emergency power. Whether the handhelds should have DSC or not seems controverse, most people say it is meant for small boats where the handheld unit is the only one.
Having read of all the big ships that steamed by people in a life raft shooting red flares and calling on 16, DSC might be a way to kick off the alarm on the bridge provided the set is turned on.

 

[Boatman]

Ken, I have had my 725 2 yrs no problems including dropping it over the side, it survived no problems, trasmission range seems to be very good for a handheld. Most of the reviews I have seen seem to say yes very good apart from the price which was only slightly above the "winning" item.