Handheld VHF

I think mine is just on main ship licence but maybe that's fine for use in tenders and its just at a certain size of second vessel it needs to be portable ? Having owned an Icom for a few years if I was buying another for grab bag I might go with Standard Horizon but I would always look for one with separate battery tray to take the AA type.
 
I've got a Cobra which was given to me. Obviously not as good as a premium band but handy to have nonetheless. One thing I do like is that it can use rechargeable or single use AAA batteries. I wouldn't buy one though.
 
solent clown said:
surely I just add it to current licence and get another MMSI for it?
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An MMSI number is only applicable to radios equipped with DSC, i.e. it is a unique number to call up that set individually.
I suspect that what you have there is not suitable for purpose, on two grounds; firstly that does not even claim to be splashproof, secondly that does not appear to have pre-sets for marine frequencies, particularly for Channel 16, nor Dual Watch etc.
The range of frequencies mentioned apply, AFAIR, to Air Traffic Control. What you need is to be able to select, at the touch of a button, your chosen working channel for boat to dinghy comms, e.g. 72, or 76, Channel 16 for emergencies and to hear announcements from HMCG, and to go to their working channels to hear weather info.
IMHO you would do well to return that set as soon as it arrives and get a marine set instead....Cobra sell a very affordable one, although the 3 Watts maximum output on it is somewhat lower than on the likes of Icom, Standard Horizon, etc., which have 5 Watts.
https://marinestore.co.uk/Cobra_HH125_Handheld_VHF_Marine_Radio.html
I would recommend a VHF Course.
Some useful info here;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_VHF_radio
 
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solent clown said:
But then it's not tranfserrable from boat to boat I suppose... The only time we are going to use it is for emergency operation. Maybe we will just keep it in a bag....
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An ordinary, non-DSC handheld can be used on any boat, under the Ship's License of said boat. You can go sailing as crew on anyone else's boat, bring along your own h/h and use it legally. The best way to get the full and proper information on all aspects of Marine Radio is not to rely on hearsay, but to take a course from a qualified instructor, as I mentioned above. If for instance you were to venture across the Channel it would be obligatory to have it.
 
solent clown said:
OK, I get it, I have been a silly billy.
I doubt if it is very waterproof. but yes it will transmit in marine band, keys are programmable etc so it would have been useable except probably exactly when we need it, ie upside down in the solent with a knocked out wife and the Red Jet bearing down on us... Saving 50 quid doesnt seem worth it now
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The one in the link isn't legal as you've no doubt figured out already ;)
It must be -
compliant with either the Marine EquipmentDirective (MED) or the Radio andTelecommunications Terminal Equipment(R&TTE) Directive, or nationally type-approved(see Section 5).

Saying that, the baofeng uv5r works great as a cheap receiver to leave on all the time at anchor. Only about 20 and a bit quid. Dual watch.

8v charging though which needs a little fiddle.
 
I'm certain the link in the original post is for a ham radio which requires a different license entirely and is definately not a marine radio but can be programmed with the marine channels as it covers the band required, not my choice for boat safety use but the plus side is you could program channel zero into it and be nosey when the CG are up to things.
It probably is legal but not under the terms of the marine vhf license and only for certain frequencies, the baofeng's seem to be popular with the radio hams as they are very good for the silly cheap price.
If you find out what radio licenses are issued locally you could probably have a lot of fun with your local taxi companies....:devilish:
 
Spirit (of Glenans) said:
An MMSI number is only applicable to radios equipped with DSC, i.e. it is a unique number to call up that set individually.
I suspect that what you have there is not suitable for purpose, on two grounds; firstly that does not even claim to be splashproof, secondly that does not appear to have pre-sets for marine frequencies, particularly for Channel 16, nor Dual Watch etc.
The range of frequencies mentioned apply, AFAIR, to Air Traffic Control. What you need is to be able to select, at the touch of a button, your chosen working channel for boat to dinghy comms, e.g. 75, or 76, Channel 16 for emergencies and to hear announcements from HMCG, and to go to their working channels to hear weather info.
IMHO you would do well to return that set as soon as it arrives and get a marine set instead....Cobra sell a very affordable one, although the 3 Watts maximum output on it is somewhat lower than on the likes of Icom, Standard Horizon, etc., which have 5 Watts.
https://marinestore.co.uk/Cobra_HH125_Handheld_VHF_Marine_Radio.html
I would recommend a VHF Course.
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Yes, already decided to cancel the order (but note it is reprogrammable for UK marine frequencies, 16 and 12 would have been hotkeys if I kept it,) It is just too much of a hassle and non waterproof, though it could be used as our shed monitor to replace the old Navico I suppose.
I have done many radio courses, including marine VHF. (My old job entailed using radios a lot.)
We have VHF going in the background in the shed 24/7, it gives a real sense of the goings on, though most of the traffic we hear is commercial, or just the VTS side of other comms, as reception here isnt great.
 
snowbird30ds said:
If you find out what radio licenses are issued locally you could probably have a lot of fun with your local taxi companies....:devilish:
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Or have a scan through the PMR frequencies and maybe wind up the guy operating the scaff lift on the building site down the road... ;)

We have VHF going in the background in the shed 24/7, it gives a real sense of the goings on, though most of the traffic we hear is commercial, or just the VTS side of other comms, as reception here isnt great.
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Can you still hear southampton VTS online? Couldn't find it recently.
 
Whilst it does not suit the original poster, these are good little radios for the money (although you managed to find an expensive one, they can be found from £15 upwards)

The problem they have is they are wideband direct conversion so their rejection of nearby signals is poorer than a dedicated handheld on a single band. I have found them to work well and cheap enough to throw away when broken.

You see them everywhere now, including R SIGNALS in the UK :eek:
 
They are terribly nice people running the VTS, and in our experience amenable to a visit into the very nerve centre. We were invited, but I am sure if you called up and expressed an interest they would accommodate.
It was interesting to put faces to the voices, and to see just how high tech it is. Not just radio, radar etc but camera systems and a myriad of strange magical devices.
The Solent is a busy place
 
I've got a Baofeng UV5R, which is similar. I programmed it with all the Marine Short Range channels, plus the PMR 446 channels, and a few others I wanted. I'm aware that although I hold the Short Range certificate and a licence for the fixed set on my boat, those don't cover it. In fact as I understand it, the Baofeng cannot be licenced for use in the UK because it isn't type approved. But I could be wrong. Anyway, to program it, free software is available in the shape of "Chirp", available from here https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home. Then you have to construct a file, containing all the frequencies, which gets a bit tedious, especially for the duplex channels.
 
No Regrets said:
£55-60 buys a proper Marine VHF

Brand new. Known brands :nonchalance:
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apart from the Cobra, which I had a look at today in Force 4 (at an inflated price) what is out there for £60? Show me and save me a tongue lashing from the short one who is already berating me for the aborted purchase of the other one
 
elton said:
I've got a Baofeng UV5R, which is similar. I programmed it with all the Marine Short Range channels, plus the PMR 446 channels, and a few others I wanted. I'm aware that although I hold the Short Range certificate and a licence for the fixed set on my boat, those don't cover it. In fact as I understand it, the Baofeng cannot be licenced for use in the UK because it isn't type approved. But I could be wrong.
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You're not wrong. However, you could take the view that as no-one can tell that you're transmitting from a model that doesn't have type approval, you're happy to use it. In fact, I might infer from the fact that you own one and have told it the marine channel numbers, you do take that view!
 
Intek Dolphin.

But I bought the Cobra, and it's excellent in terms of function and battery life.

Long term, it runs on three AAA rechargeable batteries, so cheap to replace, and the charger is tiny.

Better than my previous Icom in most ways, despite being 50% of the purchase price...
 
No Regrets said:
Intek Dolphin.

But I bought the Cobra, and it's excellent in terms of function and battery life.

Long term, it runs on three AAA rechargeable batteries, so cheap to replace, and the charger is tiny.

Better than my previous Icom in most ways, despite being 50% of the purchase price...
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I like the idea of being able to slap some triple a's in it. We would only need this within the solent - you think the range is ok then? If so I might grab one for a try
 
No Regrets said:
Intek Dolphin.

But I bought the Cobra, and it's excellent in terms of function and battery life.

Long term, it runs on three AAA rechargeable batteries, so cheap to replace, and the charger is tiny.

Better than my previous Icom in most ways, despite being 50% of the purchase price...
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Yes, the Cobra HH125 is cheaper at about £60, but it's not waterproof, it's only 3W output, it has less than half the audio output of the HX300E, it only has a 1 year warranty, and it has rather outdated NiMH batteries, rather than the preferred Li-Ion batteries.
 
solent clown said:
I like the idea of being able to slap some triple a's in it. We would only need this within the solent - you think the range is ok then? If so I might grab one for a try
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You can get a battery case for the HX300E to use alkaline AAA batteries in an emergency; in practice, the standard Li-Ion battery lasts ages.
 
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