Mid range hand-held VHF, current favourites

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DogWatch

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I am fed up of nursing my old 12ch icom VHF, it's time for a snazzy modern unit. But which...

Must haves;

Waterproof / floats
Long life on standby
4W+
12v and mains charging point
hard off switch
tough, can be thrown in dinghy/grab bag without fear of breaking.
Buttons must be usable with cold/scared/gloved hands

desirables;

Removable antenna
small and light
simple and intuitive
no silly toys
Ability to use AA batteries in emergency
Ability to run on power/charge lead
rotary channel switch

I am a big fan of icom, but will also look at standard horizon and other quality brands. I am not looking for the cheapest, I want quality build. Funds are not bottomless.

This is my first start at looking, what's out there, what is getting the press hot? I don't even have a long list yet.
 
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I got a Standard Horizon HX300E a couple of months ago.. Meets most of your criteria.. Can also be charged from a PC or Laptop USB port or a 12v USB adapter that can be bought for a few quid.. For what it is I felt it was a pretty good bit of kit for the price..
 
I got the SH 290E as a birthday present 2weeks ago and am very pleased with it, cost just over a £100 but you will need the 12v charger too!
 
Umm looking through your list of requirements that's a tough call. Rotary channel selection will be difficult.

Have a look at the Cobra range, my HH415, now superseded, meets most of them, and came complete with battery tray, chargers, mains and 12v, belt clip and lanyard. Tough as old boots, been dropped several times and has been very wet and it still soldiers on.

The rewind feature on Cobras, looks gimmicky but I find it useful.

As for ease of use most handhelds now come with zillion page manuals, but I manage without having read mine!

Sample size #1
 
That's why I only made it desirable vara, but I did think a few h/h had rotaries, maybe not the waterproofs (which is essential to me this time).

What is the rewind function?
 
wipe_out said:
I got a Standard Horizon HX300E a couple of months ago.. Meets most of your criteria.. Can also be charged from a PC or Laptop USB port or a 12v USB adapter that can be bought for a few quid.. For what it is I felt it was a pretty good bit of kit for the price..
Click to expand...

0_HX300EC.jpg


How do you cope with the volume / squelch toggle switch and up/down key combination arrangement, it seems an extremely over complicated and fiddly arrangement to me. As this is a h/h and therefore (to me) a second unit for use in the dinghy, cockpit (to call HM etc) and emergency (hopefully never) I have no need for scans/DW or even a high/low toggle.. Currently I only have volume, squelch and PTT > I have never wished for more.

The HX300E does not appear to have a hard off switch, is that correct? That one is absolutely essential to me and would be a deal breaker on any radio.
 
DogWatch said:
That's why I only made it desirable vara, but I did think a few h/h had rotaries, maybe not the waterproofs (which is essential to me this time).

What is the rewind function?
Click to expand...

Push for the last 30 secs of conversation, useful for vessel calling type calls, and replaying what Dover Port control have told you to stop doing.
 
Have a look through this,

http://www.cobra.com/Manuals/MRHH475_MANL_ENG.pdf

Meets a lot of your requirements, guide price, about £120.

I think that it's inevitable on a new radio that you will have loads of functions that you will never use, that seems to be a reflection of the chips they use, ie blue tooth. Where I am, tri watch is handy for 16, 74 Dover port, 11 CG channel monitor.
 
colind3782 said:
I got an SH HX851E secondhand but "as new" for £150 which I thought was a bit of a bargain.
Click to expand...

That's a lot of radio, but on the SH site the SX290 appears to tick many of my boxes, as does the raymarine 101E (discontinued?)

Why are radio manufacturers scared to photograph their products in high resolution from all angles so we can peruse online?
 
My SH HX750 has just broken: dropped/damaged case water ingress and like you limited funds but decided to flex the credit card as we have started dinghy sailing and want to explore in the rubber dinghy with family on board so really feel a HH VHF is a must.

Looked at the various options and ended up deciding on the DSC end of things as for not much more the radios are amazingly loaded. Tried to weigh up the option of how effected a low power unit would be delivering a real distress message and then thought about how the digital signal (I believe) is stronger, for want of a better word. The final decision for me was the thought of being on a french esturay in the dinghy trying to make a distress call (Du grand tront tware) is the limit of my French and the thought of just pressing a button that will give a distress and position is invaluable.

So I down loaded the manuals for

SH HX851E
Icom 91D
Simrad HH36

I liked the Simrad but a sales person pointed out that they are not a dedicated radio company etc etc.
I really liked the Icom with soft keys etc and seems to have (by recommendation) the ultra best build quality.
In the end I perhaps found the last SH 851e in the country before a new stock is delivered ( I was told about a week). I went for it on price and the fact the 12v charger, base and AAA battery holder from my old radio would all fit. I also have a fixed SH and it really is a very sensitive radio and regularly picks up the south coast coastguards (for want of another word) here in the Channel Islands.

If I hand not gone for this I was also looking at the ental ht644 radio.

Happy choosing.
 
DogWatch said:
0_HX300EC.jpg


How do you cope with the volume / squelch toggle switch and up/down key combination arrangement, it seems an extremely over complicated and fiddly arrangement to me. As this is a h/h and therefore (to me) a second unit for use in the dinghy, cockpit (to call HM etc) and emergency (hopefully never) I have no need for scans/DW or even a high/low toggle.. Currently I only have volume, squelch and PTT > I have never wished for more.

The HX300E does not appear to have a hard off switch, is that correct? That one is absolutely essential to me and would be a deal breaker on any radio.
Click to expand...

Honestly it was volume/squelch control aspect was something I wasn't that keen on before buying it but using it is no a hassle at all and in fact it's like switching mobile phones and becomes second nature immediately.. Haven't really had to change the squelch at all.. Changing volume is just press the button then up or down to where you like.. It sounds like it's an effort but it really isn't..

No, there isn't a hard off.. Hold the power button for a couple of seconds to turn off.. If it's a deal breaker then I guess this one isn't for you.. Still I think its a great little radio..
 
The similar 290 has a hard off. The buttons are less vulnerable to damage than knobs,I have previously kept on turning knobs with frozen fingers and twisted them right off,you can't do that to buttons.
I too thought it would be awkward but it's actually easier. And that's coming from someone whose first radios had valves,cheers Jerry
 
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