More on VHF Radio - USA/EU

Bejasus

Bejasus

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I have ordered a complete Raymarine E-80 package for the boat which is in the US, and this should be fitted this month. I have not yet decided on which radio yet, but was thinking about the Ray218 with remote handset and loudhailer. Looking on Raymarine.com and there are 2 versions, one for the US and one for the EU, but beyond that it doesn't mention the differences anywhere in their specifications.
The Ray240 does mention something about ATIS for EU inland waterways, but that's it.
We intend bringing the boat to the Med next may for around 5 years so which version to go for and in that case should I keep my current Standard Horizon and go for the Ray218E version and have the best of both worlds when I need it.
Oh, and there is a $130 difference between the two. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
I recently bought an ICOM in the US (at half Eu price) which could be switched between US/Canadian and EU/rest of the world. The difference is in some - only some of the duplex frequency pairings, and even then I think only 4 or 5 of them, and not the commonest used anyway so the difference did not seem critical.

I suspect that a look at the IMO website might turn up the frequency lists if you were interested.

Or, better, find which ICOM set does this (it was only a $150 set) and download the operating manual from the web - the data is definitely in there.

Suggest you look for a set with switchable mode like this.
 
The main feature difference between UK and US sets is that M1 and M2 will be missing from your US set.
Certain EU countries have their own private channels and these are put in when built for that country or when they arrive and the distributors.

Also some US sets are not Class D DSC and are the lower SC-101 standard.
Main diff here is the Class D has a second unit built in to always monitor Ch70 (the DSC channel)

Most US kit is not CE marked as required under EU law.
If you have say a fire on board from a bit of this kit it would be a good get out for any insurance company.
Not saying it will be but we all know how they love to pay out!

Also warranty can be a big issue as well.

The other big issue here, if you see it as an issue, some don't, is the legal side.

By law you must fit to your vessle the approved radio's for your country, or in our case the EU.

Here in the UK failure to do this "can" result in a fine (£5k), confiscation of the radio and loss of your vessle, also 18 months sharing a 6x4 cell withe a big bloke called Dave who keeps winking at you! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Other countries have the same kind of rules.

Which Standard Horizon radio do you have?

Hope that helps a bit.
 
If your boat is US registered you can and should use a US VHF. If your boat is UK.EU then as said kit must be type approved for UK/EU.
But what the ....Channel 16 is still Channel 16
When you get to the Med you can always buy a handheld to comply with local channels if you think you need one.
 
Before you buy, find out how to programme it to suit the country of use. IE- get to the maintenance menu- they're all microprocessors nowadays. My furuno does anything I want it to...
 
Jon, both the US and the EU versions are DSC Class D. The Standard Horizon is an Intrepid with DSC and RAM mike, but not sure of the DSC classification. I am aware of the laws governing each country of registration, but this is a US registered boat and I have no intention of changing that. For this reason I suggested the EU Ray218E in the Med and retaining the Standard Horizon for the US, or just replacing the Standard Horizon with the US Ray218 and forgetting about the EU issue.
 
yeah this bugs me too. I authorize purchase of handheld VHF for use onboard the ship I work on here in Denmark, and we can request those programmed to whatever channels we want when purchased. Why can we not specify radios capable of both sets of classification channels, especially if we are only talking about a couple of channels here? Surely just a tech job.
 
My understanding is that you can SC-101 in US waters, once you leave them you must fit a Class D, either EU or US spec.
The unit you have is only SC-101 so it would seem you will need to change it.
Standard have some good Class D units that you may find a bit cheaper than the Raymarine product!

Cheers
 
Most radio's these days have all the US/Int/ Can channels in already and at the touch of a button you can change to the channel group you need at the time.

The issue comes with "private channels.
These normally require an extra licence fee and also are different for each country.
In the UK we have M1 and M2 as our "marina channles" other countries don't, these may have other uses in other countries.

In Holland they use channel 31a as their marina channel, here in the UK ch31a is the private channel used by the RNLI.

Whilst I am not saying the way it works now is right, its that way it is at the moment.
 
[quote The difference is in some - only some of the duplex frequency pairings, and even then I think only 4 or 5 of them, and not the commonest used anyway so the difference did not seem critical.


[/ QUOTE ]
It's not quite true that duplex channels are not common; Ch 80 is duplex so it's no use calling a Marina with the "American" channel.
 
Jon, thanks for the info on the Standard Horizon unit. It seems to be ok, but I really want to integrate everything to Raymarine, so I will probably just go with the US Ray218 with RAM mike and loudhailer for fog, etc.
Still keeping my ICOM M802 SSB though. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Just out of interest a member at my club complained to Ofcom that it was dangerous not to have channel 31 as he could not contact a Dutch marina in an emergency(it really happened) & he got permission to have ch 31 added to his radio.
 
Its only £60 difference and in the context of the costs of running a 45 footer in Europe, thats chicken feed. You'll get south of France marina bills that large for a nights stay. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Just out of interest a member at my club complained to Ofcom that it was dangerous not to have channel 31 as he could not contact a Dutch marina in an emergency(it really happened) & he got permission to have ch 31 added to his radio.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have heard of a few cases of this but you must have that permission.

Cheers
 
I agree with Kermdjon, according to my Apelco manual, 26 out of the 56 available channels,(including ch. 80 ) differ between US and UK frequencies. True, most of the frequently used ones are the same, but the differences are considerable.
 
But why does it matter?

[ QUOTE ]
I agree with Kermdjon, according to my Apelco manual, 26 out of the 56 available channels,(including ch. 80 ) differ between US and UK frequencies. True, most of the frequently used ones are the same, but the differences are considerable.

[/ QUOTE ]But why does it matter? VHF radios have US and International channel sets, and you just push a button to change from one to the other. If you're in Europe, you'd use the International channels; if you're in the US, you'd use the US channels. It isn't a problem.
 
Re: But why does it matter?

Quote:- does it matter?
Not really, I was just being pedantic, except that my Apelco always powered up in US mode. But do all US sourced radios have International channels?
 
Re: But why does it matter?

[ QUOTE ]
But do all US sourced radios have International channels?

[/ QUOTE ]All the ones I've seen have International channels.
 
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