portable house radio for boat suitable for shipping forecast??

[lenten]

as title------hopefully tough-----not rechargable batteries----open boat but will be kept in front cuddy so pretty dry------suggestions appreciated

 

[LadyInBed]

Assume coastal inshore UK.
BBC app on your phone would do a job.

 

[LittleSister]

I have a small used one you can have cheap if you're interested - PM me.

(i.e. a portable radio with Long Wave)

 

[pvb]

Assume coastal inshore UK.
BBC app on your phone would do a job.

The BBC app requires a mobile phone signal.

 

[pvb]

There's a massive choice of LW portable radios. Boils down to budget and personal preference on design.

 

[lenten]

i am in that tiny minority -----never had a mobile phone

 

[pvb]

i am in that tiny minority -----never had a mobile phone

Astonishing! What on earth do you look at when you're walking about?

 

[davidej]

We used a Roberts with a clock and cassette player. We could set the record to come on at 0530 or whatever so we didn’t have to wake up that early .

You might find one on Fleabay.

 

[alahol2]

We've had one of these in the bathroom for donkey's years...

 

[Dellquay13]

I don't know what region you are in, but Milford Haven C G broadcast the local forecast every 3 or 4 hours on vhf, after an announcement on ch16

 

[doug748]

If you can do without the record feature these are good:

Roberts R871 15 Band SW/LW/AM/FM Travel Radio Alarm BBC World Service Portable | eBay

I have two, one at home and one on the boat, and whilst in no sense water resistant they have been very reliable. Full multi-band radio but the batteries last ages because they have manual tuning (which I prefer anyway). There is also an alarm.

They often come up for a few quid. Frequently "not working - for parts only". What people don't realise is that the radio will not function unless the clock is running and the control lock is off...................They put some batteries in the radio, not the separate clock battery and then assume it does not work.
Always worth a punt for a few pounds.

.

 

[LadyInBed]

The BBC app requires a mobile phone signal.

It's an open boat, I had assumed that (if he had had a smart phone) he wouldn't be very far off shore!

 

[Davy_S]

Astonishing! What on earth do you look at when you're walking about?

Probably where he is going! i wish more people would.

 

[VicS]

as title------hopefully tough-----not rechargable batteries----open boat but will be kept in front cuddy so pretty dry------suggestions appreciated

I would buy a Roberts Classic 993 MW, LW, FM portable radio for about £20



See:- Classic 993

 

[pvb]

It's an open boat, I had assumed that (if he had had a smart phone) he wouldn't be very far off shore!

We now know he doesn't have any sort of phone - smart or dumb.

 

[LittleSister]

Does no one now tell the weather from a bit of seaweed?

For the gadget freaks, there's also the stone hung from a bit of string to tell how strong the wind is.

 

[matt1]

We used a Roberts with a clock and cassette player. We could set the record to come on at 0530 or whatever so we didn’t have to wake up that early .

You might find one on Fleabay.

+ 1 for Roberts. Just bought their "993" on Amazon for under £20. Get's good reviews. Felt appropriate and nostalgic to buy a radio from a longstanding British company for listening to the shipping forecast ;-)

edit - I see the 993 already recommended

 

[Topcat47]

I've got a small Roberts portable radio with MW, LW, VHF and SW functions, cost about £10 fourteen years ago. Runs off two AA dry cells.

 

[KompetentKrew]

as title------hopefully tough-----not rechargable batteries----open boat but will be kept in front cuddy so pretty dry------suggestions appreciated

Presumably in an open boat you are close enough to shrive that FM radio will be available - the shipping forecast is on Radio 4, I guess? SSB and shortwave would seem to be unnecessary.

In which case, I will advocate for the Standard Horizon HX870E, a marine VHF handheld which also has DSC, GPS, an emergency alert button and FM radio.

 

[William_H]

I found this question by OP somewhat surprising. Perhaps because I come from a different location/country. (32S) but having an open boat one should be prepared with weather forecast before departure. So only if you will be at sea for a long time will forecast change or be of concern. Yes of course it is good seamanship to have a radio capable of picking up weather warnings. So this would then dictate what kind of radio you carry. Apparently LW by comments which is not used in Oz. In any case there must be lots of old transistor radios floating about which might serve the purpose.
However I would support those who have said far better to go for a VHF hand held or fixed 2 way radio if he is going to spend money. The improvement in safety is just so great. Plus hopefully he can get weather forecast on the VHF set. Plus go for an EPIRB or PLB and a hand held GPS. No point in being a ludite when electronics fro boats give so much more safety at such small cost. ol'will