Recommend me a hand held VHF

[Buck Turgidson]

It would appear that my handheld VHF has gone for a swim or a walk anyway I can’t find it so I need a new one and it’s 2026. I don’t even remember what make the old one was but it worked fine and the battery seemed to last forever. I don’t need anything fancy just a reliable VHF with a good battery life. I don’t want one that I need to license. Just a basic radio.

 

[Roberto]

I think you have to register any marine vhf on a licence, maybe Ship portable licence is enough if you do not have other equipment, it's free and it takes a couple of minutes.
If you keep it always on and want maximum duration between charges choose a non-DSC model, the DSC has gps which can use quite some battery power, you might need to charge it at the end of each day. If you switch it on only occasionally, the DSC has its merits, I keep the DSC always on my lifejacket, switched off, it is my primary means of distress calling while in these busy coastal waters, should I fall overboard. Radio watch is with the fixed set, always on.
Icom or Standard Horizon you can't be wrong, ''floating'' models are bulkier with regards to other models.

 

[ylop]

It would appear that my handheld VHF has gone for a swim or a walk anyway I can’t find it so I need a new one and it’s 2026. I don’t even remember what make the old one was but it worked fine and the battery seemed to last forever. I don’t need anything fancy just a reliable VHF with a good battery life. I don’t want one that I need to license. Just a basic radio.

what are you using it for? The battery life will be different seitting turned off (some still drain tha battery slowly), listening quietly, listening and updating its position in GPS, or actively transmitting.

If its used regularly where it gets wet then Icom and Standard Horizon have a good reputation for waterproofing whilst cheaper brands may not (but if it spends its life in the cabin or a grab bag that might not matter). If this one might have been lost overboard - do you want its replacement to float? If it’s carried in a pocket in your dinghy does size matter? Do you need to be able to charge it from USB? Or have a cigarette lighter charger included in the cost? Do you just use it on one channel (eg for race stuff) with the option of Ch16 in a crisis or are you regularly calling differnt marinas, ships, NCI etc where the the ease of channel selection matters. If battery life is critical - do you want one which can take AA/AAAs in a crisis (not sure if any still do - but it used to be a selling point for me)?

 

[Phil_boat]

I bought a Standard Horizon as an emergency / back up, so it never gets used. If I was using it regularly I think I’d get an iCom for no other reason that they are just a bit nicer to hold / feel a bit more premium and better made.

 

[TSB240]

Ops spec
Emergency use only?
No licence required.

What range do you expect with 5 Watts a few inches above water.
You could probably talk to rescue helicopter overhead or another boat a mile off.

Baofeng UV5-r

£16 lowest offer found today.


Ducking for cover as incoming expected!

 

[Roberto]

What range do you expect with 5 Watts a few inches above water.
You could probably talk to rescue helicopter overhead or another boat a mile off.

Sometimes it can be enough

 

[Babylon]

I've had for 13 years (replaced the battery four years ago) the older version of the Entel HT644 which is physically very robust and IP68 waterproof.

Why would anyone want the complexity and nuisance of alarms etc on a DSC handheld which is frankly only ever used for regular short distance comms with harbours, marinas, clubs, water-taxis etc?

 

[Skylark]

Ops spec
Emergency use only?
No licence required.

What range do you expect with 5 Watts a few inches above water.
You could probably talk to rescue helicopter overhead or another boat a mile off.

Baofeng UV5-r

£16 lowest offer found today.


Ducking for cover as incoming expected!

Good choice. I have one that I carry as a spare/back-up, given that I sail on a number of different boats. I also have an amateur radio license and the Boafeng works on both 2m and 70cm bands, too. Easily programmed using CHIRP, free, open source tool.

 

[Ammonite]

I bought a Standard Horizon HX891 a couple of years ago. I am either the unluckiest person alive or they have some serious quality issues. The first, second and third all fogged up in sunlight so you couldn't read the screen. In the end I paid the extra and went with the equivalent Icom. No issues with this, although in hindsight I wish I'd stuck with simpler model rather than one with AIS. There's so much functionality that you have to get the manual out every time you want to change something.

 

[ylop]

Ops spec
Emergency use only?
No licence required.

The radio itself still technically needs to be licensed as per Roberto's post.

What range do you expect with 5 Watts a few inches above water.
You could probably talk to rescue helicopter overhead or another boat a mile off.

If the boat is a dinghy with another handheld (1m above water) you'd expect to have a range of about 2 NM.
If the boat is a motor boat with its antennae 4m above sea you'd double that (4NM).
It the boat is a yacht with its antennae 16m above sea you'd roughly double it again (8NM)!
If the boat is a large ship or the coastguard with a large mast ashore you could easily double it again or more (16+NM).

Baofeng UV5-r

Which is not waterproof, requires a little bit of knowledge to use and probably is not suitable for most leisure sailors looking for a ready made tool (ignoring any legality questions).

 

[Babylon]

There's so much functionality that you have to get the manual out every time you want to change something.

That's very much the point I made above. Why we're all led by the nose to buy things with 'features' that we simply don't need is beyond me!

My elderly neighbours recently bought an entry-level dehumidifier for their spare room, couldn't figure out how it worked with all the totally unnecessary features (timer settings, altering humidity levels, different alarm tones for God's sake!), took me half an hour to work it out for them (and keep them calm)... all a dehumidifier needs to do is operate until the tank is full then shut up!

 

[ylop]

Why would anyone want the complexity and nuisance of alarms etc on a DSC handheld which is frankly only ever used for regular short distance comms with harbours, marinas, clubs, water-taxis etc?

Well that's why the OP needs to tell us more about his intended use. IF he is relying on it as his primary method of distress calling, or if nobody (competent) is left aboard after he falls overboard he might feel that DSC is a useful feature whilst bobbing around in the sea. If he has a fixed DSC on board and someone there to push the red button he might prefer the simplicity and battery life of a non-dsc handheld.

Actually, I see he lists his location as Zurich (so the licensing info may be wrong), but if he's not in the solent then perhaps the alarms are not frequent enough to be a nuisance.

 

[ylop]

That's very much the point I made above. Why we're all led by the nose to buy things with 'features' that we simply don't need is beyond me!

My elderly neighbours recently bought an entry-level dehumidifier for their spare room, couldn't figure out how it worked with all the totally unnecessary features (timer settings, altering humidity levels, different alarm tones for God's sake!), took me half an hour to work it out for them (and keep them calm)... all a dehumidifier needs to do is operate until the tank is full then shut up!

Well unless you want it to only work at certain times of the day (say when you are not trying to sleep, or when your electricity is cheapest) or only run until its reached a useful level of dryness, or to "tell you" its tank is full and needs emptied etc... there is a case for simplicity but if everyone needed or prioritised simplicty there wouldn't be a market for the other products. Just because you want basic doesn't mean basic is best for everyone.

 

[wonkywinch]

If the boat is a dinghy with another handheld (1m above water) you'd expect to have a range of about 2 NM.
If the boat is a motor boat with its antennae 4m above sea you'd double that (4NM).
It the boat is a yacht with its antennae 16m above sea you'd roughly double it again (8NM)!
If the boat is a large ship or the coastguard with a large mast ashore you could easily double it again or more (16+NM).

The rule of thumb formula for line of sight (VHF propagation) is :

1.25 times the square root of antenna height in feet = nm range. Eg, an antenna 9 feet above sea level will have a range of 1.25 x 3 = c 4nm.

Range of comms between two devices, the ranges are added (over the horizon effect), so even if you were bobbing around at sea level with a range of tuppence, a large vessel with an antenna height of 30 metres (100 feet) can still communicate with you 12 miles away.

In an aeroplane at 40,000, the VHF had a range of 250 nm (distance to horizon).

 

[Momac]

I have had no issues with my Icom handheld since I bought it in 2014. it is their most basic handheld radio . They changed it cosmetically since I bought mine.
With regular use it needed charging about twice a year . But I use it less often now so I charge it annually.
IC-M25 EVO : Handheld Marine VHF Radio - Icom UK

Be aware there are some Chinese counterfeit copies

 

[Roberto]

FWIW, with the portable at almost water level on my small inflatable dinghy I can exchange dsc position queries/reports with my main boat at -at least- 3-4 miles distance, quite possibly more but never actually tried.

 

[Linksfahrer]

I have had no issues with my Icom handheld since I bought it in 2014. it is their most basic handheld radio . They changed it cosmetically since I bought mine.
With regular use it needed charging about twice a year . But I use it less often now so I charge it annually.
IC-M25 EVO : Handheld Marine VHF Radio - Icom UK

Be aware there are some Chinese counterfeit copies

Very happy with my Icom, clipping on on my life jacket, battery life is good for standby listening and for calling the HM for berthing is fine. I also bought a 510 with AIS and the optional remote mic , but killing the constant collision alarms make it unusable in Plymouth sound. So I now turn off my big set at the breakwater and use the handheld.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

OP here.
My primary radio is fixed. The hand held is for backup and convenience when entering a marina. No DSC required or AIS I have that on my primary. Waterproof rechargeable and quality feel is all I need.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Well that's why the OP needs to tell us more about his intended use. IF he is relying on it as his primary method of distress calling, or if nobody (competent) is left aboard after he falls overboard he might feel that DSC is a useful feature whilst bobbing around in the sea. If he has a fixed DSC on board and someone there to push the red button he might prefer the simplicity and battery life of a non-dsc handheld.

Actually, I see he lists his location as Zurich (so the licensing info may be wrong), but if he's not in the solent then perhaps the alarms are not frequent enough to be a nuisance.

My boat is uk part one and I’m all offcommed up. If o get dsc I will need a ship portable license which I neither want or need and outside of the uk it’s a mess anyway. My boat lives in Spain and I am indeed resident in Switzerland but I’m a UK citizen hence part 1 and ofcom

 

[Purple Velvet]

"Baofeng".

Which is not waterproof, requires a little bit of knowledge to use and probably is not suitable for most leisure sailors looking for a ready made tool (ignoring any legality questions).

Add to that the dire performance with respect to sproggies, microphone gain and complexity of use, before we get to the legalities as mentioned above. I have one on the shelf and even for my Amateur radio activities, it doesn't get a look in.

DE G6FGO