Recommend me a hand held VHF

I Think I got a duff one, I have never heard anything other than "Frequency Mode" from it, I can hear things on my FT895 but the Baofeng is as deaf as a post even trying it through the same antenna as the FT895 it still hears nothing, which is the main reason it is sitting gathering dust, on 70cm my Alinco H/H I can hear and transmit ok but nothing from the baofeng.

The FT895 picks up the local ATC no problem and even to hearing Eindhoven airport which is about 20NM north of here.
 
Last time I measured the output of a Baofeng, it was horrid. Poor RF filtering and visible harmonics to about the 10th. Probably the reason they aren't type approved for Marine VHF.
 
I have an ICOM M31(?). Had it for many years (albeit very light use), always been very satisfactory, also feels and looks like a pukka bit of kit.

It came with
- a 12v charging holder/stand (I have a vague recollection it said don't leave radio in holder when fully charged, but I simply unplug the boat 12v cable to it once it's charged); and
- a spare battery tray for use with 6(?) AA dry cells (which I've never used, but thought was good to have in case its rechargeable battery somehow ended up discharged when the VHF was really needed).

The antenna on mine got broken when somebody put something heavy on top of it while it was lying loose in a bag of odds and ends for the trip homewards in the dinghy. I was recently chuffed to discover I could get a replacement antenna for what seemed a surprisingly reasonable price of about £22.

I've also used another, presumably cheaper, brand (forgotten name), which came with a boat and works well enough, but doesn't feel in the same league.
 
st599 said:
Last time I measured the output of a Baofeng, it was horrid. Poor RF filtering and visible harmonics to about the 10th. Probably the reason they aren't type approved for Marine VHF.
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It's not that. Or at least it's not just that. It's not type approved, it's programmable and would never pass the environmental EN 60945 stuff. So compliance is a nonstarter for many reasons long before considering the output. And it's not legal for PMR because it's slightly over power and has a removable Antenna.

An RF engineer colleague tested his and his had excellent harmonic suppression and very low spurious emissions. There are tests all over the Internet and it always seems pretty well regarded. A lot of enthusiasts seem to buy them.

I'd be really interested in seeing an online test on a spectrum analyser that showed a bad one. When I was considering buying mine I couldn't find one.
 
I have a SH 270X. I don't use it a lot as I sail small boats. But, it has very good battery life and came with the tray for AAA batteries. Submersible, but doubt it floats. Bought it on the US, so not technically legal, but the French do not seem fussed about HHs as they consider them safety kit.
 
DownWest said:
I have a SH 270X. I don't use it a lot as I sail small boats. But, it has very good battery life and came with the tray for AAA batteries. Submersible, but doubt it floats. Bought it on the US, so not technically legal, but the French do not seem fussed about HHs as they consider them safety kit.
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I have the 3 AAA battery tray for my SH and it only transmits on low power with the tray. I suspect its because I use rechargeables so the voltage is a bit low but it's very frustrating.
 
Mark-1 said:
I have the 3 AAA battery tray for my SH and it only transmits on low power with the tray. I suspect its because I use rechargeables so the voltage is a bit low but it's very frustrating.
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Since the built in batteries are so good, I have yet to try the AAA tray. But, it is 6 or so, not 3? Bought on a trip to the family patch on the Chesapeake from West Marine. Maybe 15 yrs or more ago..
 
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