Recommendations for new fixed radio

[PaulGS]

I'm going to be treating myself to a replacement fixed radio. It's not going to 'interface' with a lot of other electronics and I don't need AIS - so can people make any recommendations at that £200 - £250 price point? Even prior to the first few contributions I was set on Icon or SH for brand - but what features do users appreciate now having?

 

[Boathook]

Icom or standard horizon seem to be the recommended units here. I'm slightly biased to icom ..... and nothing to do with them but a happy user.

 

[Momac]

I have a fixed icom and an icom handheld . Simple an robust stuff
At your budget how about this?

 

[oldgit]

..................unless poverty has the upper hand ICOM all the way down.
As an ex Icom dealer have to say their after sales service during our 40 odd years of selling/installing/ repairing in/out of warranty marine and other VHF equipment, was exemplary.
Lost count of the number of times other makes of equipment was bought in and the unfortunate owner was basically told no chance of getting that repaired but the importer might offer you some sort of fixed price swap on a refurb.
As for the cheapo nasty not worth repairing stuff...you pays your money etc etc.

 

[Frank Holden]

Standard Horizon is a Yaesu product. Good kit.
I have ICOM HFs both on the boat and ashore but have SH fixed VHF ( non DSC) and handheld VHF( DSC) . The handheld lives in the grab bag at sea.
Homepage - Standard Horizon

 

[sailingmartin]

If you budget can stretch I can recommend having a second remote microphone in the cockpit, depending on the size of your boat of course. That’s the place I use mine the most and you can see where you are going while calling the marina.

 

[jac]

If you're not interfacing then many of the "high end" features are probably redundant. The basic ones are probably standard across all makes and models now.

For me the key factor is the ability to monitor and use from the cockpit. As a minimum that means the capability to mount an external speaker but ideally a proper external command mic. Even if budget doesn't stretch just yet, make sure that the radio can take either of those and add the missing component when funds allow.

 

[dgadee]

I have Standard Horizon. Internal GPS is very useful to link to Raspberry pi with OpenCPN. Happy with what I have.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

I would recommend the Standard Horizon GX1850GPS, cost £257 incl VAT from Cactus with remote command mic back in 2018.

Bought to replace ICOM that did not have internal GPS (fault with old plotter meant that date and time was wrong). ICOM was good but I needed DSC feature.

Having the built in GPS antenna is great feature providing redundancy.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I hope it’s not too rude to piggy back here. I too am in the market for a fixed VHF. Though I am willing to be persuaded on AIS. I’d ideally like to use a pole mounted aerial, rather than masthead, unless, again, anyone can persuade me otherwise. If I don’t go AIS, then I would be going for one of the sets already recommended. A remote mic is a good idea, and given the location of the set in our boat, I might not need a speaker. Though I have a Fusion radio/media player and speakers in the cockpit, maybe I can use that when it’s mission critical to listen.

 

[PaulGS]

"Raspberry pi with OpenCPN"

Whazzat!?

 

[dgadee]

Whazzat!?

Cheap navigation.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Daughter has Icom and we have Standard Horizon (with a command mic in the cockpit.) Both are fine. Neither has AIS. Adding the command mic would exceed your budget perhaps but it’ll work without it.

 

[wonkywinch]

Another vote for Icom. Been using their gear since the early 1970s. You don't need a manual for day to day use unlike a lot of other brands where even the volume/squelch needs menu delving.

 

[Boathook]

I hope it’s not too rude to piggy back here. I too am in the market for a fixed VHF. Though I am willing to be persuaded on AIS. I’d ideally like to use a pole mounted aerial, rather than masthead, unless, again, anyone can persuade me otherwise. If I don’t go AIS, then I would be going for one of the sets already recommended. A remote mic is a good idea, and given the location of the set in our boat, I might not need a speaker. Though I have a Fusion radio/media player and speakers in the cockpit, maybe I can use that when it’s mission critical to listen.

My main icom unit in the cabin has a command mic by the helm that has a speaker etc built in. Sound quality is most acceptable for such a small unit.

Edit.
Main unit is ic-m423 and command mic hm-195. Command mic was just plug in and use.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

My main icom unit in the cabin has a command mic by the helm that has a speaker etc built in. Sound quality is most acceptable for such a small unit.

Edit.
Main unit is ic-m423 and command mic hm-195. Command mic was just plug in and use.

I presume the mic ison a stretch coil cable. If I had 2 mounting clips, that woukd be job done. None of them seem to have audio out, just a speaker level cable. There are ways round that of course, but I rather dislike having any more connections on board than are strictly necessary.

 

[Boathook]

I presume the mic ison a stretch coil cable. If I had 2 mounting clips, that woukd be job done. None of them seem to have audio out, just a speaker level cable. There are ways round that of course, but I rather dislike having any more connections on board than are strictly necessary.

The mic is on a coil cable but has its own socket by the helm. This is connected to the main unit by an 'extension lead' to the main radio. The main unit also has its own mic.
The command mic has its own speaker and has the same controls as the main unit.

 

[dgadee]

I took a cockpit extension out. Wind noise made it pretty useless. I rely on a handheld when contacting a harbour.

 

[harvey38]

+1 for Standard Horizon, I have an 1850E with RAM mike. Great audio quality, easy to use, a sensible menu layout and a reasonable price.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I took a cockpit extension out. Wind noise made it pretty useless. I rely on a handheld when contacting a harbour.

It’s all quiet under our sprayhood. Trying to make a radio call from the helmsmans seat whilst going upwind would be a joke. Hats are worn with great difficulty if the true wind has made it to double figures.