Standard Horizon VHF - a tip to owners, and some praise.

[BlueSkyNick]

I have long been an advocate on here for Standard Horizon kit, especially the cockpit RAM which is the best £80 I spent on both the last boat and this one. However, mine suddenly stopped working back in the autumn. I took it into a local dealer who tested and found it to be fine. So it was either the main set or the cable, which had only been installed for about 9 months. One snag is you can't connect directly onto the back of the radio as the connectors are different.

Luckily I was able, today, to take the RAM and main set back to Yaesu (SH main UK agent) near Winchester today.

There is an on board fuse in the set which protects against transients from the RAM.
I was shown into the workshop (impressive) to look at the said fuse, expecting to see a small glass tube in a clip holder so I could change it myself if it happens again. It's actually a soldered on titchy thing, like a small capacitor - you need to know what you are doing to replace it.

I was in the habit of plugging in the RAM with the set powered up - the tip is : Don't do this !

Many thanks to Yaesu for fixing it in 15 mins with me just turning up out of the blue, treating me very kindly, and not charging anything.

(Usual caveats apply: No commercial interest, just a satisfied customer)

 

[boatmike]

Thanks for the tip. I have exactly the same set up so I will watch it!

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Likewise.... so will be taking care!

Impressive service though.... i've also found SH an absolute pleasure to deal with

 

[glynnffc]

Nice to hear of good service, but excuse my ignorance but what's a RAM.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Remote Access Microphone.

Standard Horizon's name for a cockpit mic as it does a great deal more. The key for me is the DSC emergency button which means you dont have to go down below, eg in case of fire.

Also you can set the volume on the main set to zero, eg if somebody is sleeping in the saloon, and use the RAM for all functions - except MMSI number entry, but who does that anyway.

 

[RAI]

Thanks for the tip, it bears to be cautious.

 

[Skyva_2]

Good work, Nick, I am glad I know that now! I have often plugged in the RAM when powered up.

 

[st599]

[ QUOTE ]
Luckily I was able, today, to take the RAM and main set back to Yaesu (SH main UK agent) near Winchester today. It's actually a soldered on titchy thing, like a small capacitor - you need to know what you are doing to replace it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yaesu and Standard Horizon are both part of Vertex Standard. yaesu do Ham gear, SH do Marine. Quite a lot of the parts are the same, so a battery pack for a Yaesu VX-150 is the same as teh SH HX-270e (but 1/3rd the price from Ebay).

You're lucky the fuse wasn't a track on the board.