USA Handheld VHF

[AnneW]

Reading some of the posts earlier today. My Brother visits the States regularly and bought me back the West Marine catalogue. The hand held VHF's are considerably cheaper than over here and I was thinking of getting one. Its probably a dumb question but will a handheld VHF from America operate normally over here, eg are marine frequencies the same? Also if anyone has bought one from USA any recommendations.

 

[DavidTocher]

I bought a Hummingbird VHF hand held for $80 including a waterproof bag from West Marine! It can be used on US channels or international channels. Its got all the usual bells and whistles. The only thing missing is the M series of channels. It uses alkaline cells which for emergency use are IMHO better than rechargables. It doesn't have a CE mark which may cause you sleepless nights.

David

 

[AnneW]

Is the transmission and reception ok? If I can get an emergency hand held that works well for fifty quid I don't need a CE mark!!

 

[MapisM]

No reason at all why RX/TX shouldn't work well.
You just can't pretend, if you a) incur in a control and b) the VHF is mandatory for your type of boat and c) your boat has an EC flag, that it is your main station.
But most often, regulations do not allow HH to be the main station in any case.

 

[ccscott49]

Stuff the regulations, does it work? Yes it does! thats enough regulation for me! American made stuff is just as good if not better than stuff made here or Japan, with or without CE markings, it's just another way of getting money out of people and regulating everything, Brussels rules OK! Never liked brussels sprouts either!!

 

[Peter_the_Grate]

I agree absolutely. I have a West Marine VHF and it even manages to receive and transmit in French. Tres vesatile.

 

[ccscott49]

Mine only recieves in french, yours must be the de-luxe model!!

 

[philip_stevens]

They must have left the French transmission translation/decoder out of yours ;-)

But seriously, the only thing different is, as you say, the CE mark - or as the Aussies term it, "Chinese Exports".

I have a Standard handheld bought in Aussie that doesn't have M channels - so what? I programmed them in with the facility the set had.

regards,
Philip

 

[MapisM]

Just to clarify...

...that in my previous post on this thread I was just pointing out what the "bureaucratic" problems might be. Personally, I also think that those reasons are not good enough to waste money just for a label.
On the other hand, it's fair to give a complete overview of pros & cons to anyone who is making up his/her mind on these topics.

 

[Guest]

Re: USA Handheld VHF(seriously, though...)

I had a WestMarine fixed VHF, only problem I could see was that in USA they use Ch 67 for something other than Coastguard, and the Tx power automatically altered to 1 watt when 67 was selected, bit of a bummer when you hit that container...
Nick

 

[Guest]

Re: USA Handheld VHF(seriously, though...)(more!)

On reflection, the VHF with the 1watt Ch 67 was made by Apelco, bought from WestMarine in USA.
Nick

 

[Plum]

Re: USA Handheld VHF - problems with USA channels

As already mentioned by a previous contributor, on the USA set of channels, channel 67 defaults to 1W of power. As this will seriously reduce your range, I recommend you ensure you get a model that is switchable between USA and rest-of-world channel sets. Howerver, if you only want it for Channel 16, then any one will do.

 

[Guest]

law-abiding citizens.

Points in favour -- they are cheaper, but not always by that much specially if you factor in sales tax if you buy it while trvelling in the USA as most states have a sales tax, secondly, in theory you have to pay VAT on it, but then if you declare it so as to pay VAT you won't be allowed to bring it in anyway because it is not CE marked and not approved so cannot be imported legally.

Points against - it won't have M1 and M2,
It won't have a mains charger that works over here, but of course you only use it on the boat and you can charge it from 12volts. If you buy a mains charger for over here it will usually cost a fortune. You also usually have to pay extra for a 12volt cable.

When I looked today there were 10 postings and the illegality of imported sets was hardly mentioned. If you all want the import and use regulations changed write to your MP, but don't complain when the forces of darkness start making life more difficult for all of us because yachties want their toys on the cheap and believe that smuggling is fine for yachties, but not for gun-runners and drug dealers.

PS I have a Hummingbird handheld, it works fine, but I keep it in the USA and use it there.