very cheap handheld vhf from ebay - anyone tried?

chal

chal

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The cheapest I can see is this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Radio-Dua...io_Receivers_Transceivers&hash=item51adeb5acf

I only want something extremely basic for very occasional use. I've never heard of this but I imagine the internals probably come from the same factory in China as those in more expensive products with better-known branding. I don't know much about radios so no idea if there are region issues or whatever.

I know there is a bit of a risk with stuff coming from far east of ending up with a hefty VAT bill with a very annoying charge for collecting the VAT on top of that, but if lucky under £24 for a new radio is hard to beat.

Anyone have any experience of this or similar?
 
It's useless for boat use. Many VHF channels used for boating are duplex, so you need a radio which works in duplex mode.
 
Just FYI, I bought a knock-off Kenwood radio from eBay a few years ago for paragliding. Did seem a bit too cheap in retrospect. It did work, just, but most of the features were inaccessible, with many of the keys not doing anything at all. I was quite surprised as the whole package was very convincing- die cast body, full manual, etc.
 
robspop said:
The cheapest I can see is this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Radio-Dua...io_Receivers_Transceivers&hash=item51adeb5acf
Click to expand...

That's a general purpose radio, not a marine one, kind of like a scanner that also transmits. It covers the marine band, but won't have the channels programmed in although you could perhaps store a few commonly-used ones in memory if it has that facility.

Could be interesting to have on board, as it will pick up Ch0 and the "other side" of Ch80 etc, but not really what you want as a main radio.

Pete
 
robspop said:
The cheapest I can see is this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Radio-Dua...io_Receivers_Transceivers&hash=item51adeb5acf

I only want something extremely basic for very occasional use. I've never heard of this but I imagine the internals probably come from the same factory in China as those in more expensive products with better-known branding. I don't know much about radios so no idea if there are region issues or whatever.

I know there is a bit of a risk with stuff coming from far east of ending up with a hefty VAT bill with a very annoying charge for collecting the VAT on top of that, but if lucky under £24 for a new radio is hard to beat.

Anyone have any experience of this or similar?
Click to expand...
It's a ham radio,you can't use it. The very cheapest type worth getting would be a Midland,they work fine with the UK channels but are not waterproof. Probly about £50 from memory.Buy from a known source not the cheapest on fleabay,I appreciate your cynicism but they are NOT all the same inside. Just feed the piggy bank for another week or two,or you will waste your money. Cheers Jerry
 
I know it often is tempting to buy something so cheap but a good _floating_ handheld with DSC and integrated GPS is quite a good safety device if you wear it on your lifejacket. Just press red button when you're overboard..

Basically EPIRB with communication function !
 
jerrytug said:
It's a ham radio,you can't use it.
Click to expand...

Well, you could. It covers the marine VHF band and has 25KHz channel spacing, so provided you have a list of frequencies to hand it will do the job. Agree it's not what the OP needs though.

jerrytug said:
The very cheapest type worth getting would be a Midland,they work fine with the UK channels but are not waterproof. Probly about £50 from memory.Buy from a known source not the cheapest on fleabay
Click to expand...

Yep, I have a Midland handheld as a backup, and confirm it works fine. Takes AA batteries too, which is handy for something that's rarely used (partly why I chose it, as well as the price). It's not waterproof, but comes with a bag/cover which makes it proof at least against heavy spray (possibly not immersion; the bag closure wasn't terribly convincing). Cost me about fifty quid as Jerry says. I would politely disagree with him on sourcing - if it's the same item then it doesn't matter where you get it from, so go for wherever's cheapest. Midland is not exactly a prestigious brand worth counterfeiting!

Pete
 
prv said:
Well, you could. It covers the marine VHF band and has 25KHz channel spacing, so provided you have a list of frequencies to hand it will do the job. Agree it's not what the OP needs though.
Click to expand...

I don't think it would be practical, as on duplex channels you'd have to keep changing frequency.
 
Although not approved for use as a marine VHF. That radio (I own one!!) can be programmed to work EXACTLY the same as a marine VHF. Duplex and all.

The radio is programmed using a USB lead and any frequency (within the radio's range) can be set up in a spreadsheet like piece of free software. This is then dumped into the radio.

I use one for amateur radio and the same radio can be reprogrammed in seconds to use on a Business Radio Light licence for work.

That radio is aimed at the amateur market, but can be used in other situations. Licence permitting.

It would be an offence to use one as a Marine VHF. The licence does not cover it. It would also be dangerous as they are not very robust and would live a short life onboard.
 
Alpha22 said:
Although not approved for use as a marine VHF. That radio (I own one!!) can be programmed to work EXACTLY the same as a marine VHF. Duplex and all.

The radio is programmed using a USB lead and any frequency (within the radio's range) can be set up in a spreadsheet like piece of free software. This is then dumped into the radio.
Click to expand...

Aha! Interesting.
 
When I bought my S-H off West Marine, they noted that they did not consider most handhelds that said 'waterproof' could not be relied on to be so, and recommended a waterproof pouch. 'Cors, they also sell the pouchs, but most of their advice is reasonable.
 
I have a Baofeng which is used for amateur (ham) radio. Most of the advertised functions worked on arrival and some didn't. Had I paid for a decent transceiver it would have been a big disappointment but like the unit the OP is considering, it was dirt cheap from e-bay. So it was o.k.

But I wouldn't consider buying this sort of poorly Q.C.d toy for a safety related application - like on a boat.
 
Moxon said:
But I wouldn't consider buying this sort of poorly Q.C.d toy for a safety related application - like on a boat.
Click to expand...

Fair point but I have a fixed vhf on the boat, it was only for occasional "ship to shore" (ie with swmbo when in dinghy and there's no mobile signal, not really life-at-risk stuff)
 
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