very cheap handheld vhf from ebay - anyone tried?

[Norman_E]

As it comes from Hong Kong and is over the price limit at which VAT is charged on import, the final cost including VAt and the handling fee charged by the Post Office will be over £40. Not much of a bargain for a radio that is probably not even fit for purpose.

 

[prv]

As it comes from Hong Kong and is over the price limit at which VAT is charged on import, the final cost including VAt and the handling fee charged by the Post Office will be over £40. Not much of a bargain for a radio that is probably not even fit for purpose.

That's if they charge it. I've bought loads of stuff from China, some of which was over the limit, and never been charged.

Many Chinese eBay sellers lie on the customs form as a matter of course, but even those that don't seem to be rarely picked up.

Pete

 

[AndyJ76]

I have a couple of Wouxun handies (slightly better quality than the Baofeng). They can be programmed to do duplex easily (that is how ham repeaters work)
I have programmed in the common marine channels (for emergencies) using Chirp, although I also have a fixed vhf and two SH handies.

One of the nice things about the ham sets is that they can dual watch on frequencies that aren't 16 (say 80 and M1)

You can pick up the Baofeng handies for dirt cheap from UK sellers, and avoid all the import hassles. For ship to tender though, you might be better off looking at licence free PMR or CB handhelds (the CB ones will have better range for the same output power)

 

[l'escargot]

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)

Shouldn't really be using VHF for that, why not just buy yourself a couple of PMRs like these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Binatone-MR250-Personal-Mobile-Radios/dp/B00027YEDK

Lots to choose from if you search, designed for the job, just switch them on and use them with no messing about.

 

[VicMallows]

Shouldn't really be using VHF for that, why not just buy yourself a couple of PMRs like these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Binatone-MR250-Personal-Mobile-Radios/dp/B00027YEDK

If the range really was 2 miles they would be great. My experience though is that you are lucky if you can achieve 1/4 mile.

 

[alan_d]

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 !

I suspect the range you would get at sea level might be disappointingly short.

 

[l'escargot]

I suspect the range you would get at sea level might be disappointingly short.

Not unless the receiving aerial was at sea level too...

 

[Alpha22]

So you can preprogram the channels to match marine VHF channels.

What would the display show? Can that be customised? If it shows mhz then you have to remember that 156.800mhz is ch 16. Dat not good.

Channels can be setup to show frequency OR customised to suit.

But still illegal to use on marine frequencies.