dgadee
Well-known member
I didn't have one in an incident where I could have used it. What would a fixed vhf have cost me in the early 1980s?
And the licence?
And the licence?
I remember the large green enamel Sailor radios from those times. Pretty expensive and a fair percentage of annual salary (possibly 6%-7%).Can't do 1980s at moment, but in Nov 1978 Folkestone advertised Seavoices for £285 or Sailor for £485.+ 12.5 % vat.
For reference, in 1979 my salary (an entry-level professional academic salary) was £4500, and a 2-bed end-of-terrace house in a village near Cambridge cost £18000. So it's equivalent to a 4 figure sum today; probably at least 6 times as much.Can't do 1980s at moment, but in Nov 1978 Folkestone advertised Seavoices for £285 or Sailor for £485.+ 12.5 % vat.
+Vat?A Kelvin Hughes Husun 60 would have cost between £200-£230 in 1983. (I used to sell them)
I used to install Sailor and Simrad radios for Decca Radar back in the 1970sThose Sailor radios certainly seemed to be the Rolls Royces of VHF radios in the 70's!
And not just VHF radios have come down in price - I remember buying a Navstar 2000S satnav at Southampton Boat Show in 1988 for my folks (who were visiting me in high latitudes then). It was GBP 500 - I think this was including VAT, and we got a VAT claim form for my folks to hand in at Gatwick when they left, and I subsequently got a refund.
I bought a Transit satellite navigation system at the London Boat show in 1982 or 1983 (winter 82/83)! We needed one to fix positions on an ice cap with unprecedented accuracy. I can't recall which system it was, nor how much it cost - but definitely several hundred pounds, way beyond the budget of the average boater of the time. The one I got had an averaging function so that if it was in a fixed location it would average the fixed, resulting in a position with an accuracy of a few metres. Of course, this was bought on a business account, not out of my own pocket! For use in the Arctic we had to build it an insulated box with a suitable gel cell power supply. Even gel cells were a new thing then! But I got a trip to Earls Court on expenses!Those Sailor radios certainly seemed to be the Rolls Royces of VHF radios in the 70's!
And not just VHF radios have come down in price - I remember buying a Navstar 2000S satnav at Southampton Boat Show in 1988 for my folks (who were visiting me in high latitudes then). It was GBP 500 - I think this was including VAT, and we got a VAT claim form for my folks to hand in at Gatwick when they left, and I subsequently got a refund.
That fits my memory of fitting the excellent Husun to our then Sadler 29 in 1987 and I think it cost about £215. The Navico was a bit cheaper but had a very odd design with a rocker switch for changing channels. On the other hand, our Navstar Decca that I fitted at about the same time cost £425. A year or two later I fitted its remote readout that I bought for a heavily discounted £50 from Cruisermart in Southend.A Kelvin Hughes Husun 60 would have cost between £200-£230 in 1983. (I used to sell them)
Hmmm Belfast in the 80s... other countries during violent periods/terrorism years had specific laws with very stringent rules about any radio equipment, example ham radio was only allowed if fixed (mobile and portable prohibited), or if one was left with a flat fuel tank he had to push the car to the petrol station as selling fuel in jerricans was prohibited, etc etc.What was the licence fee? I remember someone in a uniform poking around my boat club outside Belfast, asking who had a vhf onboard. I told him there were judges and security staff who kept boats there and he would be better not asking.
Would it have been customs & excise?
ResistersI seem to remember a VHF radio called the Ocean Star, you could add different channels by taking it apart and placing transistors into peg holes, if my memory still works.
No, vhf was there in the 1980s and presumably the 1970s. A helicopter flew over Belfast 24/7 picking up radio signals etc.Hmmm Belfast in the 80s... other countries during violent periods/terrorism years had specific laws with very stringent rules about any radio equipment, example ham radio was only allowed if fixed (mobile and portable prohibited), or if one was left with a flat fuel tank he had to push the car to the petrol station as selling fuel in jerricans was prohibited, etc etc.