bendyone
Well-known member
What the best budget set to buy?
VHF DSC Radio
- Thread starter bendyone
- Start date
Sans Bateau
Well-known member
None of the above. Raymarine 54e £175.00. But dont ditch your old set yet, see my post on Scutlebutt.
JonBrooks
New member
hey! what about the Icom M421 at its new low price?
Regards
Regards
gtmoore
New member
Icom
Yes - that's the one I liked the look of at LIBS
Yes - that's the one I liked the look of at LIBS
tome
New member
You've left a lot of popular ones out, eg Simrad RD68
gjgm
Active member
found nothing to fault on the navman, but havent tried the rest. Has anyone?
bendyone
Well-known member
I was looking at budget sets, Yours is £259.99 compared with the Cobra at £114.99 or XM at £129.95 Why is it better?
JonBrooks
New member
[ QUOTE ]
I was looking at budget sets, Yours is £259.99 compared with the Cobra at £114.99 or XM at £129.95 Why is it better?
[/ QUOTE ]
But you have the Navman and the Silva in the list.
Not alot diff in price now with thoses and both the M421 and the RD68.
I could go in to chapter and verse why it is but I think that would be wrong on here.
I am on here for help and advice not to hard sell but some points to thnik about.
Radio is our core business and has been for 40 years.
3 year warranty.
You able to get spare even for radio's 10+ years old.
Proven track.
Back up and service.
Company committed to the marine industry.
We don't just sell and forget.
I'll get off my soap box now /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Regards
I was looking at budget sets, Yours is £259.99 compared with the Cobra at £114.99 or XM at £129.95 Why is it better?
[/ QUOTE ]
But you have the Navman and the Silva in the list.
Not alot diff in price now with thoses and both the M421 and the RD68.
I could go in to chapter and verse why it is but I think that would be wrong on here.
I am on here for help and advice not to hard sell but some points to thnik about.
Radio is our core business and has been for 40 years.
3 year warranty.
You able to get spare even for radio's 10+ years old.
Proven track.
Back up and service.
Company committed to the marine industry.
We don't just sell and forget.
I'll get off my soap box now /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Regards
bendyone
Well-known member
Silva S10 at £189 and Navman at £175 both around a 1/3 less cost than the Icom.
JonBrooks
New member
This is very true.
You pay's your money as they say.
Maybe worth the extra 1/3 for peace of mind.
A number of budget sets are under review at the moment, by the various bodies, as they have been found not to meet spec.
Regards
You pay's your money as they say.
Maybe worth the extra 1/3 for peace of mind.
A number of budget sets are under review at the moment, by the various bodies, as they have been found not to meet spec.
Regards
StephenSails
Active member
Hi,
To be honest, I sell a lot of these radios and the ones that do not come back for repair or fault problems seem to be ICOM. I have had several of the cheaper makes come back to me recently but I can not remember the last time I had a faulty ICOM returned. This is just my opinion as one of the UK's mail order chandlers.
Cheers
stephen
To be honest, I sell a lot of these radios and the ones that do not come back for repair or fault problems seem to be ICOM. I have had several of the cheaper makes come back to me recently but I can not remember the last time I had a faulty ICOM returned. This is just my opinion as one of the UK's mail order chandlers.
Cheers
stephen
AIDY
Active member
Would agree the backup and services is A1.
Sent a 601 back for a software update. 3 day turn around from door to door. And free of charge.
Well Done Icom
Sent a 601 back for a software update. 3 day turn around from door to door. And free of charge.
Well Done Icom
Aeolus_IV
New member
Re: Icom
This is the one I've got, it is a good radio. I'm very happy with it.
Jeff.
This is the one I've got, it is a good radio. I'm very happy with it.
Jeff.
Sans Bateau
Well-known member
Hang on Hang on we have a dealer here and the voice of a manufacture, lets not upset Kim.
Having just gone through the buying process, you only have to look at the various sets to see and feel the difference in quality. The real 'budgets' sets (a few quid cheaper than the ICOM and the same price as the Raymarine) are CHEAP sets. Firstly look at the wiring coming out of the back, the sets at the bottom end of the market have very very 'down to a price' wiring, and thats the bit you can see! Next look at the heat sinks, the cheap sets have flimsy heat sinks formed out of compressed tin foil! No sorry the cheap sets are cheap, and you cannot expect a set at just over £100 to even be a serious contender. Raymarine and ICOM have been around for years, quality. There was only one thing that made me chose Raymarine over ICOM and that was the coily wire for the fist mike, on the ICOM model it was very stiff and heavy, very little give, the Raymarine cable was just as heavy but much more flexible, user friendly.
I have no interest in ICOM or Raymarine or any retailer
Having just gone through the buying process, you only have to look at the various sets to see and feel the difference in quality. The real 'budgets' sets (a few quid cheaper than the ICOM and the same price as the Raymarine) are CHEAP sets. Firstly look at the wiring coming out of the back, the sets at the bottom end of the market have very very 'down to a price' wiring, and thats the bit you can see! Next look at the heat sinks, the cheap sets have flimsy heat sinks formed out of compressed tin foil! No sorry the cheap sets are cheap, and you cannot expect a set at just over £100 to even be a serious contender. Raymarine and ICOM have been around for years, quality. There was only one thing that made me chose Raymarine over ICOM and that was the coily wire for the fist mike, on the ICOM model it was very stiff and heavy, very little give, the Raymarine cable was just as heavy but much more flexible, user friendly.
I have no interest in ICOM or Raymarine or any retailer
steve6367
Member
For what its worth I have been using the NASA set for 2 years with no problem. Cheap and works very well.
isandell
New member
Having just been looking at DSC I would go for Raymarine 54E in that price range. To my mind the best user interface by far.
Ian
Ian
Thistle
Well-known member
I don't have any useful input to the poll here so I won't vote. But, as a potential buyer, I am interested in the results.
Will you make the results available to us non-voters at some stage, please?
Thanks in anticipation!
Will you make the results available to us non-voters at some stage, please?
Thanks in anticipation!
Skysail
Well-known member
ICOM 421 for £209 at the Boat Show from the dealer on the ICOM stand, seemed easy to use and good quality (I agree with the comments on the heat sink). Simrad also looked OK but the display was v small for my eyesight. I was put off the Silva and Navman by other dealers' comments such as Stephensails above.
Now I am just concerned at being woken up at all hours when off watch!
Now I am just concerned at being woken up at all hours when off watch!
A
Anonymous
Guest
[ QUOTE ]
Now I am just concerned at being woken up at all hours when off watch!
[/ QUOTE ]That's the big issue and will result in many turning their sets off. Those who write the standards should re-visit the volume control issue urgently.
Now I am just concerned at being woken up at all hours when off watch!
[/ QUOTE ]That's the big issue and will result in many turning their sets off. Those who write the standards should re-visit the volume control issue urgently.
JonBrooks
New member
These points have been noted and feed back to both Ofcom and MCA.
Your feelings need to be feed back direclty too.
You should mail and write to MCA noting your concerns.
It seems a large number of these "false" alerts are being triggered by miss/incorrect use by the French ( in particular)
Unless this info is sent direct, by you the user, to MCA they can't do anything about it.
Although they are aware as both Mike Martin and I have mentioned it at various meetings.
I am not sure that they fully understand the extent of the problem.
You switching your sets off because of it is a major concern.
Make yourselves heard!
Sorry bit of topic
Regards
Your feelings need to be feed back direclty too.
You should mail and write to MCA noting your concerns.
It seems a large number of these "false" alerts are being triggered by miss/incorrect use by the French ( in particular)
Unless this info is sent direct, by you the user, to MCA they can't do anything about it.
Although they are aware as both Mike Martin and I have mentioned it at various meetings.
I am not sure that they fully understand the extent of the problem.
You switching your sets off because of it is a major concern.
Make yourselves heard!
Sorry bit of topic
Regards
