VHF radio replacement on my 38

[Refueler]

I decided that I would give the boat a treat. She has an old box Sailor VHF without DSC ... excellent quality radio - but obviously old school, It even has a telephone handset.

I have had very good results with a Cobra MR55 (needs reset as now after my fudgy fingers - MMSI is locked out) .... and a Cobra MR77 - installed in my SR25.

The 55 I have other uses for - so looked online at new VHF's and it again came down for me between a new Cobra 77 or the slightly cheaper Standard Horizon GX1400GPS unit.

I see so many posts on these forums pushing the SH units 1400 and 1800's - so I thought - OK ... lets see what the score is .... order placed ... few days later courier delivered.

Opened box and there it was ... ready to go in the boat ... then I noticed something that I have a distinct dislike of ..... permanent microphone cable to radio ...

People may rant against Cobra - but at least I can unplug the mic if it ever fails and just plug in a new one - which has a common plug !!

Now I know why the SH unit was cheaper ... I now just hope it lives up to the claims of some on these forums .....

 

[Tranona]

Why introduce another connection and point of failure? what is the probability of a mic failing?

 

[Refueler]

Why introduce another connection and point of failure? what is the probability of a mic failing?

I have had mic failures in past ..... with reputable brands ....

If I had realised mic was fixed - I would looked at different unit.

Question : If microphone via a plug is such a risk ... why would a brand such as Sailor - who have one of the best reputations in this arena risk a pluggable mic ?

 

[Fire99]

permanent microphone cable to radio ...

Good point. My Mobo had a modular 2 handset VHF with the hidden 'black box' Black box never failed and the handsets themselves were fine BUT the handset cables degraded (even the one at the lower helm - inside) and the outer sheath pealed away like an onion skin. And on that model there was no official way to replace the cables....(I ended up soldering new cables from an amateur radio supplier).
I have a new ICOM setup now (which is good in some ways but not the brilliant unit I'd hoped) but I'm glad that the hand mic is replaceable.
Yes extra connections etc do need to be considered but in all seriousness this one the benefits far outweigh the negatives to me..

That said I think the SH fixed radios are very decent..

 

[Tranona]

I have had mic failures in past ..... with reputable brands ....

If I had realised mic was fixed - I would looked at different unit.

Question : If microphone via a plug is such a risk ... why would a brand such as Sailor - who have one of the best reputations in this arena risk a pluggable mic ?

Well Sailor went out of business years ago!

I think you will find that the majority of VHFs have moulded in mic leads. Maybe they know something about potential failure points and seek to avoid them.

 

[Fire99]

I sense the built-in mic cable is a cheap way to waterproof the radios. I see a lot of them claim IPX7 waterproofing that allows the units to be fully submerged. Probably harder (and more expensive) to achieve with a removable cable.

 

[Refueler]

Well Sailor went out of business years ago!

I think you will find that the majority of VHFs have moulded in mic leads. Maybe they know something about potential failure points and seek to avoid them.

Sorry but even though Sailor name went of market ... there are still many who do have pluggable mic.

I accept this is a personal dislike of mine ... as I dislike BMW's ... that's my choice.

 

[Refueler]

I sense the built-in mic cable is a cheap way to waterproof the radios. I see a lot of them claim IPX7 waterproofing that allows the units to be fully submerged. Probably harder (and more expensive) to achieve with a removable cable.

IPX7 is actually a grossly misunderstood rating. Its assumed that immersion for max 30mins etc. is complete solution ... but if you check the rating - it is for still water and not water 'striking' the unit ...
It may sound a nit-pick - but it does mean situations that a unit can fail ...

 

[Fire99]

IPX7 is actually a grossly misunderstood rating. Its assumed that immersion for max 30mins etc. is complete solution ... but if you check the rating - it is for still water and not water 'striking' the unit ...
It may sound a nit-pick - but it does mean situations that a unit can fail ...

Interesting. But do you think that to even achieve that, it's cheaper to bond the mic cable into the unit so it's sealed? Note, this isn't my preferred way but it seems the likely way to achieve some degree of waterproofing without risk of people claiming water ingress through the connector etc etc.

 

[ylop]

IPX7 is actually a grossly misunderstood rating. Its assumed that immersion for max 30mins etc. is complete solution ... but if you check the rating - it is for still water and not water 'striking' the unit ...
It may sound a nit-pick - but it does mean situations that a unit can fail ...

That may be the case but it’s irrelevant. If ICOM make an IP67 radio, SH have to too and vice versa - otherwise the marketing will win, even for the yacht chart table market who probably done even need IP44! Given they “need” to be IP67 to compete the question becomes do we need a removable mike? No because for the average user that’s not a selling point - by the time the cable or mile fails they are comparatively cheap now and most people probably replace with a whole new unit. Well looked after below decks - I’d be surprised if you didn’t get at least 10 years out a good brand radio (20+ is quite realistic) even with a moulded in Mike.

 

[Refueler]

I take all in and that I am 'bucking' the trend here ... but as I say - its a personal thing after being at sea and playing about with yachts for more decades than I care to remember !
It was common to have pluggable mics ...

Given the number of items that have plugs out in the cockpit ... on deck etc. - is it that much a problem for this ...

 

[Refueler]

That may be the case but it’s irrelevant. If ICOM make an IP67 radio, SH have to too and vice versa - otherwise the marketing will win, even for the yacht chart table market who probably done even need IP44! Given they “need” to be IP67 to compete the question becomes do we need a removable mike? No because for the average user that’s not a selling point - by the time the cable or mile fails they are comparatively cheap now and most people probably replace with a whole new unit. Well looked after below decks - I’d be surprised if you didn’t get at least 10 years out a good brand radio (20+ is quite realistic) even with a moulded in Mike.

Agreed ... but still there are brands even in the budget range that do have pluggable mics.

 

[Daydream believer]

My Simrad mike cable has just disintegrated. It is removable. However, that seems pointless as there is no available alternative & Simrad stopped making spares some time ago.
I intend to get a SH 1850 on the basis of Paul Rainbow's recommendation on this forum. Plus it fits in the old Simrad hole with only a small adjustment.
As for plugable fist mike, one can always get the cockpit mike extension. I thought about that but have nowhere for it in the cockpit. But in desperation - if the other one failed I could put it next to the main radio . For £145 it would be cheaper than a complete new radio.

There is one other solution to the cable problem, which I have done as a temporary measure- it seems to be working so could be considered a bit more long term.
I had the covering suddenly come away whilst on holiday. I went to a DIY store & bought some rubber solution, intended for repairing wellington boots.
I held the cable vertically. Made sure that the exposed wires were separated. Then applied the solution (it is quite fluid) to the top & it ran down the wire, encompassing it on the way, with persuasion from a toothpick. After some hours, the rubber had formed a flexible seal around the wiring, holding it in place.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

The only thing that has ever failed on any of my fixed VHF radios is the plug and socket connector for the cockpit mic. Wasn’t properly and effectively weatherproof so over the space of a few years it degraded. Nor was it repairable. As a temp fix I swapped it with the mic from the saloon radio.

Latest boat the cockpit mic was wireless, lived in a charging cradle. All sorts of problems that could arise from that… but did not.

 

[BabaYaga]

Well Sailor went out of business years ago!

Fixed VHFs still available under the Cobham Thrane and Thrane brand. Pricey though.
Cobham Thrane and Thrane

 

[Dellquay13]

I decided that I would give the boat a treat. She has an old box Sailor VHF without DSC ... excellent quality radio - but obviously old school, It even has a telephone handset.

I have had very good results with a Cobra MR55 (needs reset as now after my fudgy fingers - MMSI is locked out) .... and a Cobra MR77 - installed in my SR25.

The 55 I have other uses for - so looked online at new VHF's and it again came down for me between a new Cobra 77 or the slightly cheaper Standard Horizon GX1400GPS unit.

I see so many posts on these forums pushing the SH units 1400 and 1800's - so I thought - OK ... lets see what the score is .... order placed ... few days later courier delivered.

Opened box and there it was ... ready to go in the boat ... then I noticed something that I have a distinct dislike of ..... permanent microphone cable to radio ...

People may rant against Cobra - but at least I can unplug the mic if it ever fails and just plug in a new one - which has a common plug !!

Now I know why the SH unit was cheaper ... I now just hope it lives up to the claims of some on these forums .....

I have a cobra mr55 on my motor boat (15 years) and a SH 1500 DSC (2 years bought 2nd hand from a VHF training school) on my yacht. I have had issues with the display disappearing and the mic intermittent on the Cobra. I also have a 2007 Cobra MC600i chart plotter which has had soldering and connector issues. Both are still working though after all these years.

The SH vhf has been faultless so far.
I was initially reticent to buy a vhf with a fixed mic cable, as I thought I might want to make an extension cable (about 1.5m) to use it in the cockpit as well as the adjacent saloon, but it has been long enough in itself for both uses on my little yacht.

The yacht came with an old Simrad rd64 which had a quickly disintegrating mic cable, I tried replacing the cable but was not entirely satisfied, so it was a good time to make the change to a cost effective DSC upgrade

 

[Fire99]

Fixed VHFs still available under the Cobham Thrane and Thrane brand. Pricey though.
Cobham Thrane and Thrane

Companies House entry looks a bit worrying for BlueSat I think..

 

[rogerthebodger]

I also have a simrad where the handset cable has disintegrated and i plan to replace the cable with some curly cable

Spiral cables

You can even make your own

how to make curley cable - Google Suche