Which VHF/DSC?

Robert Wilson

Robert Wilson

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I'm going to upgrade my VHF and navigation equipment prior to attempting a s/h circumnavigation of Britain this Spring (anticlockwise).
As a first attempt I want to be well equipped.

I am going for an AIS transponder (possibly a Camino108) and a handheld VHF (possibly an ICOM IC-M91DSC).
I shall be taking my ASUS tablet and/or my Toshiba laptop for plotting and also YBW :encouragement: communications.

Looking at various brochures I am bewildered by the various VHF manufacturers' blurb.

Main VHF contenders:-

Standard Horizon GX1700E
Standard Horizon GX2100E
Radio Ocean RO4800, with wireless handset
ICOM IC-M423, (with HM-195 command mic)

Some of the above overlap facilities with the Camino and the ICOM command mic.

Any recommendations, warnings, thoughts on the best/better options?
It's not a case of "money no object" and I'll possibly be selling-off some bits after my trip. However, I would like to keep the overall costs :nightmare: to a reasonable level

As usual, many thanks in anticipation of wise-ones advice.

Robert
 
I like the Standard Horizon kit. But am I right in thinking that the 2100 is the AIS receiver model? Seems superfluous if you're already carrying a transceiver. So my vote would be for the lesser model, assuming it can still take a remote mic which I rate as quite important, rising to very important for the single-hander.

Pete
 
That's correct, the 2100 has the AIS receiver included, but no command mic. So assuming I get a sensibly priced AIS transponder system I agree it would be superfluous.

As well as a good handheld VHF/DSC/GPS I would still go for a command mic, especially if the remote handset had the screen included so that I wouldn't need to leave the cockpit to operate the VHF etc. The blurb shows the ICOM command mic as having that screen :)
 
I have a Standard Horizon VHF/DSC ( I think it might be the 1500 model?) with command mic. Originally with the supplied fist mike, I added the command mike in the cockpit as I sail short handed all the time. Great bit of kit but there again I have no experience of the others. I was so impressed with it that when I bought a new plotter, that was also SH and so was very easy to link together. Previously the SH VHF was linked to a Navman plotter without problems, just took a bit more thought as to which wires to connect.
 
I replaced my radio last winter with a Standard Horizon GX1700E.

It had a GPS fix in under a min, faster than my Garmin handheld GPS when it arrive from the factory.

I will recommend one of SaltyJohns Metz Antenna.
 
You won't go far wrong by choosing Standard Horizon. Both the GX1700E and the GX2100E can be used with the CMP30 command mic. As already mentioned, if you get an AIS transceiver you won't really need the features of the GX2100E. Equally, the GX1700E has a built-in GPS which you won't really need either, so you could save £50 and buy the GX1600E instead (which also works with the CMP30 command mic).

The CMP30 has a screen and full remote functionality. It's waterproof too!

cmp30bweb.jpg
 
Couple of thoughts. I have an M603 (with commandmic III remote) and a separate AIS transceiver. I bought the M603 because it has buttons so it's easy to punch in an MMSI. If buying again I'd not be so fussed about buttons but get one with *some kind* of AIS connectivity so that I could select targets from a list. The command mic is handy (use the basic functionality all the time) but difficult to remember all the button combinations it overloads the handset with (and I'm more technically competent than many). Would I fancy trying to remember how to use it to input an mmsi in a stressful situation? no. And as for putting in MMSIs into the fixed set below...my plotter screen which displays them is outside so I'd have to remember a target when ducking below. Fortunately I've only ever used the DSC for calling up the coastguard and I've manually programmed their MMSIs. So..
* I would definitely get something which can use AIS info to select an MMSI from a list of targets. This would greatly simplify calling up a crossing vessel using a remote mic in the cockpit (arguments about VHF-assisted collision notwithstanding)
* Whether that AIS was integrated or could be picked up from the network (as, I believe, with the GX2000E) would largely depend on research into the extra power the AIS chipset consumes. I suspect I'd prefer the latter unless the additional power required was trivial as most of the time my AIS is off. An integrated unit does, of course, save the hassle, performance loss and cost of splitters etc. but if I was set on getting an external unit anyway I'd get a VHF which could use that external AIS.

Edit: I'd also add that I've had very positive experience with ICOM UK's customer service as have many others. But Standard Horizon also seem to have an excellent reputation in that department from threads I've read on here.
 
Robert Wilson said:
That's correct, the 2100 has the AIS receiver included, but no command mic.
Click to expand...

I've been very impressed with the SH Gx2100E. On two separate occasions I've picked up Holyhead Coastguard and Stornoway Coastguard within minutes of each other. And both clearly readable.

The command mic can be fitted to the 2100.

There is also apparently a 2200 on the market now that has a built-in GPS.

If you go for the AIS transciever, as others have said, you can get just a basic VHF and save some money. However, I really doubt the benefit of a class B AIS transciever in coastal waters. Too many yachtsmen with AIS just results in numerous false alarms. So there is an argument for forgetting the transciever and just getting a radio with a built in AIS receiver.
 
i had a gx2200 standard horizon for christmas. it seems very good. i managed a radio check (i know!) from much further than i would normally and the speaker is really clear. i like the little ais display. how useful that is i dont know but it can be interfaced to the plotter. seems a well amde bit of kit
 
Robert Wilson said:
That's correct, the 2100 has the AIS receiver included, but no command mic.
Click to expand...

Nope! It uses the standard SH command mic common to all their recent radios. I have it next to the wheel. I don't often use it to make calls, but it's very useful for controlling the radio without having to keep going below.

Robert Wilson said:
I would still go for a command mic, especially if the remote handset had the screen included so that I wouldn't need to leave the cockpit to operate the VHF etc. The blurb shows the ICOM command mic as having that screen :)
Click to expand...

The SH one is like that too.

Standard Horizon are the marine arm of Yaesu, a long-standing and well-regarded maker of radios. I regularly pick up French VHF traffic in the Solent - not exactly welcome having the additional chatter, but it certainly confirms the sensitivity of the radio (and of course the Metz Manta antenna I fitted two years ago!)

Pete
 
For the handheld, also consider the SH HX851. I had also been planning on an Icom M91D and ended up with the SH due to better looking features and a substantially lower price.
I see there's now a new HX870, which probably explains the lower price of the HX851. Maybe some good deals to be had?
 
I have been very pleased with the RO4800, but the screen is a bit small to see AIS targets effectively. Works very well with my Garmin GPSMAP 750, but the wiring was a bit fiddly. I have a connection diagram - if of intrest PM me.
 
I have the Standard Horizon GX 2100E with AIS linked into my SH 300i Chartplotter and well pleased with it, excellent range as the aerial is my old VHF radio aerial on top of the mast.
Advantages are if the plotter goes down I still have AIS, if the VHF aerial goes down I plug in my emergency aerial which also works very well, if the Radio goes down I still have a plotter with its own built in aerial which also works very well on its own.

MikeView attachment 49185
 
I have the Standard Horizon GX 2100E with AIS linked into my SH 300i Chartplotter and well pleased with it, excellent range as the aerial is my old VHF radio aerial on top of the mast.
Advantages are if the plotter goes down I still have AIS, if the VHF aerial goes down I plug in my emergency aerial which also works very well, if the Radio goes down I still have a plotter with its own built in aerial which also works very well on its own.

Mike

View attachment 49185
 
laika said:
* I would definitely get something which can use AIS info to select an MMSI from a list of targets. This would greatly simplify calling up a crossing vessel using a remote mic in the cockpit (arguments about VHF-assisted collision notwithstanding)
Click to expand...

I have that with the GX2100, but I'm not sure how much it really matters. I've used it once, to call a forumite I saw passing us on the way to the Cherbourg meetup. (And he didn't respond to the DSC call, or voice, anyway. I think he said the next day that the radio was down below and he couldn't hear it from the cockpit...)

The one time I've called a ship to agree a crossing (which was according to colregs, but I wanted to ensure he knew I was there and was happy with the CPA) I called him by voice, by name. No answer on 16, but instant response on 13.

Pete
 
Don't forget the Navicom RT650 which also has AIS. I had two and took out the Standard Horizon 2100 and replaced it with the Navicom from another (currently mothballed) boat. It has a smaller screen, but uses much less power. I quite like it.

My only complaint with it is the price service companies want to change the MMSI number.
 
I have had a verrrry confusing day. Each time I think I'm onto the solution either A doesn't talk to B or B needs £££££S of software.
I think I'm giving up on AIS transponders - if people want to know where I am they'll have to wait until I phone/email them!
I may go for a 7" plotter with Navionics "UK&Holland chart" (IF Navionics can't answer my Android or PC+WEB.APP questions tomorrow).
I've been trying-out the Navionics "Boating HD" app on my ASUS tablet before committing to buy the charts - not bad, but need to see more of the plotting tools.

For the VHF/DSC it's looking like the 1700E + command mike, or possibly the SH 2100E +command mike.

Many thanks for all your comments. (inc dgadee's Navicom post, just in:encouragement:)
 
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