Advice on handheld VHF

L

localboy

New member
We had a very lightly used ICOM handheld. Now it no longer transmits or receives. It's not worth sending back for repair since it's near the price of a new low end unit just to have them look at it. Because of our experience and other bad reviews of ICOM I'm not spending any more money with them. I'm looking for input, suggestions, experiences, opinions etc on other brands.

We have two primary VHFs on board; one tied to our GPS for AIS/DSC etc so this unit is primarily for emergencies, communicating when we are off the boat etc. It need not do everything and I don't need all the bells & whistles.

Mahalo.
 
Standard Horizon. I have an HX280. Granted I don't use it much, but it goes a couple of years between battery charges. I keep it in the ditch bag.

Mostly used when out in the dinghy to call "home".
 
Same here, I've also had the HX280s, for what seems like 10 years or so. I can't seem to kill it no matter how badly I neglect it...sitting in the boat or garage for months unused, the original battery always seems to have a full charge. Bought it on a sale at Defender, I think for about $89 all those years ago. The current version, the HX380 is currently $121 at Defender, probably still a good value.

-Mike
 
I have a West Marine--which I love--had it for years--It has a battery tray and has metal case, which has no corrosion.

I have 2 Standard Horizons HX 100, which were two for $ about $100 on sale. Works fine.

My favorite is The Standard Horizon HX 870--now you can get the HX 890-which has the additional feature of a FM broadcast band, and encoded channels. Not only waterproof and floats. Full functioning GPS--with ability to put in waypoints and do basic navigation. The best feature, is that it is fully DSC compliant with a separate channel 70 receiver. Add your MMSI number and you have a great emergency radio.

The West, an Icom I keep in the ditch bag, and the SH all have Alkaline battery treys. That way, if in a ditch bag, and the rechargable battery is discharged, you can use AA or AAA batteries. Also you don't have to have a separate GPS in the ditch bag. It is also a great dinghy VHF--you can put in the waypoint when you leave your boat, and if the fog sets in, or late at night, navigate directly to the bost with the dinghy.

In rough weather we clip the 870 to our inflatable life jackets as well as the PLB--and in case of MOB or catastrophe--you have a DSC radio and EPIRB on your person!
 
SH HX851 with GPS

Mostly use it when anchored and fishing to monitor 16, 9 and weather, and turn off fixed radio. It has a lot of features and for me, takes time to learn the features. I added my MMSI number to it. Personally with so few buttons and so many features, it is not easy to find a feature quickly or tell The Admiral to change a setting. It came with AA battery pack for backup power. Nonetheless, it is well built and will last for years.
 
I have two Standard Horizon HX851's that I try to work to death. On my PFD, used for monitoring when at anchor, carry in the inflatable, and one in a ditch bag. Still work great, DSC capable with GPS (I think), though I have not used that feature -- pretty sure it is there because of the DSC. (Yup, just checked the box. They float, have an automatic white strobe if they get dunked, and will do weather radio alerts. Most of those features yhou don't need when you are on the "Mother ship" but if you are off on the dingy, or have it on your PFD and go overboard, they might come in handy.

Not as small as the West Marine but tough as nails.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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I got a nice Amazon card for 20 yrs at work (the city I'm assigned to takes care of us; the county could care less).

With it I bought a SH HX380. It's small and simple. Exactly what I needed in a handheld. Thanks everyone who contributed.
 
Mark, Congrats on the 20 years, and thank you for being out there. You and you brothers and sisters are appreciated -- at least by some of us. (Need a flag with a blue stripe emogee here.)

I think you will be happy with that SH radio. I mostly boat alone, but have 2 HH's and swap them off from PFD duty to ditchbag service. Even with 3 fixed mount vhf's there are times the HH gets put into use enroute.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
My wife and I have a pair of Standard Horizon HX870's which we bought primarily for sea kayaking. We carry them on the C-Dory when we leave the mothership in the kayaks and one normally stays in the ditch bag. We like them very much.
 
We use a pair of Standard Horizon HX870's also.
So far we've been very happy with them too.
Eventually I'll get finished installing the Icom M506 in the console and then the handhelds will go in the kayak and ditch bags.
 
Based on comments in this thread, I just picked up an HX890.

All I've done so far is put it together and put it on the charger - but one question comes to mind... as a ham radio operator, I'm accustomed to replacing the factory supplied antenna with a higher quality aftermarket antenna on my ham handhelds.

Is that a "thing" with Marine handhelds? Anyone here do it? While I'm pretty sure it'd improve transmission and reception, I don't want to jump on that without hearing experiences of others - in particular, I don't want to turn a floater into a sinker in the process.

Appreciate any input.
 
GaryF,
We found two SH 871 to be bulletproof, MMSI and DSC, alk battery alternate case, waterproof and floaters for our ditchbag.

I hope Bob Austin will comment re your antenna replacement query...he is the HAM radio expert here and I would and will do whatever he advises...
John
 
Gary, I can't say I have heard of swapping antenna(s) more than maybe once or twice. The handheld, no matter which brand is power limited to 5 or 6 watts, and range is maybe out to 3-4 miles in my experience. And since it is a line of sight signal, getting much past that is only going to work if you are standing on top of the cabin. I guess that could happen if you are experiencing a real emergency, but in that case you might be wanting to use a full powered, fixed base unit unless of course you are up to your neck in the water, and then you are not going to get out past that 5 mile range (curvature of the earth syndrome), anyway.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Gary, although I do swap out the antennas on my 2 meters, I have not seen any real reason to do so not he hand held Marine VHF. Some who don't have a fixed radio on the boat will hook up mini SMA Male Connector to a PL 259 connector and swap out the hand held antenna, for higher gain marine fixed VHF antenna. There are cables available on Amazon for just this purpose. There is some loss at each connection, but the higher elevation and gain of the real marine antenna makes up for that, and I would expect a slightly longer range, depending on conditions.

The Standard Horizon antenna on the HX 890 (same as on my HX 870-although the 890 is a better radio) seems pretty good for a short rubber ducky. I run a Morad 156 MHz VHF Marine Antenna 6dB gain ("Hot Rod"), on top of my radar arch as the primary VHF antenna. The Morad antennas are a bit more expensive, but each is hand tested for SWR.

If I buy a off the shelf antenna, I take an antenna tester with me (MFJ 259D), to check the SWR--I have found that they can wildly vary in the "recreational grade" antennas. One of the few times it may pay to shop at your local West Marine store.

I have put the analyzer on some hand held antennas in the past and the SWR is decent.

I'm not as bad as Harvey--I only have 2 fixed mount Marine VHF and 3 hand heads....I usually run one on channel 16 and the other on either the tug working frequency or a traffic scheme frequency. I'll keep one of the hand held on the frequency that C Brats may be using in our gatherings. I don't monitor channel 9 much. I have the MMSI number in all of those radios which will accept it.
 
Thanks, Bob, just the answer I was looking for.

I've got a lot of updating to do, and taking it one step at a time... if I can kick the can down the road a bit on a built-in Marine VHF, I think I'll do that since I don't plan to wander too far anytime soon.

Good lead on the Morad antennas as well... I'll check them out... I've never heard of them, but haven't dug too deeply in that area yet. I'm spinning a lot of new plates getting this old girl updated and rolling again.
 
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