Marine Radio

[Prof]

Hi all,

Just got the Sea Nymph back from the doctor and she runs just fine for a 20 year old. (That must be about 90 in people years!). Now I get to deal with the other issues.

#1 It looks like the VHF marine radio is not salvageable. Bummer – I’d rather spend money on something that would catch fish! However, as normal, this minor glitch does provide the opportunity to look for something that might be perfect for what I need with better reliability than a 20 year old unit.

Here’s the question: I know that good antenna is important, but what features do you really use in a marine radio? Which are essential (safety, etc), which are nice to have and which are just sales hype (never or rarely used)? Of course, brand durability and customer service is an important consideration. Finally, the best bang for the buck is always dear to my heart… er… wallet.

As always, I look forward to hearing your frank and learned advice.

Thanks in advance.

[Vitalidle]

Those are all good questions. I am in need of a new radio as well. I have a handheld for my smaller boat that Im using in the meantime. I can't really answer your questions as far as all the extras they have on radios now. I have a uniden with the dsc. I never was hooked up so I can't tell you how it works. I do know that bethel marine has raymarine radios for 90 bucks and that is probobly the radio I will go with. I think any brand name radio today will have all the new features that you could want. Look for the best price in a brand name radio would be my advice.

[Priority1]

You can't go wrong with an Icom. I believe the CG use them. About $200 and up. Make sure your antenna is in good shape also.

[1mainiac]

I am a ham radio operator and my next radio will be a Icom 504 I have checked the features and it is the best bang for the buck out there. Connected to a plotter with NEMA inputs and outputs it will do some very cool things you need to get a MMSI number which is free to use DSC the MMSI number is like a phone number it is yours and yours alone programed into your radio and shared with friends it opens a whole new world. Lets say you here someone you know and wonder where they are at enter his MMSI number and hit position request if he has his radio set for position request he will either get a beep letting him know you are asking for his position which he can accept or deny or his radio will automaticly respond and if your radio is fully wired to a plotter it will pop up on your plotter as well as be displayed on your radio screen. Want to have him meet you on a differant channel enter his number and the channel you want to talk on and hit send he will get a beep that you are calling and when he accepts the call both of your radios switch to the talk freq. Want more privacy add the voice scrambler chip. Want to do this as a group register for a group number and give it to your friends then any time any of them does a group call everyone with the group number that is in radio range gets the same call which would be very nice during contests. The neat part is no one else ever hears any of your calls or requests. Now here is one other thing Rescue 21 is not operational here yet but in a emergency every boat with a Class D DSC radio or better within radio range will get your distress call location and time of call if you ever push the red button. Some of us who have your number programed in our radios will know who you are and even have you positioned on our plotter screen. So could actually be plotting a course to come help while pulling lines yank the poles and hit the gas and be on the way to help. There is no radio made anymore that does not include DSC and for all functions to work you need to be able to send and receive on the NEMA channel and a memory bank of numbers makes calling friends no harder than useing speed dial on your cell phone. So while you probably won't use all the features right away you are talking about a radio you will have for several years. So don't skimp too much you will have a DSC radio anyhow unless you buy one at a yard sale the reason I choose the Icom 504 is most bang for the buck has a built in loud hailer can run a remote mic can add a voice scrambler chip and has a large memory bank to store friends MMSI numbers. Well that and I have owned Icom radios for many years of trouble free radio use so I trust them.

[Vitalidle]

I will have to take a look at the Icom's as well then.

[Yooperdad]

I just bought a new Raytheon this winter. Installed it and it doesn't seem to be working yet. Tuned to the weather station and nothing???

New antenna last fall too.

Guess I'll mess with it again today and see if I have a bad contact or something.

[cduced]

I installed a Standard Horizon Quest-X ($130) on my new boat and I really like it.

http://www.standardhorizon.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=83&encProdID=0AEEEC50CAF66ADDC056A4D07E2F0A36&DivisionID=3&isArchived=0

It sounds good which is very important and has Class D DSC which is something you really should look for. I have mine interfaced to my GPS so the DSC will send out location info. If you need a hailer as mentioned in a previous post, you need to step up to the SH Matrix line.

SH also has great support. Get this. The cover blow off the radio when I was trailering back from Florida this spring. I contacted a guy from SH and less that a week later, a new one showed up in the mail at no charge! There are many similar stories about SH if you look around.

ICOM also has a great reputation so I certainly wouldn't knock them.

For the antenna, I went with a Digital (brand) 529-VW, which is a very well built 8' antenna. They run about $110. One of the best things about the Digital is that it has a mini-connector pre-attached that is easy to thread through where ever you need and then a normal size connector that attaches to that. It is a very slick system and it is idiot proof.

-- Bud

[anthonyyost]

I did not realize that Hummingbird made VHF radios, but I just bought one direct from the manufacturer. After rebate it was $129.00 and has all the features of the more expensive models, including a dedicated receiver for channel 70 for the DSC function which will be very important in the next couple of years.

[cduced]

One other thing that is important to me that I forgot to mention is a scan feature. I suspect that most radios have this. On the water, I scan, 16 (priority) 9, 68, 69 71, 72. It will also scan the weather channels for weather alerts if programmed to do so.

Another thing I like about the Quest-X is the rotary knob for selecting channels rather than push buttons.

-- Bud

[GLF]

I am running an ICOM 420 or 422. I dont remember which one it is.

[fishsniffer]

i just have a hundred dollar uniden.....works great...i like cool features ive just never needed em..i guess if i could get a hundred dollar radio that has what i need for safety..id use the other hundred or more for the bells and whistles for lures and such:grin:

[Paulywood]

I agree with Don. I've got a $100 Uniden Solara from my old boat that I am installing on the new one. I paired it with a $50 fiberglass antennae from West Marine. I have had days where the range has reached almost 20 miles. I was fishing out of Pt. Sheldon and talking to someone in the channel at Muskegon. The radio is purely a safety feature for me.

[1mainiac]

Nothing wrong with the cheap radios the radio in my boat is a West Marine and was cheap and works fine. My point is DSC has come a long way in the last few years and if buying a new radio now would make sure I got as many features as I could. There are still analog TV's for sale but why buy one even if it is a good deal. For the years of use I got out of my West Marine radio which has basic DSC I could throw it overboard and not feel cheated I won't do that but it has more than earned it's keep on 3 boats.

[Prof]

Great comments and lots to think about. Especially about the duribility of, and customer service provided by, particular brands. However, while I'm a bells and whistles kind of guy (just come look at my wood shop) I am trying to stretch the buck a bit as I get the boat set up.

So, what features do you really use? For some of the mentioned features (tracking friends etc.), wouldn't the other party also have to have a similarly configured radio? Finally, is there a preferred knowledgeable retailer out there that has treated you well?

Again, thanks for sharing your insights and experiences.

[1mainiac]

Weather band is very nice dual or tri watch so you can monitor several channels is very nice make sure the radio is at least a Class D Icom 304 is a nice radio with plenty of features you will use. The raymarine 49 or 55 are nice radios Mariners Center also has some pretty good deals on Ray and Icom radios http://www.marinerscentre.com/ might give them a call the have some close out Raymarine units with most of the features you need.

[Paulywood]

Here is a great antennae value if you need one. If you are patient I have seen it go on sale for as low as $35. I have one and love it.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/producte/10001/-1/10001/223411/377%20710%201407/0/Antennas,%20Mounts,%20Cable/Primary%20Search/mode%20matchallpartial/0/0?N=377%20710%201407&Ne=0&Ntt=Antennas,%20Mounts,%20Cable&Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&page=CategoryDisplayLevel1&isLTokenURL=true&storeNum=5003&subdeptNum=3&classNum=309

[1mainiac]

One thing to consider when buying the Shakespear antenna it is nothing but a peice of stripped coax inside a fiberglass case. I went thru 3 of them before I got the one on my boat which I payed more for was 89 bucks don't remember what the model number is. I have a antenna analyzer and the first 2 were total junk this one does not do a very good job of band coverage but is at least close enough to use. I did a RF feild strength test against my 2 meter radio I ran my marine radio on 25 watts with the 8ft whip and my 2 meter on 5 watts using a 19in peice of coat hanger for a antenna the 2 meter won so I was not very impressed. I like the construction and reports I hear about the Digital antennas and have heard of a antenna made in Italy that actually has a tunable elementwhich would be great because at these freqs a very small adjustment will make a huge differance. The one Shakespear antenna I like is the base loaded with the steel whip as it can be tuned while I realize it does not offer as much signal gain what they don't say in the ad's is that poor tuning takes away most of the theory gain. At a 1 to 1 SWR all of the RF power is transmited into the air as the SWR goes up the Effective radiated power goes down fast. On the best channel on my radio tuning wise I have a 10% loss in ERP and on some channels it approachs 22% loss This loss is sent back to the radio which adds to the heating of the finals as the finals get hot the radio reduces power to protect itself. Many of the radios you hear out there that are breaking up are lucky if they are getting more than a couple of watts radiated from the antenna.

[Paulywood]

This antennae has a solid copper core, not cable. You can only get it at West Marine. Either way mine works great, I don't know why or care, just know that it works.

[1mainiac]

Not picking on anyones antenna Nick just passing on info perhaps this new one is differant but I have broken several of them over the years from cheap ones to very expensive ones and they have pretty much all been the same inside. And the center conductor on the coax is a solid copper core so even the old antennas could be advertised as solid copper core element.

[Vitalidle]

Anyone have any feedback on the Raymarine Ray-54 Radio? Thanks.