VHF radios are not included among the minimal safety equipment required on pleasure craft by the US Coast Guard, but they should be. VHF radios can be used to contact nearby vessels, marinas and emergency services. Almost all VHF radios receive weather channels, providing access to forecasts and warnings that are important to the safety of your vessel and crew. In short, they’re invaluable tools for routine and emergency communications.
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A MAJOR item missing from these reviews is the volume range and sound quality produced by a handheld vhf radio. I have experienced many radios that produce poor sound quality (low, muffled or distorted) making them unintelligible or virtually useless when there is a lot of noise on deck.
With limited space, we focused on the most differentiating stats. Volume was fairly uniform with the majority of the mid-range, high-end and commercial radios rated at 700 mW (milliwatt) output. Here are the exceptions: Low-end radios like the Cobra Bluebound 150 and Uniden Atlantis 155 are rated at 500 mW. The Icom IC-M25 is rated at 550 mw and the Standard Horizon HX210 is rated at 600 mW. The low-end Uniden MHS75 has the lowest output at 400 mW while the high-end Icom IC-M94D has the highest output at a whopping 1500 mW. Survival radios conserve power with low output of just 275 mW for the Icom GM1600 and 400 mW for the ACR SR203.
I volunteer at a nonprofit sailing school. We have about a dozen radios in use daily during the summer. We use the Standard 210 or the WM equivalent. They work well and hold up well but recharging is a constant struggle. The external contacts corrode from exposure to salt spray and require frequent cleaning so as to make contact with the chargers. Sometimes the chargers’ contacts also must be cleaned.
Thanks for your input on the Standard Horizon HX210. West Marine no longer offers West Marine branded radios and, indeed, has dropped a lot of other West Marine-branded product lines (which were actually made by third-party suppliers).
How about a comparison table? A lot more user friendly than scanning through many pages.
I wish it was possible to put all this in a table. I actually sent the editors a draft table just for the low-end category, but with so many models and features there were too many columns and rows to easily view on a personal computer, let alone on a phone or tablet. We settled on categorizing, assuming readers would focus on a handful of models in their desired category.
Okay, now I have to eat my words. Roxanne, the managing editor, read your request and added tables for each category. I guess my draft table was for all 20 models.
Great & Thanks!
Thank you for this very informative article.
In the section on AIS, you mentioned Class A and Class B transmitters.
Do they have different ranges?
Do both have receiver and transmitter functions?
In what other ways do the two classes differ?
Thanks again.
AIS deserves a guide of its own. Class A are required for commercial vessels 65 feet and larger and they transmit location information more frequently than Class B. Class B are for smaller vessels (under 65 feet, commercial or non-commercial), are less expensive and are installed voluntarily. Garmin, among others, offer AIS transponders and AIS equipped VHF radios. Some models have antenna splitters, so they can share a VHF radio antenna.
I own one in each category. It was sort of a natural progression. I purchased a low cost model, but found that I really wanted DSC for contacting ships and shore parties directly with out putting out public calls on the hailing channel.
So I purchased a mid range radio with DSC. And then after working with some vessels that were having AIS issues it occurred to me that a hand held is a great way to test your AIS. Go ashore, take a taxi to the market. Can you “see” your neighbor boats on AIS but not your own? Maybe a problem.
Also the AIS list makes it really easy to reach out to a ship in a TSS with out reading the MMSI off the plotter screen. It took two years to progress through the models.
One option worth considering is the remote wired mic. Stick the radio in a secure pocket and clip the mic/speaker to your collar. This can make coms quicker and easier when you are working on deck or steering a boat. There is a reason most law enforcement and first responders use this system.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I also appreciate your points on remote mics, which are typically optional (extra-cost) accessories for commercial-grade radios and some high-end models.
Another really low cost option are non-type approved (!) chinese ham radios, such as Baofeng Radio 5RM 10W. They cover marine bands, channels can be programmed, and work fine.
Great article!
I would add that entering a MMSI number means that the radio is assigned to the vessel.
You can apply and enter a MMI number which is assigned to the user and can be used on any vessel.
Thanks.