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.
The gold standard for VHF radio transmission is a fixed-mount model offering 25 watts of transmission power from an antenna mounted high atop a mast. That power and antenna height will give line-of-sight VHF radio waves a range of up to about 25 miles, depending on the height of your mast and that of the receiver’s antenna (which is why Coast Guard stations have tall towers).
Handheld VHF radios top out at 6-watt power and their antennas are right there in your hand, so transmission range is limited to seven or eight miles (if you are standing on deck). Nonetheless, a handheld VHF radio gives you communication convenience, letting you take the radio with you up on deck, down into the dinghy or, should things go wrong, into a life raft or the water. Count on just two to three miles of transmission range if you are low in a dinghy or life raft. You’ll also get less range if your radio is limited to 3W power or if you are transmitting in 1-watt, low-power mode.
Made for Moisture
Icom’s IC-M94D is a high-end, floating model offering GPS, DSC (Digital Selective Calling), and an AIS (Automatic Identification System) receiver as well as the all-important distress key. The author keeps this expensive model in the cockpit and uses a lower-cost model on deck, in the dinghy, and onshore. (Photo/ Doug Henschen)
All handheld VHF radios are rated as “submersible” by various standards, and many will even float if dropped in the water. Some have water-activated flashing lights to ease recovery and will automatically expel water from the speaker with vibrating tones.
Beyond these basics, there’s huge variation in handheld VHF radio features, functions and costs. This buyer’s guide helps end the confusion, first by categorizing competing models into five categories:
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.
Usually ham radios only transmit on amateur authorized frequencies although some can receive on multiple bands including the marine band. Gemini reports that the Baofeng Radio 5RM 10W does not transmit on marine channels. It may be possible to hack the radio to enable marine band transmit, but use is illegal.
KB1LXN
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.
Two years ago I bought a Standard Horizon HX890. I work on tugs and tour boats. Sound clarity and all the bells and whistle like GPS work well but it has some big drawbacks. First, the display is crowded with information and it automatically dims (presumably to save battery). The orange backgrounds on other units are much easier to read. Second, battery life is mediocre – not surprising with the GPS function running. Third, the only way to charge is with the 110 volt plug in charger. Okay you can’t have a USBc plug if you’re watertight or floating but the charger unit itself should have that flexibility. On big boats 110 chargers are fine but on many recreational boats you charge off of 12 volts.