Opinions? Marine Radio, (VHF) Which is a middle of the road in cost & quality?

[STS98]

Question, looking to outfit my boat with a Marine Radio? What should I look for, Brand, model, mounted in the boat or potable?
Thxs!

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: Opinions? Marine Radio, (VHF) Which is a middle of the road in cost & quality?

Re: Opinions? Marine Radio, (VHF) Which is a middle of the road in cost & quality?

Icom (boat mounted) with a premium antenna. Doesn't matter how good the radio is if the antenna is low quality. Like trying to stuff a watermelon down a garden hose. Biggest mistake I see with people and their VHF rigs. Most of the Icoms are GPS compatible with emergency beacon capability for 180-250$ A GOOD antenna is about 90-110$

 

[Lrider]

Re: Opinions? Marine Radio, (VHF) Which is a middle of the road in cost & quality?

Re: Opinions? Marine Radio, (VHF) Which is a middle of the road in cost & quality?

Uniden Solara DSC 25-Watt Full-Featured Fixed Mount VHF Marine Radio

with a Shakespeare antenna cost me 110 for everything including Ant. mount

 

[Boatist]

Re: Opinions? Marine Radio, (VHF) Which is a middle of the road in cost & quality?

Re: Opinions? Marine Radio, (VHF) Which is a middle of the road in cost & quality?

In my opinion where you boat makes a big difference.
If you boat in an area that has Coast Guard stations with Rescue 21 and your intend to
hook your radio to a GPS and get your MMSI number then I would get a radio with Class D DSC.
Class D DSC had a second radio dedicated to channel 70 to send and receive DSC distress signals.

I would also get a top of the line antenna like a shakespears 5225-XT.
A top of the line antenna more important that a top of the line radio.

However my radio will always be one near the top as I consider it as a life saving device.
I like ICOM but many good brands.
Get one easy to see channel information and with a big enough speaker you can hear it with the boat running

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-f4nhnBThg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdkxsWBncSc&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQk5MRwuxgo&feature=channel

 

[jhebert]

Re: Opinions? Marine Radio, (VHF) Which is a middle of the road in cost & quality?

Re: Opinions? Marine Radio, (VHF) Which is a middle of the road in cost & quality?

I prefer STANDARD-HORIZON VHF Marine Band radios for the following reasons:

--outstanding service and support from the manufacturer
--superior transmit audio quality
--more features than comparably priced radios
--better organization of features in control layout
--easier to use

 

[turbinedoctor]

Re: Opinions? Marine Radio, (VHF) Which is a middle of the road in cost & quality?

Re: Opinions? Marine Radio, (VHF) Which is a middle of the road in cost & quality?

Icom 422 and Shakespere 5202. Very happy.