Hand Held VHF

[KenSmithPEng]

My wife and I are vacation cruising skippers. We take crews to destination locations for 1 or 2 week day sailing vacations. Our usual crews have little or no sailing experience. On our last excursion, there were 2 non-swimmers.

I want to get a good handheld vhf radio, so I can communicate back to the mothership when off in the dinghy, usually out of sight.

Please reply with your recommendations and advice on different products that are on the market today.

[MV Wanderlust]

I love the Standard Horizon HX870 and 890.

[rslifkin]

I've been happy with my Standard Horizon HX210. Battery life is good, it floats, it's waterproof and not too expensive. No DSC or any other fancy features though.

[Stu Jackson]

Look at WM and Defender catalogs/online. There are tons of different hh vhfs. Your question is like asking: I just got my driver license, what car should I buy?

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by KenSmithPEng

I want to get a good handheld vhf radio, so I can communicate back to the mothership when off in the dinghy, usually out of sight.

Please reply with your recommendations and advice on different products that are on the market today.

I like the Standard Horizon HX380. Good audio quality, waterproof, well thought out battery charger connection, choice of lithium or AA battery pack. I have two.


Keep in mind that these things are short range due to the low height above water and the small antenna. They are line of sight, and best understood as being useful for a few miles. If you have a good installation on the mother ship with a mast-mounted antenna you might get five miles on open water. You will not get reliable coverage if they are out of sight two bays over or way up the river.

[slug]

Originally Posted by KenSmithPEng

My wife and I are vacation cruising skippers. We take crews to destination locations for 1 or 2 week day sailing vacations. Our usual crews have little or no sailing experience. On our last excursion, there were 2 non-swimmers.

I want to get a good handheld vhf radio, so I can communicate back to the mothership when off in the dinghy, usually out of sight.

Please reply with your recommendations and advice on different products that are on the market today.

I prefer a handheld vhf that can accept standard penlight AA batteries

You must never worry about dead batteries and recharging

Several models around

https://www.standardhorizon.com/down...pplication/pdf

[WSMFP]

Originally Posted by MV Wanderlust

I love the Standard Horizon HX870 and 890.

Those are great units.

[nhschneider]

I bought my daughter the Standard Horizon HX890 and it's a great radio. Now I want one.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[Coquina]

I would avoid off brands and stick to Icom or Standard-Horizon. I would get one that floats or get the HX40 and get the flotation sleeve for it. I would avoid the HX100 at all costs, that radio is awful. I had 4 and threw them away.
The DSC models may be overkill, but it is nice to get help with the press of a button or ring them like a phone