I spend some time on the water and does anyone know of a good quality FRS/GMRS/Marine radio.
I know there are a couple that specialize in this:
Uniden Atlantis 290 Dual Band VHF/GMRS Handheld VHF - Black
Cobra MR HH450 CAMO.
I have no idea if they are any good.
I would rather have one set of radios than two.
Is it better to get something like the BaoFeng BF-F8HP (UV-5R 3rd Gen) 8-Watt Dual Band and just program in the marine frequencies?
I have no real experience except to press the talk button and talk to other boats.
I am thinking that this may be useful in the future if the cell service goes down.
August 24, 2020, 05:45 PM
old rugged cross
Is this for offshore or inshore?
"Practice like you want to play in the game"
August 24, 2020, 07:05 PM
911Boss
Well Uniden does pretty good for Marine radios, if you want to be “legal” I would say they are a good bet.
They ain’t cheap though at $100 or more each.
I just plugged in the upper and lower range of the Marine VHF channels into my Retevis RT87 and can confirm they will TX/RX in that range.
If they do, I imagine the Baofengs will as well.
Retevis RT87 Are IP67 waterproof/splash proof/dust proof which might be good for on a boat. The Baofeng BF-F8HP is not IP rated, but they do make a few models that are (UV-9, GT-3WP)
What part of "...Shall not be infringed" don't you understand???
August 24, 2020, 10:19 PM
maladat
I believe, just like FRS and GMRS, the marine VHF bands can only be transmitted on by radios specifically approved ("type accepted") by the FCC, so using one of the Chinese transmit-on-any-frequency radios to transmit on marine VHF frequencies is illegal. Probably not something you're likely to get caught or punished for, but illegal.
August 24, 2020, 11:10 PM
jimmy123x
We use Marine VHF radio's as the standard in the marine industry. ICOM would be the number 1 choice for quality, followed by Standard Horizon and others (Garmin, Raymarine, etc. etc.)
August 24, 2020, 11:15 PM
sig2392
It is for offshore, as in ocean, but coastal withing a day or two travel offshore.
August 24, 2020, 11:16 PM
XLT
I have a standard horizon vhf hx 870 hand held I take in my boat here on the oregon coast, I get the bar condition all the time from the us coast guard. very nice to have it's submersible in case you go over board. also has a distress beacon the sends a signal to the satellite for tracking and all that good stuff. expensive but not as expensive as needing one and not having one.
August 25, 2020, 12:16 AM
maladat
quote:
Originally posted by XLT: I have a standard horizon vhf hx 870 hand held I take in my boat here on the oregon coast, I get the bar condition all the time from the us coast guard. very nice to have it's submersible in case you go over board. also has a distress beacon the sends a signal to the satellite for tracking and all that good stuff. expensive but not as expensive as needing one and not having one.
My understanding is that the distress call feature is not picked up by satellites. The radio has DSC, which is a feature that lets you add digital data to transmissions, and GPS, which provides (receive-only) satellite positioning data. The distress call is a special DSC signal that transmits an emergency signal as well as the GPS coordinates. Other DSC-compatible marine radios that receive the signal will both immediately sound an alert and store the time, coordinates, and other DSC information associated with the distress call.
I'm not aware of a satellite-based system for picking those calls up, but I might be mistaken. I don't boat far enough from shore for it to be relevant.
The HX870 is a really nice radio, though. When I looked into getting a handheld backup for my boat (which has a fixed radio) a couple years ago, I bought an HX870 because it seemed to be the best available handheld marine VHF radio. I've been very happy with it.
For those that follow ham radio, Standard Horizon is basically Yaesu's marine division.
August 25, 2020, 12:23 AM
jimmy123x
quote:
Originally posted by sig2392: It is for offshore, as in ocean, but coastal withing a day or two travel offshore.
What type of boat do you have? Length? How many nautical miles offshore?
August 25, 2020, 01:07 AM
XLT
quote:
Originally posted by maladat:
quote:
Originally posted by XLT: I have a standard horizon vhf hx 870 hand held I take in my boat here on the oregon coast, I get the bar condition all the time from the us coast guard. very nice to have it's submersible in case you go over board. also has a distress beacon the sends a signal to the satellite for tracking and all that good stuff. expensive but not as expensive as needing one and not having one.
My understanding is that the distress call feature is not picked up by satellites. The radio has DSC, which is a feature that lets you add digital data to transmissions, and GPS, which provides (receive-only) satellite positioning data. The distress call is a special DSC signal that transmits an emergency signal as well as the GPS coordinates. Other DSC-compatible marine radios that receive the signal will both immediately sound an alert and store the time, coordinates, and other DSC information associated with the distress call.
I'm not aware of a satellite-based system for picking those calls up, but I might be mistaken. I don't boat far enough from shore for it to be relevant.
The HX870 is a really nice radio, though. When I looked into getting a handheld backup for my boat (which has a fixed radio) a couple years ago, I bought an HX870 because it seemed to be the best available handheld marine VHF radio. I've been very happy with it.
For those that follow ham radio, Standard Horizon is basically Yaesu's marine division.
I'm sure your correct, after reading the manual a couple of years ago I must have forgot how it works. Thanks for the correction.
August 25, 2020, 06:21 AM
sig2392
I don't own a boat, I sail on friends boats often.
I plan on joining a local sailing club, and doing some bare boating in the islands in the winter.
The club has 20 cruising boats, 35 to 40 ft.
Mostly Beneteaus.
August 25, 2020, 06:24 AM
sig2392
Garmin has a radio/epirb but it is $500
Not planning going off shore far enough to need it.
If I start doing passage making trips I would consider one.
August 25, 2020, 08:51 PM
jimmy123x
You want a dedicated marine VHF for what you're doing both Icom and standard horizon make handheld ones that are waterproof, float, and have good battery life. If you truly need it, you want it to work! Both have DSC. I prefer a seperate EPIRB and VHF, then you have 2 different devices with different batteries. If the battery in one device goes dead, the other is still usable and you can get both ACR PLB and a good waterproof VHF for the same $500 compared to the Garmin all in one. ACR is the definite leader in EPIRB's and PLB's. Icom then Standard Horizon in handheld VHF's, they're about tied.
