Just picked up a Standard Horizon HX460S Handheld VHF at West Marine in Nanaimo for $100 plus taxes. Deep discount on clearance item. 2 left in the store if anyone is looking for one. Mini VHF with 12 Hour Li-Ion Battery, AC and DC adapters so it makes a cheap VHF backup for the boat if you don't need the cutting edge 20 hour battery. Stickered at $136 then 15% discount, but rang in at $100 plus change.
Handheld VHF
- Thread starter SeaWolf
- Start date
tubbed out
Active Member
been lookin , I think its a good deal
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product/10001/-1/10001/151890/10001/542/64/3
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product/10001/-1/10001/151890/10001/542/64/3
D
dog
Guest
All I have is a hand held 5 watt unit that cost me 125 bucks new. Has NiMH rechargeable batt, but the part I liked is it came with an alternative batt pack that can take 6 AA batteries as a backup in case the rechargeable battery dies. I would go for a regular in dash, hard wired with decent antenna if the budget was not a problem because it probably has much better distance, and if you are going to talk a lot, I find that transmitting wears the batteries down pretty quick. Just listening does not use much juice, but transmitting at 5 watts seems to drain them pretty quick. The Li-Ion may be better, but I dont think the 12 hours is talk time. It is probably some kind of average use figure.
F
Fishinforfun
Guest
This is my 2 cents.. A VHF radio can save your life! (Far better than a cell phone etc), if you can fix mount a radio on your boat, DO IT, you'll never have a second chance to save your life. A fixed mount radio can broadcast at 25Watts maximum. A handheld will broadcast a maximum of 5 or 6 watts. You'll get a better signal out if you're needing to make a distress call, and most likely will be heard by more vessels, and rescue operators. If installing a fix mount is not practical, then I would recommend using a handheld, they are awesome, but do not broadcast as far!
Fishforfun is right on.
In addition to his comments, a Fixed Base DSC Radio wired to your GPS, and registered with Industry Canada is cutting edge technology. It took me a whole 2 minutes to Fax them in Victoria and receive back a MMSI number, no big deal.
I picked this radio up as a backup to my main. My first purchase was the Fixed Base radio with a quality Digital Antenna that gives me the maximum range.
Now for anyone looking for a handheld the SH460S was in the 2005 West marine catologue for $250 US. It has been discontinued for another model. So if you want a cheap VHF for the boat and can get to Nanaimo it's a great deal for $100 Cdn.
In addition to his comments, a Fixed Base DSC Radio wired to your GPS, and registered with Industry Canada is cutting edge technology. It took me a whole 2 minutes to Fax them in Victoria and receive back a MMSI number, no big deal.
I picked this radio up as a backup to my main. My first purchase was the Fixed Base radio with a quality Digital Antenna that gives me the maximum range.
Now for anyone looking for a handheld the SH460S was in the 2005 West marine catologue for $250 US. It has been discontinued for another model. So if you want a cheap VHF for the boat and can get to Nanaimo it's a great deal for $100 Cdn.
