Any recommendations for a low cost, mounted, basic VHF radio? The display
has given out on my old radio. I am considering the Uniden Solara and would
appreciate comments on this model or suggestions for others.

Mark (the rail & canopy hook guy)
www.ripnet.com/vtf/prod03.htm

I would suggest stepping up enough to get DSC. They may not even offer
VHF without digital select calling anymore, I haven't checked recently.
My VHF is 15-20 years old and still going strong, as are a probable
majority of units from the same era. My next VHF will have DSC, and
maybe one of the microphones that can change channels etc.

All of these VHF radios are relatively inexpensive, as boating gear
goes, as long as you stick to the basic functions.

It would be hard to wrong with ICOM, Uniden, Raymarine, or other major
brands. VHF (thankfully) is
usually trouble free.

If your boat is a single helm model, save enough money for a decent
hand held VHF to go into the spares locker.
The odds of both radios crapping out at the same time
are almost zero, but you will have more limited range on the hand held.

My marina neighbor had a Uniden (not sure of the model) and was never
pleased with the sound quality. He compared it to the my Standard Eclipse
and ended up replacing his.

I have always felt that Standard and Icon both made good products.


"Mark" wrote in message
sgroups.com...
Any recommendations for a low cost, mounted, basic VHF radio? The display
has given out on my old radio. I am considering the Uniden Solara and
would appreciate comments on this model or suggestions for others.

Mark (the rail & canopy hook guy)
www.ripnet.com/vtf/prod03.htm

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 08:07:23 -0500, "Mark"
wrote:

Any recommendations for a low cost, mounted, basic VHF radio? The display
has given out on my old radio. I am considering the Uniden Solara and would
appreciate comments on this model or suggestions for others.

I'll let you in on a little secret - other than price, VHF marine
radios are pretty much all the same in terms of performance. They all
function in the same way. It's just a question of what you are
comfortable with - orange backlight, green backlight, button
placement, how intuitive the controls are, etc.

I prefer Icom equipment and have for years. Oddly, in the amateur
radio world, I use Yaesu equipment, but for this kind of use, Icom is
the master. Virtually bullet proof.

With respect to Uniden, it's a popular radio, I haven't heard much bad
about them in terms of service/repair and if it's priced right for
you, it's the deal you want to take advantage of.

As to specs, they all are spec'd out the same. Some will claim that
it "meets" standard, some will claim they exceed standard - blah,
blah, blah. As long as they meet spec, it's fine - don't go
overboard.

Good luck.

Later,

Tom

I use to have a radio mounted in the nav station and use a handheld in the
cockpit. I now have a Standard mounted in the nav station and a RAM mic in
the cockpit and am very pleased with this setup.
MMC
"Dr. Jonathan Smithers, MD Phd." wrote in message
...
My marina neighbor had a Uniden (not sure of the model) and was never
pleased with the sound quality. He compared it to the my Standard Eclipse
and ended up replacing his.

I have always felt that Standard and Icon both made good products.


"Mark" wrote in message
sgroups.com...
Any recommendations for a low cost, mounted, basic VHF radio? The
display has given out on my old radio. I am considering the Uniden
Solara and would appreciate comments on this model or suggestions for
others.

Mark (the rail & canopy hook guy)
www.ripnet.com/vtf/prod03.htm

"Dr. Jonathan Smithers, MD Phd." wrote in message
...
My marina neighbor had a Uniden (not sure of the model) and was never
pleased with the sound quality. He compared it to the my Standard Eclipse
and ended up replacing his.

I have always felt that Standard and Icon both made good products.


You can always use a remote extension speaker. They are fairly cheap,
directional (can be mounted anywhere) and vastly improve the sound quality.

I had a small 2 1/2" "Poly Planer" on mine and it was terrific. The speaker
was waterproof and corrosion proof.

wrote in message
ups.com...
I would suggest stepping up enough to get DSC.

I agree on the DSC capability. Some low to medium priced VHF units are
capable of being interfaced with your fixed mount GPS. That is how I have
mine set up. However, there are now VHF units that have their own GPS.

Even if you don't hook it up to your fixed mount GPS, you may want to in the
future.

In my recent VHF upgrade, I went for the DSC, Hailer/with listen-back and
programmable frog horn/siren.

A note of caution: when you program your vessel ID into the new VHF, read
and follow the instruction carefully. In my Standard Horizon, I get only 2
tries and then it has to go back to Standard to erase the incorrect ID. This
was a no cost service but require that I have West Marine return it and that
took about a week.

Regarding my experience with Standard Horizon VHF. I have had 3 different
models over the past 14 years. One had a bad mike cord which I paid for the
repairs since it was out of warrantee, 2nd worked fine for 3 years until I
upgraded to get the above mentioned features, while the 3rd (and present
unit) failed last summer due to a heat related problem at the chart table.
It was repaired under warrantee and would have been replaced by West Marine
if that model had been current and available. Took about a week for repairs
at no cost.

Also I recommend watching for mfg'ers rebates. I got a $30 rebate off the
heavily discounted/sale price and ended up only paying about $180 for a $350
unit.

Good shopping

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

I now have my VHF mounted just inside the companionway and the mike is
mounted to a clip within hands reach from my tiller station. I still have to
leave the tiller for some features however my mike does have channel
up/down, 16 and works (marginally) also as a remote speaker. I would like to
add a cockpit speaker for next season.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Last year I picked up a new Standard with DSC capabilites - it connects into
the GPS. I like it because the mike also doubles as a speaker.

Sandy K.

Mark wrote:
Any recommendations for a low cost, mounted, basic VHF radio? The display
has given out on my old radio. I am considering the Uniden Solara and would
appreciate comments on this model or suggestions for others.

Hi Mark,

DSC VHF is the way to go, and will become your only option in the not
too distant future, but keep in mind you'll need to install and
interface it with a GPS in order for it to work properly. You'll also
have to register it so you can set up your MMSI.

If cruising and bluewater sailing aren't in your plans, maybe just a
good, waterproof hand held VHF is all you'll need. Icom, Standard and
Horizon are good names, but there are others equally good.

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