[Gremlinsrus]

SO I am shopping for a VHF. I need one that;

Floats
GPS (at least to send coords to coastguard if needed)
works on land (gps too)

looking at the Standard horizon 581, the ICOM M92d at top of $$ range...and the uniden alantis 270 at the bottom.

Any suggestions?

 

[Drum Runner]

For straight up I need help or I'm gonna die emergencies I'd rather put my faith in something in the epirb line like the [h=1]ACR 2881 ResQLink[/h]
Something to talk on...another device.

 

[OptiMystic]

I agree with DR about emergencies. I read a Texas BTB forum a lot and they use VHF on certain channels (69 or 67, I think) as sort of a BTB kayaker's CB. Telling each other what bait or what depth they just got a bite or just being social. I don't know if people do that here, but I could see how that could be nice. When I used one sailing, I left it on the emergency channel and was surprised at how much non emergency chatter there was. Not constant but a lot of radio checks and whatnot.

 

[Gremlinsrus]

Couple of things..

I do need way points (plan on using this on land as well)
Price is higher than i was looking at ( I know safety shouldnt have a price tag but I am trying to be reasonable without sacrifice)
I would like to talk to others-- IE "where'd ya go?" response "where'd who go?"

But the gps locater will be kept in the running.

 

[NCTribute]

West Marine has their branded handhelds on sale fairly often, might want to keep an eye out. I picked up one of the floating handhelds from them under $100 on sale, was normally $180.

 

[OptiMystic]

On the TX forum I mentioned, someone had good things to say about a Standard Horizon model:
http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/...t=212805&sid=8e1ec0dd3428aa3d04beea226dc2423f

 

[Gremlinsrus]

for just a VHS (no gps) http://www.anchorexpress.com/standard-horizon-hx300-floating-handheld-vhf-radio looks good
but here's one with gps and dsc http://www.anchorexpress.com/Lowrance-Link-2-VHF-Radio-000-10782-001

but to sweeten the pot, SH offers a $20 rebate.. $30 on the hx851..

any thoughts?

 

[aramnrtar]

I have had the Icom M92D (After doing some research) for kayaking two seasons now, and it does everything I want in a vhf. Battery just keeps going and going. I have used it all weekend without charging. I left it on one weekend (almost) continuously just to see the battery bar go down one bar. (Turned it off to sleep though lol) I think transmitting uses more power from the battery than just receiving though. It has the float and flash feature, gps, with waypoints, navigation to waypoints, compass, heading, Man Over Board, DSC and some other stuff. Transmitting and receiving is excellent for a hand held. I just rinse it off with fresh water when I get home. I feel a lot better out on the kayak with it, than without, especially when I'm out by myself.

 

[OptiMystic]

So do yaks here use channel 69 to chat or is that a TX or Gulf thing?

Transmitting absolutely uses more. The only time I ran down the one I had on the sailboat was testing it. It was a dirt cheap Midland.

 

[aramnrtar]

So do yaks here use channel 69 to chat or is that a TX or Gulf thing?

I'm not sure. I would like to know also. I am still trying to decide if I should get a separate MMSI for this radio or just enter the same one I use for my boat (fixed mounted) vhf radio.

 

[Chiefly Fly'n]

Haven't investigated VHF radios in a while. Had a Horizon several years ago but rechargeable battery crapped out and I could never get the volume loud enough to hear as well as I wanted. Have used a Uniden for several years with no issues. I prefer to have the ability to change standard batteries so you can immediately restore to full power....and not have to worry about recharging etc. GPS was not a feature for me since I have a handheld GPS and phone ap has GPS also. Nice to have a backup rather than try to use one unit for everything. Not up to speed on the latest in electronics...can you read GPS coordinates and talk on radio at same time?

Nice to have backups like epirbs etc. A lot of folks monitoring channel 16, 69 etc. may be much closer than a response agency in an emergency....also the ability to carry on a conversation and receive advice can be a plus in a bad situation.

 

[aramnrtar]

Haven't investigated VHF radios in a while. Had a Horizon several years ago but rechargeable battery crapped out and I could never get the volume loud enough to hear as well as I wanted. Have used a Uniden for several years with no issues. I prefer to have the ability to change standard batteries so you can immediately restore to full power....and not have to worry about recharging etc. GPS was not a feature for me since I have a handheld GPS and phone ap has GPS also. Nice to have a backup rather than try to use one unit for everything. Not up to speed on the latest in electronics...can you read GPS coordinates and talk on radio at same time?

Nice to have backups like epirbs etc. A lot of folks monitoring channel 16, 69 etc. may be much closer than a response agency in an emergency....also the ability to carry on a conversation and receive advice can be a plus in a bad situation.

Gps primarily enables the DSC functionality on the modern radios that have the distress button available. You only have to press one button to send distress message including information about you, the boat, and also coordinates of your location without saying a word. It could be a good thing if you are unable to talk, or a friend unfamiliar with vhf has to call for help. Then also there are all the other little benefits of having gps.

 

[Drum Runner]

The nice thing about the epirb is you can get them small enough to attach to your life jacket. It will always be with you.
If I get separated from the boat which aint hard to do, I could give a flip about the boat.....FIND ME!