| See the earlier note about VHFs for some opinions.
According to one electronics dealer I talked to, most of the handheld
VHFs are toys -- unreliable and unrepairable when they break. The only
one this dealer recommended was the top-of-the-line, expensive ICOM
(about the same price as a regular high quality VHF -- $400 or so
discount as I recall). A cockpit speaker for your regular VHF is lots
cheaper.
The one persuasive reason I can think of for a handheld (it convinced my
I-don't-want-to-buy-more-expensive-sailboat-gear partner) is that it is
more effective than flares for attacting attention when floating around
in a liferaft.
Personal opinion: You LIKE listening to the idiots on VHF? :-) Why the
scanner otherwise? We listen to the weather forecasts and otherwise
virtually never use the VHF. I'd sooner not have a VHF than my autopilot
or loran.
Opinionatedly yours,
Alan
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| I figured i could justify HHVHF purchase with one or more of the following
points:
o As a backup radio for emergencies.
o As a cockpit radio for harbor-like communications.
o To take along on other's boats for the above two reasons.
o For illegal celular phone near marine operators.
o To listen (hence desrie for scan) to radio ragchewing.
The last point needs clarification. Wheras i don't think many people
enjoy the quietude of sailing more than myself,
There is nothing, Absolutely Nothing
Quite nearly So Neat as simply
Messing about in boats.
and to me messing about in boats can include listening in on comercial
radio trafic. It would never occur to me to monitor Ch 16 in the summer
months. Likewise i would never monitor pleasure-craft channels (e.g. 68,70,
24,26,28,....).
To me, however, some channels in the Cape area are interesting:
13 Navigational (a lifesaver in foggy Woods Hole where i keep my boat)
07 Ferry yak channel
21,83 USCG & Nantucket LS trafic
17 Tugs & other commercial traffic
18 "
At any rate most of the justifications for HHVHF purchase are weak. If it
is for safety, reliance on A) complicated electronic device B) other people's
listening or hearing, makes safety use a weak link in my opinion. A similar
argument can be made about HHVHF cockpit use for navigation - except that
the ship's radio should be available although maybe out of reach.
When i really think about it, use as a monitor and general (and portable)
toy are my major cost-justifications.
Another obscure reason is that Railroads use CH 4 (marine channel) for
train-dispatcher communications, in some regions (worcester county, for example)
and if you ever want to listen to a funny conversation, try a dispatcher
describing where to find a box car to an engineer on a train.
Anyway, the best prices i've seen are Apleco Clipper ($249) and Standard
($289) both in '85 Defender's and both with scanners. Non-scanners
go as low as $188 for Regency 950 (defenders also).
That's my opinion, for what it's worth.
/paul sears
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| i too was looking for a new toy for my sailboat, and thought a hand
helf vhf would be just the thing. i used the excuse of 'with
pre-school twins aboard, you can never have too much safety'. i
bought an apelco junior clipper [ with scanner and lots of other
neat, never used features]. it made its first trip back to apelco
[in tampa] when it's speaker died - worked ok with an auxiliary
speaker, but not the built in. it made its second trip to tampa
for some loose wires. this time the speaker cut out when the radio
was moved around from this attitude to another - movement is certainly
necessary with a hand held, this particular unit would be happier
if it were a console model
anyway, its still in tampa. this summer, sailing on a lake in new
jersey, i used it once to get the marine forecast - i needed
to confirm that there was absolutely no wind.
it is without a doubt hard to cost justify this item, but i am still
happy that i can reach the marine patrol if there was an emergency.
happy hunting
joe
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