VHF POWER

[John N]

I have delayed buying a radio in the forlorn hope that something might come of my enquiries with OFCOM and that I could get myself a legal DSC model. It's not going to happen anytime soon so I'm buying a standard model. I usually look to the home market first these days and am drawn toward the ENTEL HT640 / 644 model but it's only 5w output, or an ICOM / STANDARD HORIZON model with 6w output.
What will I get for the extra 1w. I'm unlikely to venture to far from the shore and as I understand it neither will be of great benefit if in close to a cliff and trying to summon the CG on the land. All views appreciatted.

[MikeB]

"The week gave lots of opportunity to compare different manufactures gadgets. Probably most significantly, handheld VHF sets. The Icom M1Euro V suceeded is raising MV Dundarg from out of line of site situations in rocky geos when other sets by Silva and Cobra remained unanswered".

This from a comment by DW a year or so back - the Icom he mentions is 5wts so I wonder whether it's all about "rated power" or whether there's more to it. That said, 6 wts has got to be better than 5, but at the end of the day we're talking about a hand-held radio being operated a mtr or so from the surface, so every little helps I guess.

Certainly I'm extremely impressed with the M71 I bought recently both in terms of usability, overall performance and Icom's customer service. I'm not even the original purchaser as I bought it 2nd hand, but they still did a software upgrade for me for free. Battery life is excellent and (for me) that's a very significant factor.

To put that into context, over a weekend, on standby all day, with 4 calls to CG and the occassional brief inter-group usage the Icom barely registers a power drop according to it's inbuilt battery meter. My old Garmin, even with a newish Mihh battery would have depleted its battery by at least 50% by the end of the trip.

Mike.

[Bards]

Range is dependent on size and efficiency of antenna as much as by quoted wattage, so no guarantee the extra power would translate to more real-world grunt IIRC... user or independent reviews might be found on yachting sites??!!
FWIW I went for a Standard Horizon as they seem to get the thumbs up on here and elsewhere over say the Cobras (that said so do the ICOMs...). As yet haven't used it in broadcasting anger at distance but seems to pick up CG satisfactorily. As an aside I have been horrified at the idea of forking out another £95 on the operator's course, but have found a local adult education job via the council for £30, so worth checking that budgetary avenue if you wish to be (a) legit and (b) not sound like you've watched 'Convoy' one too many times, Rubber Duck...

Bards

[guy]

you can still (just ) get a uniden mystic dsc handheld which has us and international channels
its perfectly legal as well as waterproof


http://www.boatfix.com/bykeywordnew2.asp?textfield=UNDMYSTIC&texttype=2

[John N]

The Mystic Uniden referred to by GUY is not legal. Might be so in the states but anything used within the EU sphere of influence (that's us, unfortunately) without a CE marking is not legal. So even when handheld VHF / DSC sets are standardised you'll still need one with the CE mark. Officially.
And you'll not get an MMSI no. at present either which limits the benefits somewhat. See my previous thread which now includes a statement from OFCOM coroborating this. http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=48465

[guy]

Officially - As these radios were put on the market before sept 2004, Ofcom were quite happy to provide me with a mmsi number and a T number (a call sign for handhelds) so just how illegal they are is a bit academic.



Their large size, the fact that they sink and their poor gps mapping are probably better reasons for not buying one.
But for me the unique selling point - the dsc emergency call button, made the radio worth getting.

[John N]

I stand corrected, thanks Guy. I did not realise that this set was that old. Were you to buy one today though you might still have difficultly registering it as OFCOM have withdrawn the IR that referred to the older models (pre 2004). It'll also be missing that all important CE mark that officialdom loves.

[journeyman]

I stand corrected, thanks Guy. I did not realise that this set was that old. Were you to buy one today though you might still have difficultly registering it as OFCOM have withdrawn the IR that referred to the older models (pre 2004). It'll also be missing that all important CE mark that officialdom loves.

So technically all those non European (lets say for argument sake - American) yachtspeople who use either their DSC vessel based or hand held non CE marked radios within UK water are in breach of some red tape. Don't see them being arrested or impounded gear being reported. My guess is that there is some "arrangement" within the legislation to cover this situation, so why can't they get their bureaucrat arsses into gear and let a potentially life saving bit of gear "be legal" until such time as they sort themselves out.

[John N]

Journeyman - Vessel based DSC comes under a different set of IR's (rules & regs.) to hand held devices. It's a lot of reading but if you go back to my earlier post you'll see there is indeed a copout (arrangement was your wording). As I understand it anyone in peril can use anything to attract attention / make a call etc., even a handheld DSC, it says so in an OFCOM reply to me some months back and copied into my previous thread http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=48465. It's all very confusing.
My initial thread also gives updated information on current handheld DSC thinking. http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=48170

I've no idea what the situation is should a visiting US yatchsman use non CE marked equipment if visiting our waters but I'm pretty sure someone does.

[GrahamKing]

Briefly digressing back to the original topic, there's one more thing to be said for extra power: If the station you're trying to contact has their squelch set unnecessarily high, you stand a better chance of being heard. I suspect that this is the case for many harbour authorities and commercial vessels that are used to dealing with their usual customers' high antennae belting out 25W+. I had to enlist the Coastguard's help the other day to reach one such station that I could hear perfectly well.
All that being said, I fully agree with Bard's comment about antenna efficiency: my 6W Icom seems less effective than the old 5W Uniden.