Owner`s manual

ManualsBrandsRaymarine ManualsRadioRay 220

14 february 2009 www.practical-sailor.com

he technology behind a marine

VHF radio transceiver’s basic

capabilities has remained relativity

unchanged for many years. Where

you’ll ﬁnd differences between the

radios of yesteryear and those on the

market today are in reﬁnements—not

so much in the transceiver area but to

other parts of the radio—and feature

enhancements that were unheard of

just a few years ago.

Purchasing a mid-priced VHF

today will not only get you a top-

quality transmitter and receiver, but

also a receiver for Digital Select Call-

ing (DSC) signals, more radio controls

at the microphone, and superb water-

prooﬁng. Some even have a built-in

hailer and the capability to connect a

remote mic or record transmissions.

You get lots of goodies with these

newer radios, so with this test, we

sought to identify those that offer the

most for the least.

WHAT WE TESTED

We last reported on ﬁxed VHF radios

in several articles that ran in 2005 and

2006. Our favorites in the mid-priced

category (December 2005) were the

Uniden UM525 and Icom M422.

For this year’s evaluation of mid-

priced VHFs, we tested 10 new ma-

rine radios in the $145 to $220 price

range from Cobra, Raymarine, Stan-

dard Horizon, West Marine, Icom,

and Uniden.

Selecting a VHF in this price range

will suit those with smaller budgets

and those looking for a second VHF to

mount in the cockpit. They cost about

the same as most remote microphones

(PS, November 2007) but offer redun-

dancy to a primary unit.

All of the radios we tested are wa-

terproof and can be interfaced with

a GPS. All also have DSC capabil-

ity and are rated as Class D or Class

SC101 devices. SC101 radios have

only a single receiver listening to

both voice communications and DSC

digital data on channel 70. Class D ra-

dios have two separate receivers; one

monitors voice channels, and another

continuously monitors channel 70 for

digital DSC calls. (See Value Guide,

pages 16-17.)

In our opinion, GPS compatibility

and DSC capability are imperative

for the VHF to serve its most vital

function: distress notiﬁcation. Hav-

ing a properly programmed Maritime

Mobile Service Identity number

(through DSC functions) means the

Coast Guard can more easily identify

the boat in a distress situation, and

having a VHF-GPS interface means

they can more easily and quickly

locate the boat.

Future articles will take a look at

the other categories of marine VHF

radios, including expensive and bud-

get ﬁxed-mounts as well as affordable

handheld units.

COBRA F75

The Cobra F75 has a display sized

for a more expensive radio, but its

speaker is in the microphone hand-

set, not the main casing.

The F75 provides for one-button

operation of DSC distress call, quick

select channels 16/9, memory scan,

transmitter power, setting channel

group, using tri-watch scan, and

opening the menu page. Channel

selection is made with up/down

Mid-priced VHFs Offer

Top-notch Features

The beefy Standard Horizon GX3000S Matrix, with its large display,

took Best Choice honors. The remote mic-capable radio can be connect-

ed to the maker’s RAM+ CMP25 microphone or VH-310 handset (above).

Standard Horizon bests the ﬁeld; West Marine earns Budget Buy.

h o w w e t e s t e d

Standard Horizon

GX3000S Matrix

ELECTRONICS

Summary of content (7 pages)

PAGE 1
Mid-priced VHFs Offer Top-notch Features Standard Horizon GX3000S Matrix The beefy Standard Horizon GX3000S Matrix, with its large display, took Best Choice honors. The remote mic-capable radio can be connected to the maker’s RAM+ CMP25 microphone or VH-310 handset (above). Standard Horizon bests the field; West Marine earns Budget Buy. T he technology behind a marine VHF radio transceiver’s basic capabilities has remained relativity unchanged for many years.
PAGE 2
how we tested Making the Grade P ractical Sailor testers ran all the radios through a series of bench tests—including transmitter power output, frequency accuracy and stability, and receiver sensitivity—using our Ramsey COM3010 monitor. Regulations set by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) restrict the maximum power output of a marine VHF transmitter to 25 watts and specify the need for a low-power setting, typically 1 watt, for harbor use.
PAGE 3
ps VALUE guide mid-priced fixed-mount vhf radios Maker cobra cobra Icom Raymarine raymarine standard horizon model F75 F80 M304 49 55 GX1500S Price $150 $150 $145 $155 $220 $150 jmsonline.com consumers marine.com consumers marine.com consumers marine.com consumers marine.com consumers marine.
PAGE 4
electronics standard horizon uniden west marine west marine $ GX30000S UM425 VHF550 VHF650 $190 $160 $150 $140 consumers marine.com boatersworld. com westmarine. com westmarine. com 3 years 3 years 3 years 3 years 1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3 + ments, and initiating AquaQuake (a Yes (2) No No No low frequency tone used to clear water Yes No No No from the speaker). Yes Yes Yes Yes Small knobs conYes No No No trol power, volume, and squelch. A D D SC101 D low-battery warn7.1 x 4.
PAGE 5
a closer look VHF Displays A Standard Horizon GX1500S Cobra F80 n easy-to-read display screen is a key feature in a VHF. The screens of the radios in this test varied in size, amount of information displayed, and readability. A few examples include the Standard Horizon GX1500S’s large combination segmented and lower price tag. The Ray 55 has an optional mic relocation kit; however, the standard radio mic cannot be disconnected.
PAGE 6
buyer’s checklist electronics Standard Horizon Quest X Standard Horizon matrix The Standard Horizon GX3000S Matrix is a burly radio with a large footprint and an outsized display. (See photo, page 14.) At the high end of mid-priced radios, the Matrix has features usually found only on top-ofthe-line units. Rotary knobs adjust power, volume, squelch, and channel and menu selection.
PAGE 7
electronics The Cobra F80 test radio’s gasket seal was not installed properly and forced a gap in the joint that should not have been there. According to Cobra, this was an assembly issue and it is not a common problem. displays large block letters and numbers along with channel comments. Transmitter power, channel group, memory scan, and transmit/receive messages are also displayed onscreen. When GPS data is input, date, time, position, course, and speed can be displayed by pressing the Select key.