Choice between Icom and Standard Horizon fixed mount VHF's

[Kalinka1]

Thanks everybody for your inputs. I went with an Icom 424G. This probably guaranties that my Sailor will be repaired when I get back to Ireland.

[Seawindow]

Well we have both. ICOM M505 as the main set. 7 years old and still going strong. Also attractive as we have a second mic/control at the helm (COMMANDMIC III). Great system for us.

Also have Standard Horizon as handheld VHF in emergency. Has rechargeable battery or optional AA battery cradle which is great for a grab bag.

[Sandero]

I installed the GX2200 and replaced the coax and the reception and signal is WAY improved.

The radio is packed with features and few buttons and knobs which is typical of electronics these days. I suppose once you learn to navigate the GX2200... you will have a helluva radio. I am still learning so this review is probably not helpful.

[Reiheld]

Thanks for this information. We've made do with a simple handheld VHF and a cell phone, but now we anticipate going farther from home waters, and figure it's time to install a real VHF radio for a homemade houseboat that will never be out of sight of land, though, I hope, far along the AICW from its coastal Carolina home. Any further thoughts for a novice on what features are nice to have, and what's vital, and what's frippery in this situation?

[ka4wja]

Sandero, et al,

Your experience here is very common...

Originally Posted by Sandero

I installed the GX2200 and replaced the coax and the reception and signal is WAY improved.

The unfortunate facts of our lives are:
a) many coaxial cable connections are poor....some were never all that good, but many have deteriorated over time as well...
b) once moisture seeps into the coaxial cable (from the poorly weather-proofed connections), the cable ages rapidly and the cable's loss increases...

So, when someone buys a new radio, I usually recommend they change the cable/connectors (and antenna) as well...
It's labor intensive....but not expensive...
If you cannot install proper connectors (not the "marine store" crimp connectors), properly....then hire a pro, or buy pre-assembled cables...


Fair winds...

John

[ka4wja]

Reiheld,
For the coastal Carolina, and/or ICW....
1) The first thing is to use a good quality antenna (Shakespeare) and as short of a run of good quality cable (RG-213 or if your run is shorter than 50', RG-8x) as you can....and be sure to either use professionally pre-assembled cables, or hire a pro to install the cable and connectors for you...(do not ty to use "marine store" crimp-on connectors!!)

If you were a sailboat and had bridges to pass under....or even if you have to pass under bridges now with small clearances....I recommend the Shakespeare 3' SS Whip antenna (this is an end-fed 1/2-wave vertical)
If you will never have bridge clearance issues, then a longer / higher-gain VHF antenna, such as an 8' to 12' long, "6db" Shakespeare Galaxy antenna...

And, again, good quality RG-213 coax....such as Davis, Belden, Commscope, Times, etc....

If you wish some direct info / links as to exactly what antenna and cable, give me some more info and I'll point you in the right direction...


2) Making sure the radio is installed and wired correctly....use adequate size (bigger than what you might think) wiring for the radio, and make darn sure you have good, solid power to the radio....
Too long of a run of wire, and/or run thru a poorly-wired electrical panel or breaker panel, can mean a waste of money on a nice new radio...


3) Be sure to connect a GPS receiver to your new radio...or buy a radio with GPS built-in...
As this will allow you to utilize the radio's DSC signaling features....which can save your lives in an emergency!!

Have a look here for some VHF-DSC info...
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...J6QugtO2epizxF

Originally Posted by Reiheld

Thanks for this information. We've made do with a simple handheld VHF and a cell phone, but now we anticipate going farther from home waters, and figure it's time to install a real VHF radio for a homemade houseboat that will never be out of sight of land, though, I hope, far along the AICW from its coastal Carolina home. Any further thoughts for a novice on what features are nice to have, and what's vital, and what's frippery in this situation?

3) Notice I didn't mention the radio yet??
That's cuz, the antenna and cable (and their proper installation) is what matters the most...
But...

But, as for radio features....for ICW, bridges, and/or other high-traffic areas...

a) a "dual-watch" (or "tri-watch") feature, allowing you to monitor two (or 3) channels at once...

b) as much as I loath recommending "technology" to fix a non-problem, in your case, I will actually recommend that you consider a VHF radio with an AIS receiver built-in...such as the Icom M-506AIS, Icom M-605, or S/H GX-2200...

c) I almost always recommend a radio with a remote microphone/control capability.....and depending on your boat's layout and your use, this should be a consideration....

d) as for "everything else"...almost all marine vhf radios will have all the standard/necessary features...so, no worries there...



I hope this helps..

Fair winds..

John

[Reiheld]

Wow, John, that is super helpful!! Exactly the sort of thing we need to know. Thank you very much for taking the time.
Amelia R.

[hsi88]

As I'd like to add an AIS transponder I think a SH GX6500 is in my future!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N3Y4LVH/

[barnakiel]

With an ais transponder there are countless options and many of these good.

SH unit does not have e.g. wifi, and its screen is marginal. Hence you must prioritize whether you want SOTDMA (only some newer units have it), screen, wifi data, direct DSC calling, IP67, or what name you.

To me direct dsc calling of ais targets is a bonus but to someone else a wifi ais data bridge may be of more value.

Endless options, many good, do your homework then shop around.

To me, EmTrak B400 looks great on paper and matched with the right radio it is expected to deliver direct dsc dialing too, so ...

;-)

But I am not buying yet. Only late summer, just before our departure.

Cheers,
b.

[toddster8]

I have the EmTrak B400 coupled to the SH GX2000. They do make a pretty good pair, but there are some screwy things involved in mating them up, so I wouldn't do this at the last minute.

In order to get the B400 to output GPS data to the GX2000, I needed to get a software patch from EmTrak.
Early versions of the GX2000 had an RS232 port instead of an NMEA 0183 port - but this seems to have been corrected in the newer versions.
There are some either/or choices to make when connecting them - e.g. the GX2000 can be configured to transmit received DSC positions to a chart plotter OR receive GPS data from an external unit.
It ought to make DSC calls to an AIS target in either configuration, but the GX2000 almost never displays the vessel name, so you know who to address (only the MMSI), though connected nav programs on the laptop usually do. Maybe this has been addressed though, since I have GX2000 version 1 and they seem to be up to version 5 or 6 now. Firmware can be updated by some dealers.
It's possible that running all the NMEA connections through a multiplexer will eliminate these issues, but I haven't yet verified that. (Need to fix my old laptop so that I can configure the multiplexer.)
In short - it's not quite "plug and play."

[barnakiel]

Doh. You know, plug and pray.

Within the same make, there is some plug'ability, but across brands it is less so.

It used to be Standard Horizon, Garmin, Furuno were very open-ended and we could interface them quite well. Nowadays Garmin went the way of Raymarine. My friend here is a Furuno guy and he has his bag of stories too.

It seems only SH is today still open about what interfaces they use, what cables, plugs and standards & speeds they use etc. But this is of little consolation when all major brands are trying to do everything to stop you from buying anything else but their own.

b.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by toddster8

I have the EmTrak B400 coupled to the SH GX2000. They do make a pretty good pair, but there are some screwy things involved in mating them up, so I wouldn't do this at the last minute.

(...)

Any chance you have a link to B400 manual online? I have found a brochure but would like to read into the full manual to pre-visualise the interfaces.

Cheers,
b.

[Ziggy]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Within the same make, there is some plug'ability, but across brands it is less so.

It used to be Standard Horizon, Garmin, Furuno were very open-ended and we could interface them quite well. Nowadays Garmin went the way of Raymarine. My friend here is a Furuno guy and he has his bag of stories too.

I find the compatibility problems between brands are often exaggerated. I have a Garmin chartplotter and wind instrument, Vesper AIS, Airmar "smart" knotmeter, Raymarine autopilot, Furuno radar, KVH heading sensor, and a Standard Horizon VHF. The only compatibility issue I encountered was that I had to buy adapter cables to go from NMEA 2000 backbone to Seatalk ng.

[barnakiel]

I have seen quite a share of compatibility challenges. At times I get paid to set and integrate systems (boat nav systems, wifi, laptops, etc).

One example: last year helping a friend with a Simrad plotter, a Simrad AIS and a Simrad vhf.

The AIS did not talk to the plotter, the AIS said it sent a dsc call request to the vhf but the vhf never sent out the call, the vhf did not forward the dsc info to the plotter either. The plotter claimed the wind instrument was present but failed to display wind data on the screen.

We solved some issues there but not all of them.

So, from my perspective, compatibility are not just an inter brand thing but even (to a lesser extent) an intra brand problem too.

Most users cannot sort them out without external help. Brand tech support can be at times next to useless.

Imho the best thing to do, if one buys plenty of stuff, buy it at once, all from the same brand and GENERATION and from the same dealer. Then force the dealer to get it work and make 100% sure ALL the functions you want work flawlessly.

Otherwise you may end up asking 'silly' questions at CF. ;-)

b.

[continuouswave]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

...SH is nothing more than a re-branded Yaesu to create the appearance of an American nameplate. Rather disingenuous marketing in my opinion....

That is quite an odd position to take, considering "ICOM" is an acronym for Inoue Communication. Does that also meet your criterion for "disingenuous marketing"?

Also, it was not that long ago that Standard-Horizon was part of Motorola. Then they were re-joined with Yaesu.

For some more history see

Standard-Horizon To Be Acquired by Motorola
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/001665.html

Yaesu’s Amateur Radio Division Breaks with Motorola, Changes Name to Yaesu Musen
http://www.arrl.org/news/yaesu-s-ama...to-yaesu-musen

I believe the "Standard" name goes back to c.1953. I don't think you could reasonably expect them to abandon it now based on your allegations of being "disingenuous". It has been around for a long time.