SSB Radio with Separate Front Panel for Beginners

[myocean]

I have not yet experience with SSB devices (but a call sign) and want to install one on my boat.
I seems like the Icom 718 is good for beginners because not too complicated. However I would prefer having one with seperate front panel because it would better fit into the boat. Which is recommendable for beginners?

[sailvayu]

Unless you think you will be doing a lot of ham radio stuff I would recommend you stick with a marine SSB as they are much simpler to use. The Icom 802 has a separate head and you can get the Icom 710 with a separate head. The 718 I have now was given to me because the owner thought it too complicated for regular marine use. I have and still use my 710 quite a bit even with the 718 installed. Also if you plan to use a pactor modem, installation is easy with the 710 and 802, The marine radios produce 150 watts output vers 100 for the 718. All things to think about.

KJ4WXF

[belizesailor]

As suggested, if you can still find an old ICOM 710RT (remote mounted control head) they are a good rig. ICOM no longer makes the RT version of this radio, but I've had one for many years and it is still going strong. The user interface can be a little clunky, but in typical use aboard a cruising boat you are going to tend to use the same channels most of the time. So, program them into memory and the user interface becomes less of an issue. If you wanted to get heavily into HAM as a hobby then this is not the ideal radio, but it can operate on most marine and HAM frequencies (although some units you may need to "unlock" the HAM frequencies -- just a software change).

The newer radios are more compact, but the 710 series (both RT and not) were/are good basic work horse marine radios.

[plebian99]

Get a Kenwood TS480 instead of the IC718. This radio has a remote panel..

Originally Posted by myocean

I have not yet experience with SSB devices (but a call sign) and want to install one on my boat.
I seems like the Icom 718 is good for beginners because not too complicated. However I would prefer having one with seperate front panel because it would better fit into the boat. Which is recommendable for beginners?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by plebian99

Get a Kenwood TS480 instead of the IC718. This radio has a remote panel..

That's a ham radio, not marine SSB, if I'm not mistaken.

[plebian99]

Yes, the TS480 is a ham radio. I only suggested it because the original poster
indicated that he was looking at the IC718.

The Sailor System 5000 is another nice remote head radio. Many of the Vendee
boats use this model.

There are many choices however for a leisure craft I doubt that professional
brands like Sailor, Furuno, JRC, or Skanti would be the first pick. In professional maritime
service these are the standard choices.

[witzgall]

We have the ts-480 ham radio. It is a nice radio, I would get the 200w version if I bought again, as the internal antenna tuner on the SAT model is not needed on a boat. It is not weatherproof in any way, so if that is important based on install location, it would not be a good choice. In particular, the connectors to and from the radio unit, head and mike are telephone/Ethernet type connectors.

I just checked out the SS 5000 you mentioned, as I have never heard of it before. It looks very nice, expensive no doubt. As it take 24v only, and uses 60w!!! in receive, I can see why it is not on many recreational boats.

Chris

Originally Posted by plebian99

Yes, the TS480 is a ham radio. I only suggested it because the original poster
indicated that he was looking at the IC718.

The Sailor System 5000 is another nice remote head radio. Many of the Vendee
boats use this model.

There are many choices however for a leisure craft I doubt that professional
brands like Sailor, Furuno, JRC, or Skanti would be the first pick. In professional maritime
service these are the standard choices.