HT Marine Radio Reviews

[EEL]

Powerboat-Reports has done two reviews this year of handheld marine radios.

The following link is to the report on the more epensive ones:

http://www.standardhorizon.com/PDF/Powerbo...ortsArticle.pdf

The results show why the M88 is highly regarded even if it did not "win" the review whatever that means. The Standrd-Horizon 500 is selling at Hamilton Marine for $140 which makes it a great deal for a great radio. I know members of the club found another model from Standard-Horizon lacking, but this is a different radio and seems to be from the commercial/military line as opposed to the ham/aircraft line so in theory tougher. If you look the TAC radios carried in Iraq you will notice the similarity.

Another review by Powerboat Reports of inexpensive radios found them to be on par performance wise and the Uniden radios did well along with the HX270S which at $99 is a real bargain.

Lots of choices in good radios seems to be the message.

Of course we all have our favorites and the M88 is the radio of choice for some with good reason.

Ed Lawson

[shewhorn]

I've been pleased with my Icom M-72. Gobs of battery life, small, fits in the hand nicely (as well as a PFD pocket... I'm not sure that I could fit an M-88 into the pocket of my PFD), most powerful transmitter of any handheld (although the extra watt won't really make a huge difference) and it's rated to 1.5 meters where the rest are rated to 1 meter. I've yet to see if that slightly more robust spec will make a difference.

Cheers, Joe

[Brian Nystrom]

What they didn't test well at all was waterproofness, which is the area where the high-end S-H radios have been sorely lacking. Putting a radio in a bucket of water for half an hour doesn't tell you much, as that test is well below the JIS-7 standard. For a kayaker, that's far more important than whether the radio transmits at 5 or 6 watts, especially since we use them at the low power setting (1 watt) most of the time and our transmitting range is limited by our close proximity to the water, rather than by radio power. Perhaps their new models are better, but I'd want to see more definitive testing before choosing one over the proven M88 and M1V from Icom.

[EEL]

>What they didn't test well at all was waterproofness,

Agreed.

> For a kayaker, that's far more important

>than whether the radio transmits at 5 or 6 watts,

Since you have to double the power to make a meaningful difference, there is no difference worth mentioning between 5 and 6 watts.

I think in addition to waterproofness, battery operating life, max clean audio output, ease of handling and operation with cold hands/gloves are very important features too.

> Perhaps

>their new models are better,

Although I prefer Yaesu ham HT radios over Icom, I never liked the Yaesu radios built around the chassis that is known as the HX 470 in the Marine version. Other Standard-Horizon marine radios seem much more like hardened commercial gear than modified consumer radios and I suspect they do much better.

>but I'd want to see more

>definitive testing before choosing one over the prove M88

>and M1V from Icom.

Being from Missouri, I consider that a wise stance.

Ed Lawson

[shewhorn]

>For a kayaker, that's far more important

>than whether the radio transmits at 5 or 6 watts, especially

>since we use them at the low power setting (1 watt) most of

>the time and our transmitting range is limited by our close

>proximity to the water, rather than by radio power. Perhaps

>their new models are better, but I'd want to see more

>definitive testing before choosing one over the proven M88

>and M1V from Icom.

FWIW When doing my research on radios, Icom actually recommended the M72 over the more expensive M88 for its more robust waterproof specification (given the description of the environment I'd be using it in and frequency of exposure to full submersion). My decision to go with that particular radio was based on waterproof rating and equally as important if not more important than that was battery life. The form factor sealed the deal for me (the M88 by comparison is clunky and awkward to hold). I was really leaning towards the M88 as actual reports from people seemed to indicate that it had a well proven track record compared to other brands and models however the M72 had a little more going for it for the specific application of sea kayaking (and the speaker clearing feature has turned out to be more useful than I thought it would be).

So far it's been a great little radio.

Cheers, Joe