I ordered a vhf

Well I broke down and ordered a new VHF radio off of ebay...lol

I did my research and decided on the Standard Horizon HX600s-Li

Got if for 87 dollars off of ebay...from turtle marine tackle i think it was...its new and they had a 100% positive rating so when it comes in i guess we will see

I know alot of people on here have gone with icom but i just couldn't bring myself to spend that much money on it...

The m88 and the hx600 are practically the same size and fromt the tests i have read they are pretty close in transmitter and reciever quality...plus the hx600 has capability for am/fm and airband recieve...am/fm probably pretty useless accept to wear out a battery quickly...the airband could be usefull in knowing when a search aircraft is near you...but you would have to know what frequency they used...

All the tests i could find (not very many on vhfs in general)  found the battery to last 15 hours +

so for 87 bucks you find me a better deal

ill let you guys know how it works out once i get it and use it

You're in West SEattle, yes?  When you get it, email me and I'll take my handheld out in the yard and see if I can raise you on the VHF---I'm on Maury Island.

All the tests i could find (not very many on vhfs in general)  found the battery to last 15 hours +

Welcome to the world of on-the-water smacktalk.   

That's a pretty common time for a VHF to last.  Battery sizes don't vary much on VHF's.  And TX power is pretty standard, as is listening volume (amount of power burned in the speaker).  Note that the 15 hours is usually quoted at 5W transmit.  Scaling back to 1W and turning volume down (or even using an earbud) should get you a lot more life if you're concerned about it.  I'm currently writing an article to this effect and once I get the math behind the numbers done, I'll share.

-Allen

im not too worried about the time the battery lasts...if i am out there for more than 15 hours theres a bigger problem lol...but i did see some that were tested that only lasted 12-14 hours

as for transmitter and receiver quality...your right most of them tested almost the same...the ones that had problems (which was pretty much all the brands)  had problems with frequency selection at extreme temperatures...but lets face it the minimal problem they discovered wouldn't even prevent you from transmitting and receiving...the deviations were so minimal...and we are talking at about 220 degrees Fahrenheit lol

west marines cost for this vhf was 150 so i think at 87 dollars it should be a steal...not sure why they had it cheaper but there were several ebay stores and a few online stores that were around the 90-100 price...all the rest were 150 and above

all the ebay stores selling them had 100 positive feedback so hopefully im not getting scammed here lol

Links to the reviews you looked at???  I'd love to see them.

-Allen

http://www.marine-electronics-reviews.com/handheld-vhf-radio.html

there is one more recent one...they did an ok job...they don't really give you many hard numbers
but you can get an idea of there test criteria by following the how we tested link

the hx600s they tested was the old version with the 1400mAH nickel metal hydride battery

the new version that I ordered is a 1700mAH Lithium ion battery...i will let you know how it works out

http://www.powerboat-reports.com/sample/vhf.html

Here is another but it is very old models and outdated...but was just using it as a comparison of manufacturer quality (whatever that is worth)

there was one more but i can't remember what website and it wasn't that good anyways...
its seems like all the radios have there problems its just according to which problem you want...most of them probably won't ever affect what we use them for anyways

wish there were some better reviews that actually but a hard numbers from tests in a chart...but i couldn't find any

Thanks yessno.  I'll check those out.

Did you know that antenna placement relative to your head has an effect on transmission.  If you have marginal transmission some time and need it to get better, try tilting you head away from the antenna while positioning the antenna as vertical as possible all the while keeping the antenna as high as possible.  Or raise the VHF up and away from your head and shout a little louder.  Your head can actually interfere with the transmission wave.

-Allen

everything affects an antenna...

we built some back in school and had to tune it to a certain frequency and get a 2:1 swr

i learned how much anything and everything affects an antenna lol...you couldn't accurately tune it while standing next to it

Did you know that antenna placement relative to your head has an effect on transmission.

Try holding your VHF radio antenna in contact with a carbon fiber fishing rod.

I just bought one of these!

http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Cobra_HH300_Handheld_VHF_Radio&i=420054&merchID=4016&r=view&aID=506

Now I just need to figure out how to use it, and where to keep it on the yak.

Sony rechargeable batteries, with charger, were an additional $27 at Fred Meyers. It use's 6 AA's.

probably should keep it on your person

i have purchased 3 used handheld vhf radios from ebay...2 raymarine and one standard horizon...i love them and they all work great...i got them for about $50 each used and sent the battery out to be rebuilt so i have new batteries also...i keep one in a ditch bag on the big boat and one for kayak use and one spare...ebay is my favorite place to buy boating stuff...i found a brand new kayak PDF for my wife for half retail price recently