channels.
Does anyone have instructions on how to program this handheld? The manual says to contact your dealer, I did (west marine), they passed the buck to their 1-800 #, they passed the buck to ICOM.
any help would be appreciated.
thx,
Kurt
Icom passed the buck
When I contacted Icom they passed the buck to the dealer…
don’t believe
you’re supposed to use vhf marine radios for land use. In the northeast such usage is verboten.
one could only hope…
someone will come out with a nice integrated VHF/GPS/FRS(GMS) radio so you can carry one device that does it ‘all’ for you. 
did you get anywhere with the dealer?
Different channels
The M-88 can be programed for other VHF channels. These generally require a separate licence.
You are correct that the Marine channels are not for land use.
Marine VHF Radios are not for Land Use
The FCC grabs several deer hunters down my way every season for using their Marine Radios on land. And the fine is not cheap.
SYOW
Not so simple
>you’re supposed to use vhf marine radios for land >use. In the northeast such usage is verboten.
This is not quite correct. There are two basic sets of regulations concerning the general type of radios under discussion. First, the FCC approves radios for operation on certain bands and modes. So technically, a marine band only
VHF radio could not, without FCC approval, be used on say ham radio bands or commerical land radio bands. Second, only certain uses can be made of certain frequencies. The M88 had been approved by the FCC for use in bands other than the marine channels and so when properly programmed it can be legally used by those with proper authority on non-marine bands. To have it programmed, you need to find a real radio dealer with a tech department as opposed to a mass retail chain store. It is true that handheld VHF marine band radios cannot legally be used on land if operated on marine channels.
ICOMs M88 manual does not specify
which “land use” channels can be programmed. However, my assumption is the MURS channels which are 151.82, 151.88, 151.94, 154.57 & 154.6Mhz can be programmed in. The MURS channels are available to the average “joe” without any license (per FCC). Therefore, if I can get them programmed in, this radio could replace an FRS radio and get much better range than my FRS.
I’ll try another dealer other than “chain”, thanks for the input.
kurt
M88 Not approved for MURS
It is approved for Land Mobile use which falls under a different set of regulations and frequency allocations. I have seen someone say it can be programmed for 2M Ham use, but I don’t believe it is approved for that use.