I chose my model
specifically because it takes AA’s. The idea was taht, like certain camping stove fuels, AAs are always easy to find on the road in a pinch. With an extended paddling trip in mind. In case you can’t find a place/have the time to recharge.
See post by bnystrom - Jul-14-06 7:48 AM
After advocationg bags for years
and having a mild disagreement with nystrom about it, missing a few radio calls because the bag muted the speaker a bit, and reading a recent incident report I say do not bag it.
For two hundred bucks…
…one can buy 2-3 spare rechargeable lithium ion batteries, which should be adequate for several weeks - if not months - of daily usage. While the charger would be nice on an extended epedition, it doesn’t make sense for most people.
Uniden Voyager
I have one and thought it was great until I found that the speaker will not purge water out for some time after submersion. It takes 15-20 minutes to get sound out of it again after being doing some rolling. I consider this a major safety problem, as if I really need the radio, it will have been submersed.
speaker and water in Voyageur
– Last Updated: Jul-16-06 10:39 AM EST –
Really? That's not so great. I checked that out on my voyageur and found that I needed to turn the volume up right after submersion. The fact that yours has the problem suggests quality control isn't what it should be.
VHF handheld with DSC
Just FYI… I did actually find a handheld which features DSC. The Uniden Mystic features a built in GPS (Magellan) and has DSC capabilities. It’s $400 at West Marine but… $269.00 from defender.com. What I find somewhat baffling is that the software they include for the GPS covers… LAND!!! LOL Wouldn’t it make more sense to bundle it with the BlueNav software considering it’s a MARINE radio??? I suppose they want you to buy the software, can’t blame them for that. Still… it’s kind of like including an outboard motor with a car instead of a normal engine. LOL West Marine reports battery life to be 10 hours (I’m assuming this is from WM’s own tests because the figures that they list in their catalog are different than what the manufacturer’s claim for example, they report the m88 as having a 20 hour battery life, Icom says it’s 24 hours (Uniden has no information regarding battery life on their website)). They didn’t specify how they arrived at that number. If that’s simultaneous GPS and radio use then I’m impressed but as far as battery life goes on a radio… 10 hours isn’t that good.
Cheers, Joe
How much submersion.
Beginner here. For those who wear a VHF radio unbagged, do you roll with it on? I assume you must go through surf with it on. Would you be comforable swimming for 20 minutes with it on? When you get in, do you just rinse with fresh water and set it out to dry?
Thanks
Paul S.
Specific to Pacific Northwest
Paul,
good to bump into you again.
Your answer is yes, you can leave the radio on. In your paddling area, you would want to be carefull. When I was paddling in salt water I always bagged my radio. I don’t care if it says water proof, salt water will find a way to cause havic.
Here in Chicago I very rarely bag my radio.
I always carry the bag, rather the radio is in it or not. I keep the bag tethered to my right should strap and stowe it in rear pocket.
Good luck
Wade
Answers to your questions
I use only radios that are rated as “submersible” (Icom M88 and M1V), so the following answers are based on that.
“For those who wear a VHF radio unbagged, do you roll with it on?”
Absolutely. The JIS 7 standard that most submersible radios conform to specifies immersion in one meter of water for 30 minutes, so 2’ of water for a few seconds is no problem.
"I assume you must go through surf with it on.
Yup. Whether the radio is on or off makes no difference in its resistance to water.
"Would you be comforable swimming for 20 minutes with it on?
I’ve done it several times during rescue training. Again, it makes no difference if the radio is on or not.
“When you get in, do you just rinse with fresh water and set it out to dry?”
Yes. It’s critical to get any salt out of the speaker and off the knobs.
A heads up on rinsing…
>>When you get in, do you just rinse with fresh
water and set it out to dry?"
Yes. It’s critical to get any salt out of the
speaker and off the knobs.
With “waterproof” electronics I’ve seen people use the squirter in the kitchen sink (or even worse, a garden hose). Rinsing with water pressure can easily exceed the amount of pressure that the seals were designed to handle. The lowest impact on the seals would be to just fill a bucket (or some kind of “super sized” plastic soft drink cup) just high enough to cover the radio and gently dunk it a few times. You’re probably okay lightly running water out of the tap too (which is what I do myself but that’s not the “official” electronically politically correct response LOL). Just make sure you’re not subjecting the unit to a strong jet of water (water coming out of the tap should still be transparent and quiet… not white water rapids).
Cheers, Joe
Bought the M72
Went down to West Marine in Portsmouth, NH where they had both the M72 and M88 on display. After holding both of them in my hand I bought the M72. The land channels are of no use to me (unless it could do FRS or GMRS bands which it can’t). The Mil Spec shock ratings were appealing and if this was for land use I’d have probably opted for the M88 however considering I’ll only be using it briefly on land to get the weather forecast I figure that the risk of a drop is low. Most of the time if I drop it, it will either be in the boat and if I miss… well… I’ll probably never see it again.
I charged it up and have had it on for at least 24 hours scanning (a good chunk of that time I also had it tuned into the various weather stations with the volume up). So, battery life just scanning and receiving goes way beyond the 15 to 16 hours that mfr rates it for (so that 5% transmit must really suck the battery quickly).
Thanks for all the discussion everyone.
Cheers, Joe