VHF Radio

[Guido19]

All- Who makes the best VHF within reason money wise $150-$200)-? Looking to swap out my 20 year old Icom on my 27ft Chase.

 

[Holokai]

Have always has luck with Standard Horizon. I believe new needs to have internal or external GPS capability for DSC. I’d go with a model with internal GPS to simplify installation. Something like this:

Sites-WestMarine-Site

West Marine

www.westmarine.com

 

[Guido19]

Have always has luck with Standard Horizon. I believe new needs to have internal or external GPS capability for DSC. I’d go with a model with internal GPS to simplify installation. Something like this:

Sites-WestMarine-Site

West Marine

www.westmarine.com

You're the best! Thank you.

 

[blindmullet]

Just bought a standard horizon with GPS off of the GPSstore for $159 and there is a $50 rebate. Same one that's listed above.

 

[Divajean]

All- Who makes the best VHF within reason money wise $150-$200)-? Looking to swap out my 20 year old Icom on my 27ft Chase.

Swapped my old icon for standard horizon gx1600, has dsc and linked to my garmin echomap, 180.00 at cabelos...love it.. my 91 seafarer still had loran c on it ,best of luck

 

[Parthery]

Std Horizon GX1850GB. N2K connectivity and a built in GPS. Available for a couple bucks either side of $200 and a rebate is currently available through the end of September.

 

[Guido19]

Just bought a standard horizon with GPS off of the GPSstore for $159 and there is a $50 rebate. Same one that's listed above.

Thank you!

 

[Guido19]

Swapped my old icon for standard horizon gx1600, has dsc and linked to my garmin echomap, 180.00 at cabelos...love it.. my 91 seafarer still had loran c on it ,best of luck

Thank you!

 

[Guido19]

Std Horizon GX1850GB. N2K connectivity and a built in GPS. Available for a couple bucks either side of $200 and a rebate is currently available through the end of September.

Thank you!

 

[Ling king]

ICOM M506 with AIS Its a little over your budget. But so worth the money. With AIS connected to your head unit. You can track commercial boats. The fog gets thick out here. Just a little bit more insurance and safety.

 

[Guido19]

ICOM M506 with AIS Its a little over your budget. But so worth the money. With AIS connected to your head unit. You can track commercial boats. The fog gets thick out here. Just a little bit more insurance and safety.

I'll check it out- great advice about fog. Thank you!

 

[seasick]

I think the current regulations are that radios have to have the DSC feature but do not have to have internal GPS. Personally, I prefer the radios with internal GPS, especially if you have older plotters that are a bit trickier to interface to. In addition, builtin GPS acts as a backup to the GPS in your plotter.

 

[SkunkBoat]

I have the standard horizon GX2200 with AIS. If you boat at night or in the fog...get AIS...its worth the extra money if you are displaying the symbols on your chart plotter.
Just had a couple trips in bad fog and dark and it really helped. Doesn't get everyone but it sure helps immensly...confirms the radar and tells you the direction of travel.

 

[glacierbaze]

All VHF radio‘s sold since 2006 must have DSC capability, but are not required to have internal GPS. Internal is the way to go, but, if you want information such as a nearby mayday to show up on your chart plotter, you still must make the external connections using the small wires on your VHF and GPS cable. Very much worth the effort.

 

[wahoo33417]

Standard Horizon with internal GPS and AIS has been well worth it for me.

I was not able to get the AIS to talk with my brand new Garmin plotter however. So I had a reputable, local marine electronics shop come out and do it. They sent two different techs to try and no connection was made. They just concluded that sometimes you can't get a Standard Horizon to talk with a Garmin.

At least the radio is placed where I can see the targets on it's little screen pretty easily.

 

[SkunkBoat]

Standard Horizon with internal GPS and AIS has been well worth it for me.

I was not able to get the AIS to talk with my brand new Garmin plotter however. So I had a reputable, local marine electronics shop come out and do it. They sent two different techs to try and no connection was made. They just concluded that sometimes you can't get a Standard Horizon to talk with a Garmin.

At least the radio is placed where I can see the targets on it's little screen pretty easily.

I have mine working on a Garmin 4208. I think it uses the NMEA 0813 not NMEA2k. I'll look at it and get back to you

I do remember that the Garmin needs to have port set to HS (High speed- 34800 baud rate)

 

[Fishtales]

I'd say any made today are fine.