I need to buy a handheld VHF radio. The prices are from $70 for a Midland Nautica 3 ( 5 watt ) to a Standard Horizon HX850 w\GPS at $200+. The HX850 w\GPS is a Lat\Long. display, not a plotting GPS.
Can someone give me some suggestions on a good handheld radio for the money? Thanks.
Depends on where you fish and what you want to use it for. I wouldn’t recommend using a handheld for a primary radio on the ocean. Go with a 6 watt, floatable radio with a lithium battery.
As Lapper said,not the best for offshore but a back up maybe. Great for local and inshore fishing though.
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Depends on where you fish and what you want to use it for. I wouldn't recommend using a handheld for a primary radio on the ocean. Go with a 6 watt, floatable radio with a lithium battery.
We fish out of Charleston - offshore. The handheld isn’t the primary radio - it’ll just be for backup.
There’s a lot of handheld VHFs on the market just not sure which one’s are worth looking at. Thought about a Icom or a Standard Horizon but I don’t know of anyone that has one to ask an opinion.
2000 Sea Pro 255 CC
250 Johnson Ocean Pro
" Always have a plan. "
i looked into them a while back because I was looking for a backup to put in my ditch bag. . . i based my decision on the battery life and the durability and most importantly, how it will handle when wet. i ended up going with the Icom M34. It floats, has a 9 hour battery life on lithium batteries, and it has a waterproof rating of IPx7. you can also get a battery pack that uses standard alkaline batteries. the way i look at it is if i ever have to use it i want the best, i want it to work, wet or dry, and i want it to take batteries in case i run out of power
2350 Bluewater
I second that.
That’s the same reasons I bought the ICOM M34
I almost always have a stash of batteries on the boat and in my ditch bag.
FYI - West Marine has the Icom M34 for $20 bucks off right now until the 31st. The are regularly 169.99 and they are going for 149.99. They also have a new, M36 . . it is the same as the M34 but it has 6W of output power vs. 5W from the M34. I might upgrade if the price goes down some. The M36 is listed for 189.99.
2350 Bluewater