the VHF radio on our boat appears to transmit but does not recieve. its fairly old, I suspect about 15-20 years old but seems otherwise in good shape. anyone know what I might do to make this work, or should I just give in and buy a new one?
You can buy a VHS radio for $99.00 bucks, why not ? I don't know where you sail, but look at your VHS radio as another piece of safety equipment. Also the new ones have a lot more features, even the ones for $99.00. I also look at a handheld radio as a back up only.
Last edited by Freesail99; 03-29-2007 at 08:00 PM.
Depends what's wrong with it. Perhaps it receives just fine too, but the connection to the speaker is cut off or corroded out somewhere. It would be worth at least taking a look at the insides yourself, perhaps trying earphones (if there's a jack for them) or another speaker, and/or a circuit-testing meter before tossing the old one.
Whatever the problem is, you should replace the radio with a DSC compatible VHF radio and interface it with your GPS receiver. Then verify the new radio setup for proper operation.
we're actually daysailers for the most part. so I'm thinking if I get one it'll just be a handheld. but maybe I will try to put a new speaker/mic on there if I can find one.
I certainly wouldn't rely on, or spend much money on a 10 year old radio. I used a handheld for a longtime and it was more than sufficient. I bought it on Amazon.com for around $60. My new boat has a base unit which works great, but I do miss having the handheld in cockpit once in while, (like going through the locks or entering a new port).
I use the handheld 10 times as much as the base unit...but it's the base unit I use to call out to fellow skippers when I want to rendezvous 10 NM down range.
Mainly I use the handheld to monitor 16 and the weather channels, and to call my club and make sure they haven't given my dock away during a regatta!
Connect with Facebook
radio question
A very good idea.
