From: torsten@unisql.UUCP (Torsten Weirich)
Newsgroups: rec.boats
Subject: Re: Help in choosing a VHF radio
Date: 16 Oct 92 13:09:28 GMT
Organization: UniSQL, Inc., Austin, Texas, USA

In article <6140077@hplsla.hp.com> bobc@hplsla.hp.com (Bob Cutler) writes:


   The Uniden seems to work very well.  The receiver is every bit as sensitive
   as my other radios, and the transmitter hasn't given me any problems.
   Frankly I don't think that a more expensive radio will perform that much
   better.  The biggest problems that I have with it are the audio and the
   display.  The audio is loud enough, but the fidelity is lousy.  I'd also
   prefer that the speaker was mounted on the front.  As for the LED display, it 
   seems to be more prone to washing out in bright light than with the other
   radios I own.  I honestly don't miss the scanning functions or the up/down 
   mike keys since the radio is mounted close to the helm.

   Bob Cutler

I own a $120 (on sale 3 years ago) Ray Jefferson.  Like the Uniden that Bob
describes, mine transmits and receives extremely well.  I've even been able
to communicate with another boat over 15 miles away, which is pretty amazing
given the fact that we have lots of high-walled canyons which make up
the 2 lakes I take my boat out on.  My audio is definitely loud enough where
I can make out most calls, even when running under full power (a fair amount
of noise coming from my 4.3 Liter V6 Mercruiser).  Mine is mounted
on an angle on the ceiling of my cuddy cabin (which has about as much
room as a pup tent) pointed across the cockpit to helm.  I can easily see
the display and my microphone "hangs" up on my dash.  As for poor fidelity,
I'm convinced that this is a result of the "Airline pilots school of
Public Speaking" since I have a hard time understanding only some people's
transmissions.

Anyway, here are some of the features I like:

  -Has optional display lighting
  -Transmits on either 1 watt or 25 watts
  -Has a button I can press to move to channel 16 immediately
  -Has a 25 watt selection on microphone that works only on the 
   emergency channels (9 & 16)
  -Has external speaker jack so if audibility is ever a problem, I can
   go to Radio Shack for a speaker.
  -Has been really reliable and saved my ass a couple of times

Here are some features which would be nice, but I really don't miss them
all too much:

  -The ability to scan 2 channels
  -A microphone extension cable

All in all, I've been very pleased with this unit.  A couple of friends
have a Uniden, which they also speak highly of.

Hope this helps.

Torsten Weirich

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