VHF radio recommendations

[Greg Luckett]

I am looking at purchasing a new VHF radio for Nellie and am interested in opinions and/or experiences with what to purchase. I do not want a hand held (already have one) and do not want to spend the money for a high end radio either. Something in the $200 or less range maybe? I have antenna's already.....use two depending on the range and harbor conditions.

Thanks,

Greg.

[tdrown]

I am looking at purchasing a new VHF radio for Nellie and am interested in opinions and/or experiences with what to purchase.

On eBay, you can find some for well under $100.

Be carefull what you get though. I bought one on ebay a while ago and despite it being advertised as a marine radio, it is really a CB, with 3 VHF channels (albeit the important ones).

[Greg Luckett]

Clarification of my question: I am not having trouble locating radios, but rather would like to know what I should be looking for....feature wise.

Thanks for the heads up about the Ebay CB/VHF radio. That tells me that if I buy via Ebay (or anywhere) I had better question the seller about frequencies.

Thanks.

[Steve Day]

Greg,

I subscribe to Practical Sailor and they just did an article on VHF radios. If I remember correctly, They liked an ICOM M302 unit for about $160. This is a mounted unit - not a hand-held. Their website is: http://www.practical-sailor.com/

Hope that helps,

Steve

[Greg Luckett]

Thanks Steve. I will look that link over when I get back home.

[capt jake]

Hmm, I bought mine at state surplus, programmed it myself. About $25. Not waterproof and will sink like a rock, but hey, the price was right. 16 channels.

[tdrown]

West Marine is having a sale this week, 25% off West brand VHF's (and 30% off footware, I got a new pair of Top Siders on the cheap).

[tdrown]

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product/10001/-1/10001/148723/10001/657/64/3

It's $134 regularly, 30% off, it should be about $94. The sale actually covers a bunch of stuff, like most of the things I bought a week ago.