Midland VHF radio?

[Frank Hagan]

Anyone have any experience with the Midland Handheld VHF radio that Amazon has on sale for $48 right now? I'm tempted to get it since my old handheld (which cost $99, IIRC) is so big.

I've just never heard of "Midland" before.

[Dave R1]

Frank, that looks like a handy radio. I wish it had been available when I bough the pair of little marine radios we got last year. I have a slightly larger VHF radio that is a 1W/5W unit that I use primarily but West Marine had a pair of small marine radios (about the size of the FRS radios) for about $90 They are, I think .5 or 2Watt units. They work fairly well. We typically use one as a shore-based radio when sailing. sometimes when sailing with others who haven't got a marine radio we loan them one.

Lake Pepin is big enough that I worry about my Weekender sailing friends being out there without a way to make an emrgency call.

[Ken_Potts]

Midland has been around for a long time - I don't know about the quality of the particular radio in question, though.

[Frank Hagan]

Mine is about the size of a cordless phone, 8 - 10" long in the body, and pretty heavy. This looks to be shorter (even though with the long antenna it comes out to 10" long, according to the description). I'll have to think about it.

I didn't think I needed one, but they sure are handy to have. When I go sailing with a local group we are able to communicate (most of the time they're asking me if their outboards are far enough up to not drag, since that's the view I have of them ...)

[keithmclean]

I have one, though it hasn't had a lot of use it seems to work just fine. It comes with rechargable batteries and you can charge it with 12v or 110v. It also has a mounting bracket to attach to your bulkhead. Not a bad deal for the money.

Keith