HX850S Floating Handheld VHF 6Watt With GPS And Strobe Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a truly excellent hand-held DSC marine radio.It really has a lot going for it, although it is not perfect.

The outstanding attribute of this radio is that it supports Digital Signal Calling (DSC).This feature provides two major benefits:
1) it supports DSC distress calling ("the red button") which is a valuable safety feature.Essentially, the radio puts out an automatic distress call which includes the GPS coordinates of the radio.

2) DSC communications.Basically this allows your radio to call a specific other DSC-equipped vessel or radio by means of a digital packet signal sent on channel 70.If the digital call is received by the station being called, the radios automatically (or with user intervention, depending on which option is selected) then switch to a voice channel such as channel 69 for the conversation.This is a really nice feature that will become more and more common and essential as more vessels become equipped with DSC.This will inevitably occur since FCC regulations require all new marine radios to be so equipped.

There are other DSC features such as group calling and the ability to poll another DSC radio's GPS location.

For DSC to work the user must have an MMSI number.These are free and easy to get from the BOATS US website.

This radio is very easy to program.Within 30 minutes of opening the box, I had programmed in all of my friends' DSC numbers and figured out pretty much all of the functions of the radio.This required only occasional reference to the manual.Mostly the menus are clear and intuitive, and even have prompts contained within the menu.Most users will never need the manual after a little familiarization.If you are familiar with Vertex Standard radios, the learning curve is even quicker as the menus are very similar even as between Handy-talkies and console radios.I found almost all of the menus and front panel controls to be intuitive, not requiring the manual at all.

This radio has a built-in 12 channel GPS.It works fine and provides the user with location, Speed Over Ground (SOG) and Course Over Ground (COG).Regrettably, the GPS does not provide for programming in waypoint locations.This is unfortunate because it would have been very easy for Vertex Standard to have included this function.This would have made this radio an excellent backup for navigation.It is still a useful accessory for navigation, but less so for the lack of waypoints.You can use the radio as a compass and speedometer, and to identify the vessel's location, but that's about it for navigation.

The radio itself is very sturdily-built and is both submersible and designed to float if dropped in the water.Nice!It comes with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, a wall charger, and a cigarette-lighter connector that allows the radio to recharge (via the charging cradle) from a 12V cigarette lighter instead of a 120VAC plug.This is useful on boats that may not have AC power.There are numerous desirable unsupplied accessories, the most useful being a spare Li-Ion battery, a battery pack that accommodates AA batteries (a very useful thing to have in a pinch) and two different speaker-mics.

A few dings.The lack of waypoints in the GPS is unfortunate.Also, the GPS readout is in very small letters; users who require reading glasses may need them to view the GPS output.The radio accommodates 24 MMSI numbers--more would have been better.

Despite the few shortcomings that I report in this review, this radio is deserving of a five-star rating.Right now this one is among the very best marine HTs on the market and it gives a lot of bang for the buck.Highly recommended.RJB.

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Product Description:
Standard Horizon HX850S Floating Handheld VHF - HANDHELD VHF 6WATT W/GPS AND STROBE

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