New VHF - Standard Horizon HX870E?

Fenlander · 01 March 2017, 08:10

Time to splash some cash on a new radio... handheld for sibbing.

I'm very drawn to the Standard Horizon HX870E at around £180 discount price.

Maximum budget £200.
Must float with the best waterproofing possible... this model is one of the few IPX8 rated types.
At 6w power it's the higher handheld spec which must be a good thing.
DSC/GPS... can only be a benefit.
1800mAh battery larger than many.
Included are USB & 12v charge cables.
Also a battery holder for backup AAAs (important to me in a SIB with no battery on OB).
3yr warranty is better than some.

The only downside I can find is some folks think it's a bit bigger than expected when they get it out of the box.

Have I thought this through OK... any opinions/advice welcome.

Iron Dials · 01 March 2017, 13:55

I plan to buy one v soon.

It's not huge by any means, subjective I know, but having played with one in a showroom it never even occurred to me that it was overly large.

The only gotcha I can see, and it is a doomsday scenario, is that all your eggs are in one basket if this is your back-up. If the battery runs flat you have no comms and no gps. The 12 volt supplies and alkaline battery holder overcome this issue, but thats pessimism for you. An alternative is smaller handheld vhf and separate handheld gps- so two batteries can run flat at the same time!

Happy shopping.

Brian · 01 March 2017, 15:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron Dials

I plan to buy one v soon..

Yes, me too.

jeffstevens763@g · 01 March 2017, 17:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Time to splash some cash on a new radio... handheld for sibbing.

I'm very drawn to the Standard Horizon HX870E at around £180 discount price.

Maximum budget £200.
Must float with the best waterproofing possible... this model is one of the few IPX8 rated types.
At 6w power it's the higher handheld spec which must be a good thing.
DSC/GPS... can only be a benefit.
1800mAh battery larger than many.
Included are USB & 12v charge cables.
Also a battery holder for backup AAAs (important to me in a SIB with no battery on OB).
3yr warranty is better than some.

The only downside I can find is some folks think it's a bit bigger than expected when they get it out of the box.

Have I thought this through OK... any opinions/advice welcome.

I would say it's as good as any what sells it for me is the AAA backup

Poly · 01 March 2017, 18:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenlander

DSC/GPS... can only be a benefit.

Is it though?

Will you ever use the GPS as your navigation function? I'm guessing perhaps wrongly that you have some form of chart plotter? Plotting lat/long on a SIB from a tiny screen is not much fun, unless its flat calm.

Don't get me wrong if you ever need the cavalry DSC will be very worthwhile, and I have fixed DSC on the poly boat for this reason. BUT it comes at a cost in terms of battery life. Whilst the AAA and 12V charger go someway to mitigating that I'd want to be able to go for my "typical trip" (could that be 2x 4 hours ?) without worrying about power or fussing if I hadn't turned it off over lunch.

If you've got a perfectly functional VHF what else would £200 buy you to make life better or safer? e.g. a PLB?

Do you need IPX8 ? I've never had a problem with IPX7 and wouldn't have specified X8 unless I was perhaps surfing or swimming with it regularly as its difficult to imagine a SIB situation where 1m for 30min is not enough.

Fenlander · 01 March 2017, 20:16

Iron Dials I already have a small GPS plotter run from a 12v battery plus a backup pocket GPS with mapping and those go for a long day out OK.

I have found one drawback in the SH user guide... on AAA backup batteries the transmit output is restricted to 1w... so for me that feature is far less use than I'd expected.

Poly no I wouldn't use the GPS on the VHF for navigation... I thought it was needed to enable DSC to work??

Battery life is difficult to assess but Gurnard's brother has posted on another forum that the SH HX870E might only go 6hrs on a charge.

So with the AAA option being less use than initially thought and a possible 6hr battery life then a second OE battery needs to be considered... they're £39.

I just thought the IPX8 might be useful as some have reported water/mist in their SH radios in the past. Perhaps these are fixed sets on RIBs which get a far greater soaking than a handheld would on family days out in a SIB.

Useful thoughts as usual though Poly.

Iron Dials · 01 March 2017, 20:55

If you're not interested in the gps element I'd buy the Standard Horizon HX300E, free UK delivery at £99. Has 1560mah batt versus 1800mah on HX870E (but no gps stuff to drain the battery), IPX8

For me the gps facility is the attraction.

They all do 5w or 6w, I think standing up to use it would be more use than the extra watt.

Fenlander · 01 March 2017, 21:06

Hmm there's some mileage in the SH HX300E plus a spare OE battery for £125 all in. Have to think on it a little more.

Iron Dials · 01 March 2017, 21:11

Sorry about that

Fenlander · 01 March 2017, 21:37

No that's fine... thinking is good... and cheap.

mick · 01 March 2017, 21:40

I've got the 851 and it's fine size wise

Poly · 01 March 2017, 23:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Poly no I wouldn't use the GPS on the VHF for navigation... I thought it was needed to enable DSC to work??

It is - but GPS is a battery killer, so if you aren't gaining anything for the 99.99% of the time that there is no problem, then is it worth the shorter battery life (I can get over 12 hrs from my HX280)? Of course depends what other kit you have, how worried you are about needing to make a DSC rather than voice call (perhaps linked to where/how you will use it) etc.

If you've got 12V battery how about a fixed VHF?

jeffstevens763@g · 02 March 2017, 06:12

for me if you have a 12 v battery now running other stuff i would go fixed VHF at £99 ish with better range and spend the other £100 on a battery charging kit for your engine that way you have a lot more life on all your kit and a large amount of piece of mind to boot OMO of course

Fenlander · 02 March 2017, 07:05

All valid thoughts... but bear in mind we are a family outing daily inflate type setup where every bit of extra hassle at car park arrival/leaving is just that... a hassle. Add to that the Aerotec isn't ideally suited to "extras" as fixing to the seat is about the only option. Viewed from the tiller the Garmin (4.5" screen) plotter is screwed to the right of the seat with its small battery hanging below in a camera kit type bag. Wife needs the rest of the seat!

So the whole concept of our SIB and its use isn't really condusive to some sort of mini console to take fixed radio, plotter, larger battery, extra wiring back to outboard, aerial on transom pole etc.

It's not a never... but unlikely.

jeffstevens763@g · 02 March 2017, 07:42

you could do what i have with my CCTV with a fixed VHF & buy a emergency stubby areal to fit in the peli-case.
re wiring you could fit a waterproof connector in the gromit at the front of the engine and have a plug in lead from that to your battery as a backup in the peli-case when needed.
just thoughts

Fenlander · 02 March 2017, 08:13

It's neat Jeff but the V floor of the Aerotech is rubbish for storage and in our case already full of people's feet, the dog, 25l fuel tank, anchor & ropes bag plus two med/large dry bags with the rest of a day's kit.

Much more and we'll have to tow a 2.5m tender for the kit.

Just an aside... can you connect an external aerial to a handheld?

jeffstevens763@g · 02 March 2017, 08:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenlander

It's neat Jeff but the V floor of the Aerotech is rubbish for storage and in our case already full of people's feet, the dog, 25l fuel tank, anchor & ropes bag plus two med/large dry bags with the rest of a day's kit.

Much more and we'll have to tow a 2.5m tender for the kit.

Just an aside... can you connect an external aerial to a handheld?

now there's a question re; the aerial something I've not thought about I've got an old Silva handheld [cracked screen] and its got a mini aerial socket when you take the aerial off rs components might have such a socket male you could solder on to a cable not sure all handhelds are the same though i''ll post a picture of it for reference,

jeffstevens763@g · 02 March 2017, 08:40

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bo...B2IQ_AUICCgD#i

link to some ideas ah not come out as i wanted scroll down on to second page for IBC ketwordsking.com some tube fasteners to fix plates too.

pic of the Silva antenna too

willk · 02 March 2017, 08:50

IIRC that is a standard SMA connector? Someone will know

Hot Sale UHF SO-239 SO239 Female to SMA Male Plug Connector Coaxial Adapter T8 | eBay

Cfly889 SMA Male to UHF Female Connector Pigtail Cable Black 40CM | eBay

jeffstevens763@g · 02 March 2017, 09:00

12 v 240 v inverter to re-charge hand held or an atomic charger think iv'e seen them in go outdoors something like this just for the radio

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12000mAh-C...kparms=aid%3D5