Uniden MHS550 User Manual download pdf (Page 2)

68 SAILMAGAZINE.COM JUNE 2006

Boats+Gear

Icom M504

and M72

Icom’s new M504 radio,

which has no retail

price, is also a full Class

D set with a 30-watt

hailer/horn included.

And, like many new

radios, this set claims

to offer exceptionally

clear reception and

transmission. The M504

is Icom’s first radio to

earn the highest waterproof rating (JIS 8)

and also supports its new CommandMic III

(shown), which is the largest yet and sports

a jog dial for operating channel, volume,

squelch, menu settings, and more. Icom has

also introduced the M72, the world’s first

handheld to transmit at 6 watts. It’s quite

small (9( tall, including antenna), and

exceptionally waterproof (rated IP-X8, or

“submersible plus”). Plus it boasts a 2000

mAh memory-free lithium-ion battery

and .6 watts of speaker power. The M72

lists for $349, though its street price is much

lower (a particularly VHF phenomenon).

Icom America; 425-454-8155; www.ico-

mamerica.com

Uniden MHS550

In addition to sending

and receiving normal

marine VHF calls, this

rubber-clad handheld

will let you con-

verse with FRS

(Family Radio Ser-

vice) radios that

are legal for use

on shore. It can

also listen to AM,

FM, or Air bands.

It has three trans-

mit powers—5 watts, 2.5 watts, or 1

watt—and is waterproof to the JIS 7

standard. It comes with both a lithium-

ion battery and a tray for using alka-

lines. The MHS550 has no list price,

but seems to be sold by West Marine

as the VHF250 for $220. Uniden;

800-297-1023; www.uniden.com

SeaCas SafePassage

SafePassage is a self-contained dual-

channel AIS receiver and 16-channel

WAAS/EGNOS GPS receiver. Both

antennas and most of the electronics

are sealed into its 51-inch-tall fiber-

glass casing. It mounts like a single an-

tenna with just a USB cable, which

provides power and takes data from

the junction box to a PC.

Thus the hardware installation is easy, and

the single input lets most PC navigation pro-

grams plot the position of both your ves-

sel and of shipping in your vicinity. SafePassage

also comes with an alternate cable that can

be wired to a 12-volt power supply and to

a plotter’s NMEA 0183 input. The $1,250

unit is said to be a highly sensitive receiver

and may be the only one that uses a sub-

tle AIS system feature, a dGPS correction mes-

sage available near differential transmitters,

to further refine its position information. Sea-

Cas; www.seacas.com

Sea Marshall SARfinder 1003

Sea Marshall’s SARfinder is a direction-

finding rescue tool that works with any de-

vice broadcasting on 121.5 MHz, but it works

particularly well with the company’s own

personal beacons, which can set off its

alarm. Depending on the height of its tri-

pole antenna, the $2,495 SARfinder can track

beacons up to about three miles away with

a purported directional accuracy of 7.5

degrees. Note that Sea Marshall’s beacons

are not “active” like Raymarine’s LifeTags (page

69), so you don’t know if one actually

works until you set it off. On the other hand,

Standard Matrix GX3000S

The reward for making use of the GX3000S’s

GPS interface cable is that your position (and

speed and course over ground) can be

shown on the radio’s large LCD and, more

important, will be broadcast with any DSC

calls you make, be they distress or just reg-

ular communications. And incoming DSC

calls will never be missed on this set, even

when you’re transmitting, because as a Class

D unit it has a second receiver constantly

monitoring the digital calling channel 70.

The GX3000S can support second

and third stations using either a RAM+ mike

or the VH-310 handset. The latter’s al-

phanumeric keypad could be useful for

putting friends’ MMSI numbers into mem-

ory, so you can quickly make private boat-

to-boat calls, or even for direct-dialing shore

numbers (if and when Sea Smart enables that

feature). This radio, which lists for $417, also

includes a 30-watt loud hailer capable of “lis-

ten back, fog signaling, bells and whis-

tles.” Standard Horizon; 800-

767-2450; www.standardhorizon.com

COMMUNICATIONS

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