Entry level marine radio

Hello NCKA

What do you guys recommend for entry level marine radio for kayak fishing. So far I've been looking at Uniden and Standard Horizon. Any suggestions? What do most NCKA like to use? Also any ideas on where I can learn basic radio communication? Nothing advance like HAM but just enough on what to say for emergency contact out in the water. So far I've seen some on Youtube.

TFD

There's a few recent threads that you might find some good info on if you search for em, but it seems like Standard Horizon and Uniden are pretty good depending on the model that you get. Look for Waterproof and Floating.

Also a recurring theme is buying from West Marine for their warranty, because in the salt water with care taken, even the best of things will fail.

hopefully someone else chimes in with more model specific knowledge.  I've got a Standard Horizon I forget which model, but it's lasted me the last 6 months well enough, hopefully it will be quite a while, we'll see.

Also a recurring theme is buying from West Marine for their warranty, because in the salt water with care taken, even the best of things will fail.

Buying from West Marine might be a good thing, but I didn't have good luck with a West Marine brand VHF. I've had much better luck with Standard Horizon.

HX40 and HX210 are two great intro radios. Both are 6w and the same radio, but the 210 is slightly larger and floats. HX40 is smaller but doesnt float.

Here's a thread from earlier this year http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=88127.0

I have the HX210 mentioned above and love it. Light, works on one charge for days, it floats, and was fairly inexpensive. Even used the radio function during the recent PSPS outages to get updates.

Dont scrimp here .Lay out the bucks and get standard horizon. They are reliable and long lasting.

I've been looking for one too; main requirements are floating and good long term reviews.
I'm looking at standard horizon, like hx210/870 (really wonder if DSC is worth it, drooling over the hx890).
Maybe Uniden (mhs75/335) cause it's a better known CB brand.

I suspect the sensible thing to do is get an hx210

SH has been reliable for me, always wash it, clean and coat contacts following use.

No experience with Uniden, but am hesitant to trust it as a marine tool based on CB rep. YMMV.

I shop radios at The GPS Store having been tipped to them by a member here some years ago. So far - so good.

https://www.thegpsstore.com/Handheld-VHF-Radios-C385.aspx

I shop radios at The GPS Store having been tipped to them by a member here some years ago. So far - so good.

I second that. GPS Store been berry berry good to me!

Wow this is awesome info gents. Thank you! I think SH hx210 is what I'll go for. Thank you again NCKA! 

I have icoms and love them.

Wow this is awesome info gents. Thank you! I think SH hx210 is what I'll go for. Thank you again NCKA!

You should consider the HX 300 it has USB charging for a few more $$.

I bought the Hx-210 and had it for a week. A charge lasts a long time. during the past week I've had the weather and FM radio on just listening for a few hours and never saw the battery life indicator go down for a few days. I had it at work for 8+ hours monitoring ch16, battery was still full.  Last night I was Monitoring 1021 and 16 on high power with Tri Watch mode setting and forgot to turn it off last night.  Looked at it this morning and the battery indicator was just about half. It was last charged the night before.

 I got the Hx-210 over the hx-300 because of the optional accessories jack for things like a corded mic/speaker so I could attach it to my shoulder. 

Although I like the idea of a usb charging. it will take 6 hours to charge, according to the manual.  The Hx-210 takes about 3 hours to fully charge on AC. I have yet to find out how long it will take to charge with the cigarette lighter plug. But I would suspect it to be 3 hours as well because the AC output is 12Volts.

I bought the Hx-210 and had it for a week. A charge lasts a long time. during the past week I've had the weather and FM radio on just listening for a few hours and never saw the battery life indicator go down for a few days. I had it at work for 8+ hours monitoring ch16, battery was still full.  Last night I was Monitoring 1021 and 16 on high power with Tri Watch mode setting and forgot to turn it off last night.  Looked at it this morning and the battery indicator was just about half. It was last charged the night before.

 I got the Hx-210 over the hx-300 because of the optional accessories jack for things like a corded mic/speaker so I could attach it to my shoulder. 

Although I like the idea of a usb charging. it will take 6 hours to charge, according to the manual.  The Hx-210 takes about 3 hours to fully charge on AC. I have yet to find out how long it will take to charge with the cigarette lighter plug. But I would suspect it to be 3 hours as well because the AC output is 12Volts.

bertman thank you for the info! I should be getting my SH HX-210 tommorrow delivered. I think I have chosen the right one for my needs. Thanks again for all the info