I just bought a bag from West Marine. It is their own "Westmarine aquasafe Waterproof Pouch for Large VHF Handheld Radios", $19.99. As an experiment, I put my cell phone in it and made some calls. The other party could hear me, but not very clearly. I tried again with the cell phone out of the bag. The other party could hear me clearly. Now my question is: suppose I have a non-waterproof VHF radio in such a bag and I need to talk on the radio rather than just listen. Will the other party be able to hear me clearly? Or will I have to take the radio out of the bag before talking on it? I have practised many rescues in somewhat rough seas and I know that in a rough sea, especially in an emergency where you have to act fast, you are bound to get things wet, whether it is a phone or a gps or a camera or whatever, as soon as you take it out of a bag. So maybe a nonwaterproof VHF radio in a bag is not a good idea, since it will get wet in real situations, and you may end up with a non-working radio. For this reason I am thinking of getting the HX350S (on sale at West Marine for $260), rather than the HX150S (on sale at West Marine for $130). The HX350S bills itself as "submersible", and several people in Paddlewise have said good things about it recently. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Jack Wrote: >I just bought a bag from West Marine. It is their own >?"Westmarine aquasafe Waterproof Pouch for Large VHF >Handheld Radios", $19.99. >As an experiment, I put my cell phone in it and made >some calls. The other party could hear me, but not >very clearly. I tried again with the cell phone out >of the bag. The other party could hear me clearly. >Now my question is: suppose I have a non-waterproof VHF >radio in such a bag and I need to talk on the radio >rather than just listen. Will the other party be able >to hear me clearly? Keep shopping. I have a dry bag that is made specifically for a cell phone and it allows me to use it right through the bag and it works perfectly fine. The brand name escapes me but I've seen a few different kinds and in different sizes. I'm sure you could find one to fit your radio. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
<<Now my question is: suppose I have a non-waterproof VHFradio in such a bag and I need to talk on the radiorather than just listen. Will the other party be ableto hear me clearly? Or will I have to take the radio out of the bag before talking on it?>> I have the same kind of bag for my VHF. It works very well but I can see where the more modulated cell phone wouldn't work well in the bag. I have issues just hearing without a bag over it <G>. Joan Spinner *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Jack Fu wrote: > > I just bought a bag from West Marine. It is their own > "Westmarine aquasafe Waterproof Pouch for Large VHF > Handheld Radios", $19.99. > > As an experiment, I put my cell phone in it and made > some calls. The other party could hear me, but not > very clearly. I tried again with the cell phone out > of the bag. The other party could hear me clearly. > > Now my question is: suppose I have a non-waterproof VHF > radio in such a bag and I need to talk on the radio > rather than just listen. Will the other party be able > to hear me clearly? Or will I have to take the > radio out of the bag before talking on it? Have used my non-waterproof handheld VHF many hours in an Aqua-Safe. People hear me just fine, and I hear them just fine. I think the cell phone pickup is much more directional and much less sensitive than the mike on the VHF. BTW, I have several seasons of heavy use on my Aqua-Safes, and have never had a leak. Note: I bag them inside a very small dry bag (custom made -- easy with heat-sealable fabric from Seattle Fabrics), and then inside an Aqua-Pac. This arrangement sits on the deck of my yak, under the bungies, lanyarded to a pad eye, and gets hit with my paddle, my water bottle, bird poop, and other insults. Condensation, yes, but **no leaks.** Second BTW: get the smaller Aqua-Safe, unless you have a humongus VHF. You will be able to get to the buttons much better. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Dave wrote: >> I bag them inside a very small dry bag (custom made -- easy with heat-sealable fabric from Seattle Fabrics), and then inside an Aqua-Pac. Dave, Please explain further. Do you mean that your VHF radio is inside *two* bags? It is inside your custom-made bag, which is inside an Aqua-Pac bag? And even so, you can still talk to on the radio? Jack -----Original Message----- From: owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net [mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net]On Behalf Of Dave Kruger Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2000 5:58 PM To: PaddleWise Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Can you talk on your VHF radio if it's in a bag? Jack Fu wrote: > > I just bought a bag from West Marine. It is their own > "Westmarine aquasafe Waterproof Pouch for Large VHF > Handheld Radios", $19.99. > > As an experiment, I put my cell phone in it and made > some calls. The other party could hear me, but not > very clearly. I tried again with the cell phone out > of the bag. The other party could hear me clearly. > > Now my question is: suppose I have a non-waterproof VHF > radio in such a bag and I need to talk on the radio > rather than just listen. Will the other party be able > to hear me clearly? Or will I have to take the > radio out of the bag before talking on it? Have used my non-waterproof handheld VHF many hours in an Aqua-Safe. People hear me just fine, and I hear them just fine. I think the cell phone pickup is much more directional and much less sensitive than the mike on the VHF. BTW, I have several seasons of heavy use on my Aqua-Safes, and have never had a leak. Note: I bag them inside a very small dry bag (custom made -- easy with heat-sealable fabric from Seattle Fabrics), and then inside an Aqua-Pac. This arrangement sits on the deck of my yak, under the bungies, lanyarded to a pad eye, and gets hit with my paddle, my water bottle, bird poop, and other insults. Condensation, yes, but **no leaks.** Second BTW: get the smaller Aqua-Safe, unless you have a humongus VHF. You will be able to get to the buttons much better. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Jack Fu wrote: > > Dave wrote: > >> I bag them inside a very small dry bag (custom made -- easy with > heat-sealable fabric from Seattle Fabrics), and then inside an Aqua-Pac. > Please explain further. Do you mean that your VHF radio is > inside *two* bags? It is inside your custom-made bag, which > is inside an Aqua-Pac bag? Yup and nope. The Aqua-Safe is inside the custom bag. I said it wrong. Thanks for catching that. > And even so, you can still talk to on the radio? Well, I can monitor but not transmit (easily) although TX might work -- I have a friend who does this. I can not because my radio has click-knobs for channel selection demanding use of the thumb insert. My buddy Rich has a push button radio and he can reliably select channels (presets, I think) and adjust volume as well as hit the TX button through both bags. When paddling, I leave the VHF on and can easily hear traffic on it. The dry bag material is lighter in weight than the double coated vinyl stuff my other dry bags are made of. Seattle Fabrics has a really terrific selection of stuff like this and the heat-sealable fabric is easy to work with. Chuck Holst has a nice set of instructions (in Adobe Acrobat, IIRC) which he will email you if you want to try making your own bags. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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