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From: Peter Rattenbury <ratten_at_uow.edu.au>
subject: [Paddlewise] marine radios
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 09:31:51 +1000
You can have the world's smallest VHF but it is not much good if you cannot
operate it with frozen fingers because the controls are too small...
Beware of radios which are brilliant examples of miniaturized technology,
but are not made for the real world of saltwater in storm conditions...
which is when you REALLY want a radio that you can operate without drama.
And remember, all radios are NOT WATERPROOF, whatever their rating.. treat
as you would any piece of electrical equipment around saltwater...and keep
it in a drybag..
Peter Rattenbury
Australia.


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From: alex <al.m_at_3web.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] marine radios
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2003 20:20:47 -0700
> And remember, all radios are NOT WATERPROOF, whatever their rating.. treat
> as you would any piece of electrical equipment around saltwater...and keep
> it in a drybag..

I don't have any radio (so far), but have heard such opinion more than once.
Did you (or anybody who reads this) had any hermeticity problems or symptoms
of corrosion with ICOM M1V *not* kept in dry bag? (this particular one seems
to be the cheapest among a good ones).
Alex.

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From: Peter Rattenbury <ratten_at_uow.edu.au>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] marine radios
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 14:19:24 +1000
[Moderator's Note: Content unaltered. Excessive quoting (i.e.  headers/footers/sig lines/extraneous text from previous posts, etc.) have been removed. Please edit quoted material in addition to removing header/trailers when replying to posts.]

Alex,  I think most folks on here would agree that the point of
vulnerability is the battery compartment of any brand and style of handheld
VHF..the manufacturers do their best but they can't make a totally water
impermeable seal between a removable battery pack  and the radio body.. I
have heard of such problems with all brands...

-----Original Message-----
> And remember, all radios are NOT WATERPROOF, whatever their rating.. treat
> as you would any piece of electrical equipment around saltwater...and keep
> it in a drybag..

I don't have any radio (so far), but have heard such opinion more than once.
Did you (or anybody who reads this) had any hermeticity problems or symptoms
of corrosion with ICOM M1V *not* kept in dry bag? (this particular one seems
to be the cheapest among a good ones).
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From: <Rcgibbert_at_aol.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] marine radios
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 11:57:30 EDT
In a message dated 6/16/2003 6:32:32 PM Central Daylight Time, 
ratten_at_uow.edu.au writes:


> And remember, all radios are NOT WATERPROOF, whatever their rating.. treat
> as you would any piece of electrical equipment around saltwater...and keep
> it in a drybag..
> 

I don't want to advocate something that may not work for you, however, my 
Uniden 9940 is 4 years old and sits up on my shoulder without benefit of a 
drybag. It goes under for cooling rolls or sculls and survived a line of surf or 
two. It is completely waterproof.

You are correct to be suspect of any electronic equpiment at sea. I am too, 
which is why I put them, through the paces before I trust them. This one works 
quite well, though the buttons are a bit small and it has no AA backup tray. I 
am more suspect of the radio's utility when it is in a drybag; tied to the 
deck on a lumpy sea; in the dayhatch; etc. Most of the time those are fine 
places. (Most of the time.) 

Cheers,

Rob G 



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From: Shawn Baker <shawnkayak_at_yahoo.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] marine radios
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 10:44:32 -0700 (PDT)
Rcgibbert_at_aol.com wrote:
>You are correct to be suspect of any electronic equpiment at sea....I 
am more suspect of the radio's utility when it is in a drybag; tied to 
the deck on a lumpy sea; in the dayhatch; etc. 

We used FRS radios for local communications at the recent SSTIKS event.
I left one of my radios in a radio drybag on a picnic table during one
of the demonstrations.  It baked in the drybag.  :(

While drybags are an answer to the wetness problem, they're also tiny
greenhouses, and could potentially create a temperature problem.

Shawn

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From: Steve Cramer <cramersec_at_charter.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] marine radios
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 14:17:26 -0400
Shawn Baker wrote:
> Rcgibbert_at_aol.com wrote:
> 
>>You are correct to be suspect of any electronic equpiment at sea....
> 
> We used FRS radios for local communications at the recent SSTIKS event.
> I left one of my radios in a radio drybag on a picnic table during one
> of the demonstrations.  It baked in the drybag.  :(
> 
> While drybags are an answer to the wetness problem, they're also tiny
> greenhouses, and could potentially create a temperature problem.

We had a similar problem with the LCD screens on the stopwatches at a slalom 
race, and it wasn't even in a bag. After a few hours in direct sun, the LCD 
overheated and went blank. Since this was our master start time watch, this was 
not good. I carefully dripped Nantahala River water on it (~45F) and it came 
back, still, well, they don't tick, but you get the idea.

Think I'll go spray paint the back of my radio drybags white. That gives me 50% 
protection.

-- 
Steve Cramer
Athens, GA

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