Radio Buyer Be Advised! (Apologies in advance to anyone receiving multiple copies due to being on multiple mailing lists.) Well, I just killed my 3rd Standard Horizon HX460S, "submersible" handheld marine vhf radio. This unit was the replacement for the replacement for my original unit, which, I must admit, held up to almost a year of frequent dunkings and wave impacts. When that first unit failed, it took 12 weeks to get the replacement. Standard Horizon refused to take any steps to expedite the repair/replace process, despite my pleading and insistence that it is a critical piece of my equipment. The replacement (the second unit), died shortly after the first wave impact. The repair/replace process took 6 weeks on this occasion. Again HS refused to expedite the process, but the tech support manager assured me that they would make sure to maximize the robustness of the "waterproof" seals. The replacement (the third unit) lasted through several outings in moderate surf, withstanding quite a few wave impacts and rolls. I was starting to hope that I'd finally gotten a good unit. But after my last outing, which occurred in mild conditions, 2 foot waves, barely a wave impact, and only 3 rolls (just for fun), I found the unit was toast when I checked it for recharging when I got home. The battery is charged, but absolutely nothing happens when I turn the unit on. Electronics are fried. So I've called my old pals at Standard Horizon tech support, and they've finally agreed to take personal ownership and get me through the repair/replace (which has been replace in each instance so far) as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, I'm again without a vital communication/safety tool for weeks, and in the middle of peak teaching season. The purpose of this note is to advise anyone considering the purchase of a Standard Horizon HX460S, or perhaps any Standard Horizon "submersible" hand held marine vhf radio, to consider something else. I'm going out and buying an ICOM M88. When the SH HX460S shows up replaced (or repaired), it's being relegated to the backup role, and will live in the ol' vinyl radio bag and will ride inside the hatch. I discussed posting this note with my SH tech support contact, and he basically said, well, I can't blame you. They refuse to refund any part of my purchase price on the product. This is not an endorsement for the ICOM M88. I am not employed by, nor do I know anyone employed by ICOM. However, from what I've heard, the ICOM M88 is a more robust radio than the Standard Horizon HX460S, as far as submersibility goes. A few points of info: my hand held has always lived in a front pocket on my PFD (for use in emergencies and for group communications). It is protected from wave impacts only by a thin layer of nylon mesh. Admittedly, the impact from a 3 or 4 foot (+) breaker exerts instantaneous pressure on the radio seals which exceeds the JIS7 submersion spec. But during my discussions with the SH tech support manager, I was told that their radios should hold up. I can't say the ICOM M88 will fair any better, but I can't keep going weeks and weeks at a time waiting for replacements from SH. At least I'll have a backup (I killed my Apelco 510 "submersible" backup last year, when the vinyl radio bag it lived in leaked). I will admit that a friend has an older and larger SH "submersible" that spent 6 hours at 6 feet in the Columbia River, and has taken nearly as much punishment as have my HX460S units, and hers continues to work perfectly. I've been working with a company in the UK to build a compact hard submersion case that would make all this go away, and things have looked really promising. But to date, they have not yet delivered a product. Mitch McKinnon _____________________________________________ | | CoyoteCo Performance Sea Kayaking | Instruction & Video Production | <http://www.coyoteco.net/> www.CoyoteCo.Net | 360 896-2151 |_____________________________________________ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>an ICOM M88. When the SH HX460S shows up replaced (or repaired), it's being > relegated to the backup role, and will live in the ol' vinyl radio bag and > will ride inside the hatch. The problem with living in a vinyl bag is that when it leaks, it becomes a bathtub, and this makes it worse than even a mesh pocket. I considered getting an Aquaseal VHF bag (it used to have a good reputation), but have recently read a negative feedback oh their camera bag http://www.caske2000.org/caske/equipment.htm . Don't know whether it was because of leak or awkwardness of operation, or quality of shots through clear vinyl. There is also a little problem with getting Aquaseal bags in Canada, since the only distributor in USA sends it by UPS (= extra customs clearance charges on the top of regular taxes and shipping costs). Resulting cost is twice or more of that of original item :-), but still less than VHF. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:37 PDT