Customer Reviews:
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 Great unit for kayaking October 3, 2007
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
I do a lot of kayak fishing off the coast of So California, and sometimes get a mile or more off shore. This is a great unit, and the best price-performance that I found available. It is submersible, which is a huge benefit for kayaking, since things tend to get very wet, especially during surf entries and exits. It regularly (nearly every time out) gets dunked in sea water, and when I get home I literally drop it into a sink of fresh water to rinse it out. I air dry it, and it is good to go! (It even works *under water* but it is hard to hear. :-)
I have not had to use the unit for transmitting in an emergency yet, but I do listen to it while kayaking. The battery life is amazing - I have been using it for at least 10 hours a week for almost a month now and the battery is still more than 1/2 full.
My favorite feature is the ability to program the unit with all the recreational channels and have it continuously scan all those channels (plus the emergency channels 16 and 9) and pick up all conversations around me. I frequently listen to Vessel Assist and Coast Guard calls from hundreds of miles away (though usually can't hear the other side of the conversation). Because it is a hand held, the transmitting range is probably not that great, but it is perfect for the two things I care about:
1. Kayak-to-kayak communications while out fishing with buddies
2. Emergency assistance - if I ever "hook a big one" and get towed out to sea, I have the confidence of knowing I can hail a boat to help me out.
Another great feature is the built in NOAA weather. I have traveled all over California and Oregon with this radio in my car, and have always been able to pick up a least one weather station (usually two).
The charging stand is really slick and having an extra battery means I can literally go on a month-long trip without bringing the charger.
All around this is a great package for the money. It would be interesting to see some empirical data about transmit and receive range compared to others in this price range, but from a feature standpoint, this unit cannot be beat.
 Settings not saved July 14, 2007
7 out of 11 found this review helpful
Con: Apparently with this model each time one turns it the device off, one must code in the weather channel for your area. This device does not save your settings. Pro: When this is done then, Yes, it works beautifully.
passed its field test July 31, 2006
31 out of 32 found this review helpful
I bought this radio for safety purposes during a kayaking trip in Glacier Bay National Park. I didn't have a dry bag for it, and kept it around my neck at key points during the trip where it was exposed to rain and seawater.
While I can't say I used the radio extensively, it functioned well when I needed it. We had a brown bear wander into our camp, and I used the radio to communicate with a nearby touring boat so it could keep us advised of the bear's position while we broke camp. The boat's communications came through crisply and they appeared to have no trouble hearing us. The radio also held its charge through four days of kayaking, being turned on and off intermittently. In short, I bought it in case of an emergency and it worked perfectly when I needed it.
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