Surfski Knowledge Base

Reivers Dustin
09/03/13 #14811

pardon the sales pitch, but some good info on selection of VHF handhelds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMF5zK-2teE

I think I've had my Standard Horizon HX851 about four years. So far i've seen nothing else close. I'm a big fan of Icom. But Standard Horizon unit is far and away better due to kayak specific features.

Kathleen P and her gang has used more of the DCS features (directed boat to boat calling, position recall of the other boat, navigation waypoint to the other boat, etc, etc.) There's a ton of capabilities that make my teeth hurt.

The lemming II was a wake up. I'm going to load waypoints and set the display to compass on my radio. There's a couple others of you with DSC, so I'll post my MMSI which you can load into your unit. (I guess it rings like a telephone).

Reivers' MMSI #338100912

Dale McKinnon
09/04/13 #14813

Good call, Reivers. Perhaps you'd (and a few others) be willing to have an instructional evening for VHF newbies, or maybe a brief session on Sat morning before heading out of Marine Park, about usage protocols and the fancy doo-dads. I've had my 850 for three years and still don't know how to use the DCS and other features.

Spose I could get off my butt and read the manual… now where is it?

Morris Arthur

09/04/13 #14814

Debbie Arthur's MMSI:
338 142 508

Morris Arthur's MMSI:
338 107 851

We have used the DSC calling feature on our VHFs. Debbie calls me to make sure I'm having (too much) fun… prior to notifying the Coast Guard that I'm actually MIA.
Another feature of the DSC VHFs with GPS is that–if you allow it in the settings–another VHF can query your position. (e.g. Debbie and/or the Coast Guard could query my lat/lon position even if I don't respond to a call or hail)

Of course, all this stuff only works if you've played with it … and the VHF is actually *on* when paddling.

I'd be willing to participate in some group practice sessions this Fall…

Morris

kathleen petereit

09/05/13 #14832

It rings like one of those old fashioned telephones. You can program all your buddies MMSI numbers into a group. We called ours surfski. We scroll down the options and click on surfski and then the whole group can hear you. On the recieving end it let's you know who is making the call. You can also do individual calls Would have been perfect for your last episode.

We played around and practised when we got the radio's.

Kathleen