DHeckrotte
Guru
Currently, I have two Standard Horizon handheld VHFs and a Raymarine suite consisting of a Raymarine 230 VHF, two handsets and two speakers which are tagged to their RL70C Chartplotter/Radar with a second screen on the FB, their RN300 GPS, and associated depthfinder, speed and log. The VHF antenna is old, damaged and tattered.
The Raymarine VHF handset screen on the FB is sundamaged and unreadable. The RL70C Chartplotter/Radar in the helm now no longer recognizes that it has charts in it. The RL70C screen on the FB won't talk to the one below; it's a replacement bought used and w/o chart chips. The instruction manuals are in a foreign tongue that resembles English but are unintelligible.
I despair of getting the 17 year old suite working as its maker intended and I'm becoming less interested in learning why it won't. The cells in my grey matter don't seem to talk to each other, either.
It seems reasonable to have redundancy in equipment aboard. It also seems reasonable to get rid of the two old stand-alone depthfinders and the unused/abandoned transducers.
I have a year-old Garmin 44dv Chartplotter/depth finder/flir which I've rigged with a 12v plug but w/o its underwater transponder. It works(ed) well and intuitively and would be an adequate redundant device to a working comprehensive suite (if I could get it to work today!; it seems to have quit).
All this to get to the point: I'm researching fixed-mount VHF radios which can be fitted with a remote handset and its own antenna. I would defer purchase of a complete suite of instruments until the next long trip is contemplated. Recommendations? Favorites?
The Raymarine VHF handset screen on the FB is sundamaged and unreadable. The RL70C Chartplotter/Radar in the helm now no longer recognizes that it has charts in it. The RL70C screen on the FB won't talk to the one below; it's a replacement bought used and w/o chart chips. The instruction manuals are in a foreign tongue that resembles English but are unintelligible.
I despair of getting the 17 year old suite working as its maker intended and I'm becoming less interested in learning why it won't. The cells in my grey matter don't seem to talk to each other, either.
It seems reasonable to have redundancy in equipment aboard. It also seems reasonable to get rid of the two old stand-alone depthfinders and the unused/abandoned transducers.
I have a year-old Garmin 44dv Chartplotter/depth finder/flir which I've rigged with a 12v plug but w/o its underwater transponder. It works(ed) well and intuitively and would be an adequate redundant device to a working comprehensive suite (if I could get it to work today!; it seems to have quit).
All this to get to the point: I'm researching fixed-mount VHF radios which can be fitted with a remote handset and its own antenna. I would defer purchase of a complete suite of instruments until the next long trip is contemplated. Recommendations? Favorites?