Having searched web I find only one manufacturer called "Standard Horizon". Has anyone heard of this outfit ? How large / reliable are they ?? Appears to be shipped ex USA @ £164 delivered & claims to be industry first. Any info would be most gratefully received.
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 | TMS Poloshirt winner |
06/03/08 16:32
 The company is a major manufacturer, widely sold in UK. Virtually every electronics chandler who advertises in the magazines sells them. I have a Standard Horizon DSC VHF fitted last year, it is excellent and a big improvement on my previous set. I have no experience of a DSC handheld but I would certainly trust Standard Horizon products in general.
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Thanks, Viv I have now been assured that handheld DSCs are available in USA but not yet in Europe, where class D has not been approved & is unlikely within 18 months. Pity.
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
07/03/08 11:19
The problem with hand held DSC radios is that the DSC bit is supposed to be boat specific, so if you used your hand held DSC in your dinghy, ashore or on another boat, any distress call would alert people to look for the wrong boat! Frankly I remain to be convinced about DSC anyway, most of my pals now have them, but they never use the DSC functions so it all seems a bit pointless. My ancient HUSON mounted VHF works just fine, has a nice telephone style handset, has very high quality sound and according to my local coastguard is crystal clear, so I hope I never have to change it. My new handheld ICOM is a joy to use and as it cost a small fortune it better last a long time!
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| Edited: 07/03/08 11:23 |
 I think the distress calling button on a DSC radio is worth having, even if you don't use the rest. Must confess we only have two other boats' numbers in the digital directory, but it is handy to be able to call them direct without announcing our intentions to the world on 16. However, the downside of a DSC radio is definitely the alarm that goes off every time a safety message is broadcast. Fine in theory, but it can make sleeping on an overnight passage difficult, so that the temptation is to switch the set off - hardly achieving the intended safety level!
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
07/03/08 13:41
 Hi Julian, I have bought a plotter, VHF/DSC fixed in, and a handheld all by Standard Horizon and all are excellent value. The Standard Horizon kit seems to be well liked in the comparisons that heve been made by the yachting press in the last couple of years and very competitive price wise. I would search the internet to find best buy, and if you talk to those selling other Standard Horizon kit although not advertising the specific item you are interested in, they may give you a good deal. Especially if you have seen a price and can quote its source. Best of luck, Scotty
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
07/03/08 14:32
 Be aware any radio equipment supplied from out the UK/EU is probably not approved for use on a UK licenced vessel... W.
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Standard Horizon is part of the Vertex Standard group - a multinational electronics giant that supplies land-based mobile radios for "public safety" use (police, emergency services etc) and air-band radios, too. It also incorporates Yaesu, a name familiar to "ham" radio enthusiasts, as well as Standard Horizon, the brand it launched a couple of years ago for its marine range. All the products I have seen and tested at boat show launches etc. seem to combine good build quality, ease of use, lots of functions, and value for money. I haven't any long term experience of using them, so can't comment on durability, but given the pedigree, I shouldn't imagine that is a problem. The question is why big brands like this, which have an established reputation, so often deem it necessary to confuse us all by adopting a new corporate identity!!
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The radios are excellent. I got mine from Marine Electronics Services at a really good price too!
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"Be aware any radio equipment supplied from out the UK/EU is probably not approved for use on a UK licenced vessel..." Very true, and more to the point, US spec'd radios won't have the UK specific channels programmed in, but will have a loads of others that don't exist on this side of the Atlantic! If you are going to use the kit in the UK, then you're best off buying it in the UK.
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
03/04/08 20:28
Re HH DSC VHF etc: for what it's worth, the instructor at my VHF/DSC course is also a local lifeboatman and may be deemed to know his stuff therefore. He said a) that handheld DSC sets were few and far between and had not proved popular and b) Standard Horizon are VERY well thought of among his fraternity. As already mentioned, Yaesu have been a big name in short-wave radio for years. Unsurprisingly, I have Standard Horizon for my fixed and my handheld VHFs... Have you looked at their website, esp. some of the US models eg combined plotter and VHF in one unit? Interesting. Fully combined AIS and VHF/DSC must be just around the corner, I imagine.
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
03/04/08 21:09
I is also lifeboatman - fulltime  I d agree that DSC handhelds are few and far between and tend to be GMDSS sets for coding on larger vessels as the MMSI number is obviously tied to the vessel. I don't know anything of Standard Horizon other than they used to be Yaesu (?) - well respected in the amateur radio world, personally I ve always preferred Icom. As far as I m aware the RNLI have Sailor radio equipment on all the ALB's - not sure about the ILBS and can't remember what was on the training boats. W.
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
03/04/08 22:16
I'm sure that's so - I expect 'my' guy was just being polite/friendly/encouraging etc. I still have the original Sailor VHF set installed on my little old 1973 Nicholson 30: I think it formed part of the ballast! That solid 'thunkety-thunk' sound as you trundle round the dial is gone forever. Bye.
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
03/04/08 22:46
Nick What's the name of your Nich 30 - BTW they are superior boats!
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
04/04/08 09:03
Yep - remember those sets! Sailor have gone digital now - they re still that lovely green colour thou  W
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
04/04/08 12:07
Hi David - my Nich 30 is called "Tamasin II". She is hull no. 19, built 1973. By a nice coincidence, I built a custom boat in 1998 for her original owner, whose enthusiasm for the Nich 30 made me add the design to my own short-list when looking for a boat of my own. This one did the 'bumpy' Fastnet and came through OK (2 x 180˚ and 1 x 360˚ knockdowns without damage to boat or crew), so I reckon she'll do for me....
I bought her in 2001 and thoroughly enjoyed that season, then brought her ashore to refit. What with one thing and another (it's called Life, apparently....) I am only just about to launch her again! Shameful. A very long list of jobs and new gear ticked off, however, so she should be good for another 30 years.
Hence the shopping list of VHFs etc. I'm also a fan of Furuno gear, based on my years of occasional tug and other 'commercial' deliveries.
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
05/04/08 08:17
Dear Cathy (and David Evans!), It seems to have escaped the notice of your readers that the advent of DSC radios has heralded a huge safety factor . A 'passive' AIS system such as the NASA one costs as little as £120. This can be easily wired into your GPS, Chart Plotter or Yeoman (which I swear by). On your GPS screen you will then see as you approach the shipping lanes a boat in the lanes. it will show the boat's name, MMSI number, gross tonnage, COG, SOG, last port and next port destination. If you are the least bit concerned about the ship's intentions, just dial in his MMSI number on your DSC and call the bridge by selecting Channel 13 as the default channel. You will be speaking to the man on the helm. This of course is better than trying to read a radar screen, you get more information, and it gives you direct communication to the guy in charge of the ship's direction and speed. It certainly beats hoisting your Firdell Blipper and hoping for the best! I am investigating Seame active AIS transponders but these need a fairly bulky masthead aerial and they do not solve the problem of being sure that the ship is aware of you, and do not tell you his intentions.
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Dear Brian. How nice to hear from you. It hasn't escaped our notice at all. There has actually been quite a lot of discussion on this forum about AIS transceivers (which broadcast the yacht's position, course, speed, MMSI etc to ships, as well as showing the ships' movemements to the yachts.) Simrad does a very nice one for about £1,000. http://www.themainsail.com/news/article/mps/uan/1667 I'm sure that as more manufacturers get into the field, the price will come crashing down, as with GPS. I think they'll soon be standard kit! Happy boat hunting!
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
06/04/08 08:41
Nick Used to race against a very well sailed Nich 30 in the East Anglian Offshore series in the mid 70's. Called "Mumeskara" - we all had problems in pronouncing her name until the owner's son told us it was Mummy scarer! I think most yachtsMEN wil be familiar with that aspect of yachting!!! She was a quick boat esp in light weather, a real demon upwind. Haven't seen one for years, but I always rather liked both the look of them and the very practical layout and construction down-below. They was another one on the South Coast - am trying to scrape the name out of the back of my brain definitely "s" something that won Cowes Solent Poinbts etc many years running. If you are looking to upgrade deck gear,at a reasonable price, take a look at www.garhauer.com I recently bought some stuff from them (in the US) as good as harken but on 20% the price of Harken - amazing quality too (NB no connection!) Whereabout to you keep her?
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| TMS Poloshirt winner |
07/04/08 11:30
David
She lives on the Dart, at lovely Noss (the old Philips' shipyard, upstream fromKingswear). A friend of mine used to crew for his father on a racing Nic 30 out of Dartmouth and he told me the same tale of wicked light airs performance. I have traumatic memories of trying hard to get past one on a Round the Island Race - we on a 37 foot (and pretty powerful offwind) Nigel Irens lugger....
If I'm brave enough and can face the inevitable humiliation, I might try a bit of racing in Start Bay, but my main aim is to cruise singlehanded anywhere North of the Channel. Nova Scotia first, as I have the charts already. First of all, I plan on getting to know the boat properly over the next year or two.
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