Which VHF to buy?

[Dan5]

Hey people i'm looking at buying a vhf for my new rig and i am looking at either a Garmin VHF 100i..........or the iCOM 412 unit..........

So far the Garmin is my first choice as all of my other electronics are Garmin and it will interface to my 4008 plotter by NMEA0183......I don't think the iCOM can do this....

Open to other suggestions and ideas........the radio is for a 5mtr boat ,also what antenna can someone recomend/......also it must fold down along the gunnel out of the way while not in use.

Cheers Dan

[bluefin59]

Dan I run a icon m305 it's been great over the last 3 yrs and seems to great transmission ability but maybe my Ariel is the goods , it's a pacific Ariel and doesn't fold down but unscrews and sits in my rod locker when not being used ...... Matt

[Dan5]

Thanks for that Matt.i never thought about a detachable antenna.........i'll have a rodlocker aswell so thats an easy one to do.thanks mate

Dan

[thylacene]

Avoid the GME aerials and mounts, we fitted two to the hardtop, and after the first rough trip home, the aerials separated from the mounts. They use the cable connection as the fastening mechanism. Wondered what the hell was going on when the VHF aerial fell down across the windscreen while we were travelling in 2m swells.

South pacific make dual swivel mounts and have a mechanical connection. We only revoke the aerials when storing, but need to fold them down for towing.

[Dan5]

I have been advised to avoid most things GME recently .They used to be good but now the quality has dropped considerbly apparently.

I will look at the mounts you have mentioned,proberbly going to end up with the Garmin radio just to have all the electronics the same manufacturer.

Dan