Uniden VHF radios

[Paul Mermelstein]

Hey All,

Anyone have hands-on experience with Uniden VHF radios? New ones on the market have wireless RAM Mics and so on and are reasonably priced at WM etc. Seem interesting but I wonder about reliability, sound quality, etc. Thoughts?

 

[Mike B]

We have the Polaris

Installed the Polaris a few years ago and am very happy with it. Also bought the WHAM handheld mic as the base unit is too far from the helm to hear or respond to quickly. There is a newer WHAM currently being sold and I can't comment on it. Both the radio and WHAM have the emergency button. Sound quality is much better than the previous radio. It has a number of features and is simple to operate. The only shortfalls are the WHAM doesn't allow you to adjust the squelch. Not a problem as I've found the best setting on the base unit and leave it there. The other can be WHAM battery life. I buy the best rechargeable batteries I can find. You only get a couple of beeps when the battery is low and needs to be replaced. I keep a spare handy. I can get a minimum of 8hrs out of a new freshly charged battery. There is also a spare battery tray for off the shelf batteries. I've used lithiums which are OK but don't offer any where near the life of a rechargeable.
Mike

 

[George]

WHAM Mike

I have the Polaris VHF with wireless mike. The remote mike comes with a charger and I can get 6-8 hrs out of it, but if I had to do it again, I'd buy a handheld VHF instead. About the same price and serves as a back-up VHF.

 

[Joe]

FWIW... I have a very old one......

at least 15 years old, it came with the boat. A bare bones model by today's standards. But... it has never, ever given me any trouble. Fixed mount, 5/25 watts etc.

 

[Roger (Ninette Manitoba)]

I have the Atlantis handheld by Uniden

And am very satisfied with it. Range is easily 5 miles line of sight, while stnading on deck.

 

[Warren Milberg]

I, too, have a low-priced

Uniden HandHeld VHF. I don't know anything about the quality of the units with wireless Mics, but the inexpensive handheld, which I keep in a waterproof bag, has held up nicely for many years. I do not believe these are top of the line products, but have adequate quality if taken care of properly.

 

[PilotAlso]

I've got one and it's not bad

I purchased the Uniden 525 and a WHAM mike. So far it works for me. I mounted the main radio near the plotting table in the cabin (out of weather) and connected it to the output of my Garmin chartplotter.

The DSC feature is cool. When you turn the radio on it checks the GPS signal and gives an OK message. If I have problems. I hit the RED button and my MMSI identifier as well as my location are broadcast to all boats as well as the Coast Guard (I believe the Great Lakes now have full capability but I may be wrong).

If another boat has problems and transmits on DSC, it shows up on my chartplotter and a distress marker comes up.

The sound quality of the main radio is not very good (why did they use such a cheap speaker?) but you can hook an external speaker if needed.

I haven't used the included Loud Hailer system but someday I may mount an outdoor speaker.

The WHAM mike is neat because is has the emergency button and most features of the main radio are accessible from the remote (including full transmit power thru the antenna at the top of the mast). I mounted a plate on the pedistal guard and attached the WHAM base. It provides a nice spot to keep the WHAM and also have it charge while underway.

Bottom line: so far so good, negatives are the cheap sound of the base unit and not having a second transmitter available should the main unit shoot craps. I'd still carry a separate hand held (just in case).

 

[Mike B]

GPS connection

Pilot, how did you connect the GPS to the radio? It's something I haven't done yet. Just curious how you went about doing it.
Mike

 

[Terry in Naples]

Uniden 625 C and Wham

I have the color Uniden 625 radio and the Wham mic set up on BAKALUKA, my Catalina 34. I did hook up the GPS so it reads out the lat/long on the radio and will report it if you use the special "red" button. (so far I have not)It works well for us. ( the wire system set up for hooking up the GPS is not well outlined in the manual and I went to WM and they called for me to get the wire color code hook up sequence. )The radio itself has 2 speakers in it. One in the housing and one in the microphone and that is good for older ears or noisey cabins. Then the Wham mic is self contained and lets you use all the features on the radio from the cockpit.
I especially needed the color screen as my eyes at that time were not functioning well. (cataracts) I can easily read it.
The radio had a lot of features to it. It will set up with a hailer and will also search for and alert you to specific weather locations once you have it properly programed. (in SW Florida that is nice to have)
I have purchased several Uniden products and have found them very good. On ocassion I buy a reconditioned product on clearance and if it has a flaw in it they (uniden) have immediatly replaced or repaired the item. So I am very satisfied with this set up.

 

[PilotAlso]

Thanks Terry

Thanks for the email Terry. I'll look into the speaker to see if it is defective.

As far as the hookup to the Garmin, there is a NMEA interface. Garmin uses the ground for some data transmission so that's where the confusion comes out. It's not as simple as hooking NMEA out to the other units NMEA in.

All the diagrams are on the boat so if no one else comes to our aid, I'll bring them back and post the hookup details if anyone is still interested.

Al

 

[Dan Johnson]

I have a 625 with a wham mike...

also. It works well, but the wireless unit seems to have a useful life of only about six hours while on stand-by. May need to replace the rechargable after this season.

I keep it and an Icom hand-held at the helm, using the hand-held for in-marina and other close-by communications with dockmasters, etc. The wham set-up does work as if you're at the nav station (where my main radio is), giving you full VHF power without a cord attached anywhere on the boat.

 

[walmsleyc]

Battery Life and Issue

I too have the 525 and the WHAM mike ... all good except for the battery life of the WHAM. As noted above, I find it lasts from 4-6 hours. If it lasted all day and I could charge at the end of the day, that would be perfect.

The idea of keeping the charging base at the pedestal is a good idea, though I worry/wonder how much current it draws? I would also like to have a charging base down below (safe and secure)

Chris

 

[Capt. Kermie]

Another Uniden

I am yet another with the Uniden 525 and Wham Mic and as much as I like it I too notice the Wham does not stay charged long even when not used. I keep the wham below too in the charge cradle and only bring it up when entering a marina and getting directions and slip assignment. It still requires regular charging and I only have it on charge if the engine is running. They are a reasonably good unit for the price but the wham charge is a concern. I also have a Uniden Atlantis from 2003 and it still works like a charm but the original battery is toast so I use 6 AAA batteries which have limited life span. Nothing wrong with the brand compared to others, they all work fine.

 

[William12213]

a yes vote

I have the 525 and the wham mic. I love it. Easy to install, easy to use and loaded with features at a good price. I would highly recommend them

 

[Dan Johnson]

In a six hour run...

up from Rock Hall to North East yesterday, my WHAM mike stayed awake for the whole trip. Seems to need a long charge put on it before each use.

(If this appears twice, my apologies as the first one didn't post).