A couple of us in this bayou have the Hummingbird VHF5. This radio seems to have plenty of scan/weather features, and it seems to get out about as well as anybody else's radio. It's also yellow so I can find it. Comes with a plastic cover. I specifically got this one because it come WITHOUT a rechargeable battery (can be ordered separately). Why? Well, I consider rechargeables a PITA because leaving them in a charger is not always good for the batteries, and replacing them is sometimes almost as costly as the basic radio, and they die off suddenly. Another aspect of my hand-held radio usage is that I rarely use one. So there I am with a radio I rarely use (but feel the need to have onboard for emergencies) getting used even less because the battery didn't get charged or won't hold a charge. I regularly change out the spare flashlight batteries on the boat; so it's no big deal to throw in a few extra AA batts for the handheld. I suppose you could get a bunch of rechargeable AA batts for this thing, but then I've been there and done that and won't do it again. Rich Gano CALYPSO (GB-42-295) Southport, FL

Hand held VHF's from Standard and Icom are starting to appear

On Fri, 21 Feb 2003 11:21:36 -0600, "Rich Gano" <ganor@bellsouth.net> wrote: >I specifically got this one because it come WITHOUT a rechargeable battery >(can be ordered separately). Why? Well, I consider rechargeables a PITA >because leaving them in a charger is not always good for the batteries, and >replacing them is sometimes almost as costly as the basic radio, and they >die off suddenly. Another aspect of my hand-held radio usage is that I >rarely use one. Hand held VHF's from Standard and Icom are starting to appear on the market with better rechargeable batteries (NiMH or Lithium Ion see recent discussion on the subject). Still the rarely used hand held radio is probably a prime application for the lithium (non rechargeable) AA cells we recently discussed. I have noticed that regular alkaline AA cells don't output enough current for me to transmit at full power (5 watts). In addition to having a long shelf life the lithium cells would support the higher current loads of a transmitter on high power. I have a Standard HX-350. My friends and I have found them to handle the abuse we heap on them quite well, they are on of the few radios on the market that is truly submersible. Battery live is excellent too. It looks like they are probably being phased out in favor of newer models, definitely consider picking one up at close out prices around $150. They come with both a NiCad battery pack and a AA battery tray with both 12V DC and 120V AC chargers. ___________________________________________________ Ross Fleming rossflem@serv.net S/V Renown Gulfstar 39 Seattle, Washington http://renoun.net