StandardHorizon HX471S VHF radio brief review

Hey all,

First I wanted to say thanks to my brother Jared for taking the time to work on the blogging. He is going to be taking over for me here in 8 short weeks so I am glad he is taking the time to learn the ropes!

I also wanted to do a quick review of the new StandardHorizon HX471S VHF radio that Vertex Standard was gracious enough to provide me for the trip. First off, a word of warning. I am not in any way a radio buff, so many of my comments might seem a bit general for anyone who is a connoisseur. So this past weekend the weather was great, and I had the chance to take the boat and the HX471S out on Sat. afternoon after helping teach the climbing section of UVa's Wilderness Medicine Elective. The HX471S had several features that made me really excited.

First, just taking it out of the box I quickly realized how easy the unit was to use. The NOAA, AM/FM, and VHF buttons were very easy to use and switch between quickly. The FM/AM toggle switch worked great, and allowed me to quickly switch between channels. I did have some problems getting the SCAN function to work at first though. It seemed like the HX471S would scan and then stop on a random station.

I was super excited with the HX471S's ability to repel water. I really soaked it for awhile and it worked great. The unit is super durable which will be a necessity for me on my upcoming trip. One change I will be making is figuring out a way to get the unit attached to the outside of my life jacket. The HX471S has a strap for tying around my hand but I need a way to clip it into my life jacket. I will keep you all updated on how that modification goes. Well, it is 10:30pm and I need to be up at 4am to start rounding, so I am going to sign off.

Until next time.....