Looking for opinions on marine band (VHF) radios

[PerchJerker]

I have a 10 year old Apelco that's at the end of it's life. Wondering if anyone has anything good or bad to say about any of the marine band radios out there - Raymarine, ICOM, Standard Horizen, Uniden, etc. I found a Uniden Polaris on sale and am thinking about going with it, but I have no experience with Uniden. Anyone have any advice or opinions?

FYI, it will be a fixed mount radio with an 8 foot antenna. Thanks in advance.

[strat-o-caster]

I bought a Lowrance Lvr-850 last spring. This was my first Marine radio so I can't compare with other model's. Price was right and work's great!... Strat

[DanL]

Hey Strat,did you configure your LVR for the DSC function? I just received the 850 also and yet to see the real benefit of this feature. Take care...

[strat-o-caster]

No I did'nt Yet maybe next spring... Strat

[Ufatz]

I have used quite a few Icom and Uniden marine radios. Either will certainly do the job. You should not need a sophisticated marine radio for the waters and situations in this part of the world.

You might note that marine radios are not toys.

[strat-o-caster]

I disagree, I spend alot of time on lake Superior and it was just the unit I was looking for. I only have a hand held Garmin GPS but by spring I'll be adding one to my boat. Then those extra features will be nice. Not a bad feature to have on any big-lake.. Lake of the Woods, Millacs, Etc... Strat

[PerchJerker]

Not sure just what you're saying Ufatz???? I am not looking for a toy, I am looking for a good reliable radio. I take my boat to Lake Erie and have also had it on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, not places where I want something that isn't going to work. Same goes for Lac Seul, with all the rocks and trees and islands it's tough to get good range. And occasionally I'll fish tournaments that require you to have a marine band radio. When I got my Apelco 10 years ago it was considered a top-of-the-line unit. I have no complaints with it but it's dead now. I'm mostly just wondering if there's any brands out there that really rise to the top (or fall to the bottom)???