BEST HANDHELD VHF WITH GPS: STANDARD HORIZON HX890 UNBOXING 

1 minor correction. The radio WILL transmit without an MMSI number programmed into it. It WILL NOT take advantage of DSC features without an MMSI number.

This is such a helpful and comprehensive video. I loved that you included the MMSI registration walk through. Thanks a bunch!

I see lots of questions about distance. It’s a VHF radio. Distance is based on line of sight. From flat ground/water expect @3-5 miles radius at 6W. If coast guard antenna is high up you will get another 5-10 miles range. I am a ham radio operator and have had contacts over 150 miles with a 5W VHF handheld and a upgraded more efficient antenna from mountain tops 2-3000’’ above surrounding terrain. With a 3W HF radio North America to Europe is relatively easy but you need a 30-60’ wire antenna.

i was out that day. I headed to the sword grounds in the glass calm slick of the morning in my 24' . The day was very eerie, several boats were fishing in my area including the vessel that sank. a hazy fog blocked out the ability to see land. A couple hours went by, we made our 3rd drop without any sword bites, i looked back towards fort lauderdale and the fog turned almost as dark as the night sky. i overheard a couple larger boats with radar saying they were headed in. every sensor in my body was telling me go home. We pulled up and headed in. About 3 miles from land i got a view of one of the nastiest storms ive seen in south florida in my life. purple cell on the radar, We got into the inlet and were blasted with 35-45mph+ downdraft of cool wind. glad those guys made it several other vessels radiod for help.

Boating gets expensive.. but this is one of those items you definitely don’t want to be without when you’re in open sea miles out.. a true life saver. Great radio and video btw!

You probably did not understand the message on the display correctly. The radio works great without MMSI. MMSI is necessary for sending the DSC signal.

I got this one last month. Still learning how to use it. Do some more videos on this radio👍

epirb and Handheld VHF are life savers.

Great review!!! I personally think this is a MUST HAVE device. If you’re outside your boat, or the electrically system is down. How do you relay your GPS coordinates? You need this. If you get thrown from the boat and can’t manage to swim your boat in an emergency situation? You’ll need s radio and a means to send your gps coordinates. You’ve made me completely change my mind about these devices. Again, thanks!

Just bought one Thank you for showing the set up of MMSI

That storm on April 26th was crazy, we barely made it to Haulover in time, it’s was freakishly big and it was scary! Supposedly 3-4 boats went down including that 34 footer in the video.

Just to clarify something you misspoke. You CAN transmit without a mmsi entered. You cannot transmit DSC without the mmsi number.

I've had an HX870 for a couple years now. Very happy with it. I liked the waterproof, floats, panic button with Lat Lon as well. Glad you mentioned the range. It's a real issue. All boaters should monitor CH16 all the time to help each other out in emergencies. A fixed mount could hear a distress call and relay info at their higher power and greater range.

This was a great video. You packed everything into a short video. Thanks for tanking the time. This was very helpful. I just ordered one based on this clip.

I have the HX870 a couple years old. I bought it at a Trader marine store and everything works perfect. Right now I carry it while kayaking the river and around the hundreds of islands in the Peace River located in SW Florida. I was caught in a pretty big storm but rode it out and didn't need the radio. But; I had it.

Great video. Have had the HX870 for my kayaking trips for a few years now. Gives some insight to the surrounding commercial traffic to watch out for as well, as I have it in scan mode for 16, traffic channel and port channels.

Had mine for about 6 years now - having tried ICOM handhelds before, which don’t stand up well. In addition to your PLB I recommend the Garmin InReach on your life jacket too and Sirius Satellite weather. It’s a godsend in the summer and you can see very clearly what weather is coming and from where. It’s saved my rear on many many occasions just by closely monitoring the conditions as they change during the day.

The Coast Guard's minimum standard for their communications network is being able to hear a 1w handheld radio out to 20 miles. The distance you mentioned is what you can expect from your radio to another mariner. That being said, atmospherics and terrain can impact the distance, so don't take this as encouragement to go further offshore, just a bit of information for folks.

Mine seems to transmit just fine right out of the box. Of course you should follow safety protocols and go on to boat US I'm just trying to make a correction

Make sure that when you purchase anything, that you buy it from an authorized dealer. If you do not purchase the item from an authorized dealer, the manufacturer may not recognize the warranty as you won't be recognized as the original purchaser. I purchased my Standard Horizon HX 890 from West Marine before June 30, 2020 and will get a $50.00 rebate. Thanks for the video, good information. This is my first vhf radio and I'll be on the water in a kayak while venturing out into the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean as well as tidal waters. I read through the instruction manual and felt a little overwhelmed. I'm not that technically adept and feel that a tutorial on this radio would help out a lot of people.

Love it Captain! Thanks for the video!

Very informative, look into buying a handheld. Thank you!

I am between this one and icom m94 .but I like standard best.It made in Japan ?

Great Video...Easy to follow for new boaters. Thank you!!!

Hey Captain Mike Thanks for posting this video! It’s so important to be dialed in on safety as you know. I was fishing a wreck off Big Pine Key the other day about 6 miles offshore and lost all power. I happened to be tied off to a mooring buoy so I was able to call for help and it wasn’t an issue but it did take two hours for Boat Us to come. If I was adrift I would be miles away and could be difficult to be found etc so this unit is a key to survival hands down. Do you program the same MMSI on all your VHS radios? I did and this seems to be the way to go. See below website: The MMSI number is a bit like a phone number for your boat, and all DSC capable equipment (including AIS units) associated with the specific vessel should use the same MMSI number, since the MMSI serves to identify the vessel, not the equipment. Tight lines! Captain Tony

Very well done video. Thanks

So the MMSI requires this radio being tied to a particular vessel? I'm looking for something that provides some safety/peace-of-mind while chartering boats, is that not doable with DCS?

Thanks for tutorial. Just got mine yesterday, you cannot put a price on safety.

I just bought this radio a couple days ago. When I look up the GPS Info, the Altimeter appears to be around 40ft higher than it should be. Standing at Sea level in Tampa Bay, it was showing me 40ft. At my home it was showing me 83ft. I know my driveway is 43ft above sea level. Are any of you experiencing this issue? Great video BTW, it sold me on this radio.

Thanks for the overview, I fish with a kayak, carry a basic VHF but it doesn't have gps, time to upgrade, I don't need to make it any harder to find me out there lol. Never knew about MMSI, helpful video.

Great radio I had mine since 2016 and worked awesome I placed an order this week on my net thank you for the live bait Early invite

Good Stuff.. Thanks for taking the time to make this video.. Very Helpful.

Thanks Mike. Awesome information. Ordered it just now!

Great video, got mine a year ago as back up. We go back and forth to Catalina all the time, yes there seem to be more to this unit and would love to learn more.

If they were far out about 20 miles like you said how did the handheld help them out? Did they get a message to another vessel and then get the help? I'm guessing the DSC feature would have been good option linked with the GPS

Great video 🤙

So many people think accidents happen to others…even when you’re doing everything right, shit does happen esp in the gulf. I scuba dive and do a lot of drift diving always carry a gps enable emergency beacon. However, a lot of kayakers think that they’ll never need a radio and pour all their money into fishing gear. I can personally attest that no matter how experienced , shit happens.

Thanks for the info

You need a garmin in reach mini satellite communication that’s works pole to pole

Great unit Captain Mike !! I was looking at one a few months back at the AC Boat Show . Thank you for video !!

Just got mine today. I'm surprised they don't have an option for a larger antenna

Great video Capt. Glad to see another one, seems like it's been minute since the last one. Hope you're staying healthy!! How's the boat build?

You mean your name is Mike and you are a captain!?!

they should have made it a neon yellow color too.

Very good info, Mike. Thanks

Read a book.....i think it was called adrift. Basically guy was in a life raft for months. He said he wished he had hand held vhf instead of flares. Ships kept passing him buy no one saw his flares. I always keep a life preserver on with a plb in pocket cause i fish by myself.

Super helpful video, thanks a lot friend.

Is there a cost associated with obtaining the mmsi number for a recreational vessel in domestic waters or is it free to register and obtain one?

Thank you for this.. Very Helpful!!!

Thank you for the video. Purchasing one as we are now going out deep to get trash.

Wow I'm thinking of removing my old school radio from the console and going this route. Living on the Mississippi it only gets used to call the lock master.

Great Video! Thanks for sharing.

Why are radios like this one black? They should be signal orange and floatable, maybe with a flashing light that is activated by (salt) water in case it goes overboard or you lose your grip on it, Maybe there are some radios like that on the market already. But all I have seen are ones like this.

Great advise Cpt. Mike. Looking forward to Live Bait store opening soon. I hope you will be carrying the sabiki rigs you recommend. Fun fact, they work great! But, seem to be getting hard to find online.

Great video Captain! I’ve been wanting to purchase a handheld unit for some time now. Will be purchasing the same one 👍

Very helpful! Great review

This guy is awesome!

Thanks for the video. Had no idea what that mmsi thing was or how to register it

Great video , I have that same radio ,Thanks for posting that video

The position on the VHF says you're on the grass outside Ocean Marine Yacht Club, Miami. Did you have a large white bag over your head when you filmed that bit..?

Can the radio still operate without MMSI right away by using regular channels to transmit/ weather, then later imputing that number to be able to use the duress button ?

hello my friend .i am thinking to buy the sh hx890 or icom ic37 .what do you think

I just got my Restricted Operator's Certificate. I'm going to get one of those :-).

I hope the build on the new boat is going well

"The storm came out of nowhere"

So in a emergency you would use the distress function on the handheld radio and the PLB ? Sorry for a dumb question , but was wondering if they inter feared with each other when both activated. Thank you .

I joined a boat club and take different boats out all the time. I was wondering if there’s a way to use this since Im not on a specific vessel

Capt Mike, I want to use this radio on my kayak and in my state you dont have to register your kayak so how do I get a MMSI? I tried and it will not work on us boat without a registration number. HELP! Thanks

Is the MMSI transmission via a VHF low orbit satellite or a terrestrial signal ? I have seen some land based GPS emergency location transmitter that used a satellite frequency that it transmits to a low orbit satellite to send your distress call and GPS Is this the same thing or does it require being within range of a land-based receiving station ? Thank you

Thanks for the Video Breakdown! Can you program LMR channels into this radio like you can with the HX380?

I believe you can transmit without MMSI, But not using DSC. ?

Thank you Capt Mike! Just ordered one to carry on board with my Uniden Atlantis 270 (1-handheld good, 2-better) I wish it was a high visibility color like my PLB. Considering attaching a piece of high vis colored surveying ribbon to the antenna.....what are your thoughts?

Friend of mine got a handheld VHF but he never entered his MMSI number, still uses it to lock in or out and stuff like that.

Recommend this for jet ski users?

How well does it work over land with buildings and hills and valleys?

a better antenna would be a good idea

what's the milage ranged?

When pushing the distress button, does it transmit your lat/long only to other boats with a MMSI number within the 2 to 5 mile range?

The first thing to have in a float plan for going off shore is a Boston Whaler.

Hey Cap, how is the new boat coming along? You left us hanging after the foam and top cap.

Thanks

The cobra hh 600 is the best.

Another super video

@ReelReports is this unit able to be used with a bluetooth headset? Standard horizon made a handheld about 8 years ago that had a bluetooth headset but after a short run they discontinued it. I have been wanting a bluetooth headset compatible handheld as I work offshore and use my current handheld a lot. I have been using the yaesu headset and it works great except that no matter how well I secure the wire it ends up snagging on something and breaking the wire.

I had one of these last fall and winter. I liked it very much, but be warned- they do not float as advertised. Mine went overboard north of Abacos, and when we turned around and went back to retrieve it, it SANK! I’m still working with SH on whether or not this should be warrantied.

this Might Sound stupid.... But does This Work On The lakes..... instead of ocean

Hows the new boat coming along!!

i just got one. helpful video. are there 2 antennas? also, the fee of $25 on MMSI, is that for the GPS service?

wish ONE SINGLE PERSON would make a video on a boat and see how far out one can go and still talk with coast guard. Any other part of the review is unboxing and specs.. no real life usage demos!

Is MMSI a US-only thing?

Unless other boats were in the 3-5 mile range and relayed the information through an actual vhf antenna, i wonder how they were able to communicate with boatUS and the coast guard being they were so far out?

Hey Capt Is it worth it to upgrade the hx870 to the hx890?

How do u go fish without fish finder with gps in it

IM PLANNING TO BUY ONE DO I NEED TO REGISTERED THAT TO MMSI EVEN DO I DONT HAVE ANY BOAT ? WHAT IS THE REQUIRMENT TO REGISTERED THE RADIO

i have this same radio, use it as a back up, you can still use the radio, without the MMSI, it wont send your registration info out or GPS info.

Does the emergency signal transmit over satellite or radio transmission?

Nice orange jacket, what brand is it?

B.O.A.T = bust out another thousand 😝

Any pilot who could recommend this as radio backup?

Can you register this radio without owning a boat?