icom m33

[ciaranclissmann]

hiyiz

anyone got an icom m33, the floating VHF ?

or any thoughts on which icom to go for ?

Am planning to upgrade from my Silva S12....

thanks!!

Ciaran

[DesKeaney]

Agree with Michael. But the battery terminals corrode. Excellent other than that.

[ciarancarthy]

Also have a look at the M31. I use one.

[Julian]

I\'ve just recently bought an M31, but spent a while looking at the M33 and others to see what was best. From memory, versus the M31 the M33 was:
1. Significantly more expensive
2. A bit larger
3. Floating
4. Had a little more tx power
5. Had a more powerful speaker
6. Had no facility to take a dry-cell AA battery pack.

Of these I couldn\'t see any benefit in 1-4 at all. (It should be in a case tied to you, so how would you drop it? Extra tx power at sea level (beyond 5W) isn\'t likely to get any more range.) 5 might well be a benefit. 6 might well be a disaster for expedition usage, unless carrying solar panels.

I bought mine from http://www.mesltd.co.uk They were *much* cheaper than anyone in Ireland (that I could find), even including postage. They were fast and efficient too.

Julian

[ciaranclissmann]

Thanks, Julian. That\'s done the legwork for me!

I\'ve ordered the same, from the same.

[Sean.C]

Ciaran,
Not alot of use to you now, but Western Marine are selling the M31 for €179.99.....same cost as having it sent over, but easier return.

Sean

[michaelcheers]

All
Just checked the battery on my ICOM H/H VHFand confirmed the point that Des Keaney made in an earlier post about the corrosion on external battery terminals on the back of radio units - mine are beginning to etch away. I guess its because of some sort of electrolytic action that is set up when when I put it into a sink.

From now on I will wash it under a tap where there it is less likely that the batteries will get shorted out. Protecting the terminals with a bit of vaseline that can be easily wiped off when charging may also help. I guess the M31 and M33 will use batteries of similar design.

mike

[DaveWalsh]

On foot of this correspondence I bought a ICM-31 in September over the internet. The central battery terminal is gone already. It will still function, but will not charge, or at least I don\'t think it will. It blinks orange all the time instead of steady orange while charging, green when done.
Apparently ICM don\'t \"do\" guarantees, which rather backs up the point someone made about shopping local. Des says they argue you should have washed it after use each time. I did, but how do you prove that ?
Do Western Marine do replacement batteries ?
DWalsh

[ciarancarthy]

Hi Dave,

After more than a year of use my own M31 exhibited a similar problem. Plugged it in to the charger one day and it didn\'t seem to \"engage\". Not sure if it even lit up at all. I then noticed one of the terminals corroded.

I retried and got it to engage by gently repositioning/rocking it within the charger until the light came on. It functions fine in this way. Worth a try.

Ciaran

[DesKeaney]

My radio charges fine without the central terminal. Does anyone know what it\'s for?
Sometimes the other two need gentle cleaning before a good contact is made. The business end of a dividers does the job!
Western Marine can order spare batteries. Also available is a AA battery conversion pack which is useful as a backup or on expedition.Post edited by: deskeaney, at: 2007/12/12 17:36