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<\/h2>\nFirst ever handheld VHF with built in AIS<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The Icom M94DE VHF Marine Radio is the flagship model from Icom and is chock-full of features – two of those key features are its DSC and AIS functions. It is the first handheld VHF radio to offer AIS functionality too so this is a rare beast indeed at the moment.<\/p>\n The VHF is buoyant and when it detects water, it automatically flashes the screen light on and off. As the unit floats naturally on its back, the screen is easy to see and the flashing mode is easily visible.<\/p>\n Due to the many functions the Icom M94DE comes loaded with, it’s not a radio for technophobes. This will take a while to familiarise yourself with and to learn to navigate the multiple menus with speed and intuitive ease. The Ais function was very easy to access though and switching between alternative screens was pretty quick and slick once we knew which way to navigate with the buttons.<\/p>\n The Icom M94DE VHF Marine Radio features a waterproof rating of IPX7 (1 meter for 30 mins) and it offers a battery life on standby of 16 hours (charging in 3 hours). Also of note is the sizeable screen, making it easier to read than some smaller offerings, even with more information displayed.<\/p>\n This powerful high functioning unit lends itself to being a main unit on an open sports boat or to those who frequently find themselves in high traffic areas with commercial vessels. It is certainly a cost effective way of adding such a useful function as AIS to your boat or taking it onboard another nont AIS equipped boat if you are a professional skipper or someone who hops around various boats on a daily or weekly basis.<\/p>\n We’d like to see the unit come with 12v charging cable though rather than having to buy this as an optional extra.<\/p>\n Specifications <\/p>\n ICOM IC-M94 VHF RADIO MARINE TRANSCEIVER WITH DSC & AIS RECEIVER First ever handheld VHF with built in AIS The Icom M94DE VHF Marine Radio is the flagship model from Icom and is chock-full of features – two of those key features are its DSC and AIS functions. It is the first handheld VHF radio to offer AIS functionality too so this is a rare beast indeed at the moment. The VHF is buoyant and when it detects water, it automatically flashes the screen light on and off. As the unit floats naturally on its back, the screen is easy to see and the flashing mode is easily visible. Due to the many functions the Icom M94DE comes loaded with, it’s not a radio for technophobes. This will take a while to familiarise yourself with and to learn to navigate the multiple menus with speed and intuitive ease. The Ais function was very easy to access though and switching between alternative screens was pretty quick and slick once we knew which way to navigate with the buttons. The Icom M94DE VHF Marine Radio features a waterproof rating of IPX7 (1 meter for 30 mins) and it offers a battery life on standby of 16 hours (charging in 3 hours). Also of note is the sizeable screen, making it easier to read than some smaller offerings, even with more information displayed. This powerful high functioning unit lends itself to being a main unit on an open sports boat or to those who frequently find themselves in high traffic areas with commercial vessels. It is certainly a cost effective way of adding such a useful function as AIS to your boat or taking it onboard another nont AIS equipped boat if you are a professional skipper or someone who hops around various boats on a daily or weekly basis. We’d like to see the unit come with 12v charging cable though rather than having to buy this as an optional extra. Specifications \u2022 Battery life: 16 hours (on standby monitoring busy VTS channel) \u2022 Waterproofing: IPX7 \u2022 Floating: Yes \u2022 Weight: 367g \u2022 DSC: Yes \u2022 GPS: Yes \u2022 AIS: yes If you\u2019re looking for more handheld VHF marine radios read more in our buyers guide:\u00a0Best handheld VHF marine radio: 10 feature-rich options for your boat If you want to know more about handheld VHF marine radios, I’ve written a handy guide to answer some of the most commonly asked questions: what to look for in the best handheld VHF marine radios<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4294,"featured_media":144514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[2233,24],"review_manufacturer":[],"review_category":[294],"review_type":[811],"review_award":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/144238"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144238"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/144238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160005,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/144238\/revisions\/160005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144238"},{"taxonomy":"review_manufacturer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_manufacturer?post=144238"},{"taxonomy":"review_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_category?post=144238"},{"taxonomy":"review_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_type?post=144238"},{"taxonomy":"review_award","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_award?post=144238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/em>\u2022 Battery life: 16 hours (on standby monitoring busy VTS channel)
\n\u2022 Waterproofing: IPX7
\n\u2022 Floating: Yes
\n\u2022 Weight: 367g
\n\u2022 DSC: Yes
\n\u2022 GPS: Yes
\n\u2022 AIS: yes<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nIf you\u2019re looking for more handheld VHF marine radios<\/a> read more in our buyers guide:\u00a0Best handheld VHF<\/a> marine radio: 10 feature-rich options for your boat<\/h2>\n
If you want to know more about handheld VHF marine radios, I’ve written a handy guide to answer some of the most commonly asked questions: what to look for in the best handheld VHF marine radios<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"