Electronics: Hands On
reprinted from YACHTING MAGAZINE,  JULY, 2000
 By Chuck Husick

SI-TEX Mariner VHF
A small wonder that's great for small vessels

Good things can come in surprisingly small packages. The new SI-TEX Mariner fixed-mount VHF transceiver is 5.4" wide, 2.12" high and 4.39" deep. It weighs only 1 3/4 lbs., complete with a cradle-type mounting bracket.

The plastic case is well-sealed and molded, with a die cast-metal rear panel incorporating the finned heat sink for the transmitter power transistors. A waterproof 1.5" mylar cone loudspeaker on the front panel provides more than adequate sound intensity and good audio quality. An external loudspeaker may be plugged into a jack on the rear panel. The microphone is permanently connected to the radio's front panel via a coiled cord. The radio is not waterproof, and the installation instructions suggest mounting it protected from rain, direct fresh- or saltwater spray, and extreme heat. It appears designed to deal with typical small-boat environment.

New users will find access to most functions immediately evident. One knob controls power and volume, another knob controls the squelch, and push buttons control all other functions. Channel selection, via a pair of increment/decrement buttons, is rapid. A 1 5/8" x 5 8" monochrome LCD displays channel number, transmit power selection, U.S./International channeling, memory and scan modes. Single-function buttons select the weather channels (10 possible), high/low power and U.S./International channeling. Regardless of the channel in use, you may immediately access channel 16 by pressing the 16/9 button, which also will return the radio to the previous channel. A clever bit of programming allows similar selection of channel 9, now used for communication with most bridges. Depressing the 16/9 button for two seconds will switch the radio to channel 9 from any other selected channel.

In accordance with FCC rules, the radio's transmitter will be automatically interrupted and an audio alert tone sounded if the microphone's press-to-talk button is down for more than five minutes. This is a good primary radio on any small vessel, or a useful second radio on larger boats. Suggested retail price: $189.

Contact: SI-TEX (727) 576-5734; fax (727) 570-8646; www.si-tex.com