Humminbird VHF55S User Manual

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THANK YOU!

Thank you for choosing Humminbird®, America's #1 name in fishfinders. Humminbird® has built its reputation by designing and manufacturing top-quality, thoroughly reliable marine equipment. Your Humminbird® is designed for trouble-free use in even the harshest marine environment. In the unlikely event that your Humminbird® does require repairs, we offer an exclusive Service Policy - free of charge during the first three years after purchase, and available at a reasonable rate after the three-year warranty period expires for the radio, and free of charge during the first year after purchase for the Ni-MH battery pack. For complete details, see the separate warranty sections in the back of this manual. We encourage you to read this operations manual carefully in order to get full benefit from all the features and applications of your Humminbird® product.

Contact our Customer Resource Center at either 1-800-633-1468 or visit our website at www.humminbird.com.

WARNING! Disassembly and repair of this electronic unit should only be performed by authorized service personnel. Any modification of the serial number or attempt to repair the original equipment or accessories by unauthorized individuals will void the warranty. Handling and/or opening this unit may result in exposure to lead, in the form of solder.

WARNING! This product contains lead, a chemical known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects and other reproductive harm.

Humminbird® is a registered trademark of Humminbird®.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VHF55S Introduction 3

How VHF Works 3

Parts Supplied 4

Optional Accessories 4

What's On the Display 5

VHF55S Controls 6

Features Overview 7

Before Using Your VHF55S 8

1. Installing the alkaline batteries or charging and installing the Ni-MH battery pack .......... 8

2. Attaching the antenna............................................................................................................ 10

3. Attaching the belt clip (optional) .......................................................................................... 10

Using Your VHF55S 11

1. Turning the power on/off ...................................................................................................... 11

2. Adjusting squelch .................................................................................................................. 11

3. Selecting the U.S./International/Canadian band ................................................................ 12

4. Transmitting and receiving ....................................................................................................12

5. Accessing the 16/9 priority channels .................................................................................. 12

6. Selecting a channel................................................................................................................ 12

7. Selecting high/low power...................................................................................................... 13

8. Locking the keypad ................................................................................................................ 13

9. Selecting a weather channel ................................................................................................ 13

10. Adding channels to memory .............................................................................................. 14

11. Scanning .............................................................................................................................. 14

12. Accessing channels saved to memory .............................................................................. 15

13. Using the monitor modes....................................................................................................15

14. Resetting the radio .............................................................................................................. 16

Maintenance 17

Troubleshooting 17

VHF55S Doesn't Power Up 17

Radio 3-Year Limited Warranty 17

Ni-MH Battery 1-Year Limited Warranty 18

Humminbird® Service Policy 19

Returning Your Unit for Service 19

Specifications 21

Marine Channels 22

Contact Humminbird® 29

VHF55S INTRODUCTION

The Humminbird® VHF55S represents state-of-the-art high tech VHF Handheld engineering, and is skillfully designed and constructed with the finest components. It is constructed to commercialgrade standards to give you clear, reliable communication.

The Humminbird® VHF55S is available in three different versions:

• VHF55S.

• VHF55SC Camouflage.

• VHF55S Plus.

HOW VHF WORKS

The most popular method of communicating with other boats is via very high frequency (VHF) radio. In technical terms, this is similar to the way that commercial radio stations transmit. VHF equipment is relatively simple, and can therefore be compact and low cost.

To ensure that maritime users do not cause interference for other radio users, a part of the radio spectrum has been allocated specifically to this group of users. These reserved frequencies have been numbered; for example, Channel 16 (usually abbreviated Ch16) actually refers to a frequency of 156.800 mHz.

Because radio does not recognize geographic or political boundaries, and to make sure that boats traveling on international voyages can always communicate, the VHF marine band is the same worldwide. There are 55 international marine channels, a similar number of private channels (allocated on a local basis to commercial organizations) and some other unique national channels.

The United States and Canada employ a slightly different application of marine channels, using the same frequencies but allocating more simplex (one-way) rather than duplex (two-way) channels.

National channels include WX (weather) channels in the U.S., fishing channels in Norway and the marina channels M and M2 in the U.K. To make sure that your radio is fitted with the correct local channels, be sure to purchase type-approved equipment in the country of intended use.

PARTS SUPPLIED

Before using your VHF55S, please make sure that the following parts are included for your model:

• VHF55S Radio:

• Alkaline battery compartment (6 AA batteries not included).

• Belt clip.

• Flexible antenna.

• VHF55SC Camouflage Radio:

• Alkaline battery compartment (6 AA batteries not included).

• Belt clip.

• Flexible antenna.

• VHF55S Plus Radio:

• Alkaline battery compartment (6 AA batteries not included).

• One Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) rechargable battery pack.

• AC/DC chargers with desktop cradle.

• Belt clip.

OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES

The following optional accessories are available for the VHF55S radios:

• A battery eliminator, which allows the radio to be powered by a 12 Volt source without the need for batteries. The adapter plugs into any standard 12 Volt cigarette lighter plug. (Part # BE 2)

• A rechargeable Ni-MH Battery pack. (Part # BVHF55)

• A rechargeable Ni-MH Battery pack with AC/DC charger and desktop cradle included. (Part # BKVHF55)

NOTE: You can visit our website at www.humminbird.com to order these accessories online or contact our Customer Resource Center at 1-800-633-1468.

WHAT'S ON THE DISPLAY

The Humminbird® VHF55S uses an LCD display, together with an 8-button keypad, to control all user functions. The figure shows a typical view you might see on the display at initial power-up.

Stored icon [diskette]

Receiving icon [BUSY]

Transmit on [TX]

Low power transmit icon [LO]

High power transmit icon [HI]

Priority channel icon [P]

Scan mode icon [SCAN]

Signal power level icon

Keys locked icon [key]

Canadian band icon [C]

International band icon [I]

U.S. band icon [U]

Channel number [88]

Weather station alarm [A]

Weather station icon [WX]

Memory channel icon [M]

Dual Watch icon [DU]

Tri Watch icon [TRI]

Receive Only icon [B]

Battery Level icon

Duplex (Receive and

Transmit on same

channel) icon [A]

VHF55S CONTROLS

The following drawing shows the Humminbird® VHF55S controls:

Antenna

Push-To-Talk (PTT) key

HI/LOW/LOCK key

SCAN key

Memory (MEM) key

Channel 16/9 Priority key

PWR/VOL knob

Squelch (SQ) knob

WX/BAND key

Up Channel key

Down Channel key

DUAL/TRI Watch key

FEATURES OVERVIEW

Your Humminbird® VHF55S has the following features:

Channel 16/9 Priority Key: Provides quick access to emergency Channel 16, the universal and most frequently-used marine channel, which is used for distress or safety communications. Pressing and holding the 16/9 channel key for 3 seconds allows quick and easy access to Channel

9. Channel 9 is an alternate frequency for distress or safety in some areas in the event Channel 16 is congested.

PLL (Phase Lock Loop) Controlled Circuitry: Provides accurate and stable channel selection.

Squelch Adjustment: Allows you to eliminate static and background noises during

communications.

Key Lock: Allows you to lock the keypad in order to prevent accidental key presses.

High/Low Transmit Power Selection: Allows you to select either High Power Transmit for long-

range communications or Low Power Transmit for shorter-range communications to save battery power.

Battery Level Indicator: Indicates the amount of battery life remaining.

Battery Charging Station: Allows you to recharge your Ni-MH battery pack (not included with

all models)

Backlit LCD Display: Allows you to operate the radio in low light conditions.

Memory Channels: Allows you to store channels as “memory channels” that you can easily

retrieve for future use.

WX/BAND Key: Allows you to select the Weather Band, the U.S. Channel Band, the International Channel Band or the Canadian Channel Band.

SCAN Key: Allows you to scan all channels, to scan channels saved in memory or to conduct a priority scan.

Signal Strength Meter: Allows you to see the strength of the transmit and receive signals.

Dual Watch: Allows you to scan alternately between your currently-selected channel and

Channel 16 to make sure you don’t miss distress or emergency calls.

Tri Watch: Allows you to scan alternately between your currently selected channel, Channel 16, and Channel 9 to make sure you don’t miss distress or emergency calls.

Normal Scan: Allows you to scan all available channels for active channels.

Memory Scan: Allows you to rapidly scan pre-programmed channels to locate active channels.

Priority Scan: Allows you to scan all channels while alternately scanning Channel 16 to make sure that you don’t miss distress or emergency calls.

NOTE: You should record your VHF55S’s serial number, which is on the back panel of the radio, here.

Serial Number: ________________________.

BEFORE USING YOUR VHF55S

Before using your VHF55S radio, you should do two things:

1. Install the 6 alkaline batteries or charge and install the battery pack onto the radio.

2. Attach the antenna to the radio.

In addition, you may want to perform the additional optional step:

3. Attach the belt clip to the radio (optional).

1. Installing the Alkaline Batteries or Charging and Installing the Ni-MH Battery Pack

NOTE: If you are using alkaline batteries, you must make sure you have six fully-charged batteries.

NOTE: Rotate fastener as shown to remove battery pack from the radio. Lift the battery pack out and up from the bottom to remove it from the radio.

1a. If you are going to use alkaline batteries, remove the alkaline battery compartment cover

and install 6 AA alkaline batteries. Re-install the cover to the battery compartment, then secure in place.

or...

1b. If you are going to use the Ni-MH re-chargeable battery pack, make sure that it is fully

charged before trying to operate the radio. You can either charge the battery pack when it is attached to the radio or when it is not yet attached. To charge the Ni-MH battery pack, place it in the desktop charging cradle and plug either the AC or DC charger into the cradle, depending on the power source that you plan to use. You will know that the battery pack is seated correctly in the charger when the charging indicator LED lights up. You should charge the battery pack for 14-15 hours. Attach the battery pack to the radio when it is finished charging if you have not already done so.

CAUTION: The battery pack will continue to charge as long as it is in the charger and the charger is connected to a power source, so you must remember to take the radio/battery pack out of the charger when it has been fully charged. Overcharging batteries may result in damage to both the battery pack and radio.

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