West Marine VHF55 Owner's Manual

VHF50 VHF Radio

Owner ’s Manual

Table of Contents

DW

SQL

MEM

UIC

MIC

Introduction........................................2

Service...............................................2

Licensing............................................2

LCD Description.................................3

Turning the Radio On........................3

Adjusting the Volume.........................3

Receive Mode ....................................4

Squelch Control.................................4

Changing Channels...........................4

Changing Between USA,

International and Canadian Modes....5

Transmitting a Signal.........................6

Selecting the Transmit Power ............6

Battery Level Display.........................7

Listening to the Weather....................7

Channel 16/19 Key............................8

Dual Watch Mode..............................8

Scanning Channels............................9

Auto Back-Light................................11

Keypad Lock....................................11

Restoring Factory Settings ..............12

Battery Options for the VHF50 ........12

Maintenance ....................................12

Troubleshooting Guide.....................13

USA Frequency Chart......................14

International Frequency Chart.........15

Canadian Frequency Chart .............16

WX Frequency Chart.......................17

Accessories and Parts.....................17

Specifications...................................17

Warnings and Safety Precautions...18

2 West Marine VHF50 Radio Owner’s Manual

Welcome!

Thank you for purchasing the West
Marine VHF50. This product was
designed and built for boaters to use in
the harsh marine environment. With prop­er care this product should provide you
with years of trouble-free operation.

Your satisfaction with this product is
backed by the entire West Marine organi­zation worldwide.

Remember:

• Safety and distress calls take priority

over all others.

• You must monitor Channel 16 when

you are not operating on another
channel.

• False or fraudulent distress calls are

prohibited under law.

• Information overheard but not intend-

ed for you cannot lawfully be used in
any way.

• Indecent or profane language is pro-

hibited.

Service:

In the event that the radio fails to per­form, or needs servicing, please send
directly to our Electronics Repair Center
in Hollister, CA. Be sure to include your
return mailing information and a detailed
accounting of the problems experienced
and/or the service requested.

West Marine
Electronics Repair Center
2395 Bert Court
Hollister, CA 95023
[e-mail]
831-761-4205

Radio Licenses:

1. Ship Station License

An FCC ship station license is no longer
required for any vessel traveling in US
waters which uses a VHF marine radio,
RADAR, EPIRB, and which is not
required to carry radio equipment. A
license is necessary however for a DSC
MMSI number, or for any vessel required
to carry a marine radio on an international
voyage, carrying a HF single side band
radiotelephone or marine satellite termi­nal. For more information, see the FCC’s
Fact Sheet PR 5000 #14. FCC license
forms, including applications for ship
(506) and land station licenses can be
downloaded via the Internet at
www.fcc.gov/forms. To obtain a form
from the FCC, call [phone].

2. Radio Call Sign

Currently the FCC does not require recre­ational boaters to have a Ship Radio
Station License. The USCG recommends
that the boat’s registration number and the
state to be used.

3. Canadian Ship Station
Licensing

You do not need a license if your vessel is
not operated in sovereign waters of a
country other than Canada or the USA. If
you do need a license, contact their near­est field office or regional office or write:

Industry Canada
Radio Regulatory Branch
Attn: DOSP
300 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada, K1A OCA

West Marine VHF50 Radio Owner’s Manual 3

LCD Description

USA/INTERNATIONAL/
CANADIAN (UIC) Mode
indicator

Current
channel
indicator

Battery level indicator;
more bars indicate the bat­tery is more fully charged

HL Transmit power indicator:

L=Low, H=High

SCAN Indicates that the radio is in

Memory Scan or Priority Scan
Mode

MEM Indicates that the channel is

entered into the Scan Memory

WX Indicates that the radio is in

Weather Mode

DW Indicates that the radio is in Dual

Watch Mode

TX Shown when transmitting
BUSY Shown when receiving
LOCK Shown when keypad is locked

Fig. 1: Volume Display

1. Turning the Radio On

Press and hold the PWR key for over two
seconds to turn the VHF50 on. The radio
will power up in the same condition as it
was last used. The last Channel Mode
(USA/INT/CAN), Channel, TX Power,
Key Lock, Squelch Level, Volume Level,
etc. are restored.

2. Adjusting the Volume

Press the VOL key briefly to enter the
Volume Control Mode.

VOL will appear

on the display (Fig. 1). Press the

▲ or ▼

keys to increase or decrease the volume
level bar. Three seconds after the last key
stroke, the Volume Display will show the
volume. The radio will automatically
return to Channel Selection Mode. If the
VOL key is pressed and released when in
Volume Control Mode, the radio will
return to Channel Selection Mode.

Volume
indicator

Fig. 3 Squelch Display

Fig. 2: Busy Indicator

3. Receive Mode

When the radio is receiving a signal, the
BUSY indicator will be displayed (Fig. 2).

This indicates that you should not trans­mit until the

BUSY indicator is no longer

displayed.

4. Squelch Control

The Squelch Control reduces the static
and noise heard on the radio, but allows
strong signals to be heard clearly. To
adjust the squelch setting, press the
SQL/HL key briefly. The radio’s display
will show

SQL (Fig. 3). Press the ▲ or ▼

keys to increase or decrease the squelch
level bar. Three seconds after the last key
stroke, the Squelch Display will show the
squelch. The radio will automatically
return to Channel Selection Mode. If the
VOL key is pressed and released when in
Squelch Control Mode, the radio will
return to Channel Selection Mode.

• Higher settings allow only strong sig-

nals to be heard.

• Lower settings allow weak signals to

be heard, and possibly static.

• Generally, the squelch control should

be set for the lowest setting that elim­inates unwanted static.

• The lowest setting allows all signals

to be heard.

5. Changing Channels

To change channels, press the ▲ or ▼
keys.

• If the

▲ or ▼ keys are pressed for

more than one second, the channel
will change rapidly.

• The radio displays the channel num-

ber, memory status (MEM) and TX
power status of the channel as you
change the channels (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4 Channel Display

4 West Marine VHF50 Radio Owner’s Manual

Fig. 5a: USA Mode Display

Fig. 5b: International Mode Display

Fig. 5c: Canadian Mode Display

6. Changing Between
USA, International,
and Canadian Modes

Different areas of the world use different
VHF frequencies, although the channel
designation (1–88) may be the same.
There are three modes: USA, Interna­tional, and Canadian. Press and hold the
VOL/UIC key for two seconds change
from USA to International; to change
from International to Canadian; and to
change from Canadian to USA (Fig. 5a­5c). Three seconds after the last key
stroke, the Country Mode Display will
stop blinking and show the Country
Mode. The radio will automatically return
to Channel Selection Mode. If the
VOL/UIC key is pressed and released
when in Country Selection Mode, the
radio will return to Channel Selection
Mode.

• When Country Mode is changed,

Channel 16 is automatically selected,
not the last channel used.

• If for some reason you find that you

cannot communicate with another
radio on a predetermined channel,
insure that both radios are set the cor­rect Channel Mode. This can be con­fusing if different modes are being
used.

West Marine VHF50 Radio Owner’s Manual 5

6 West Marine VHF50 Radio Owner’s Manual

Fig. 6a: TX indicator

Fig. 6b: Receive-Only Channel Display

Fig. 7a: Hi Transmit Power Display

7. Transmitting a Signal

To transmit a signal, press the Push-To­Talk (PTT) key on the side of the radio.
While transmitting, the

TX indicator will
appear (Fig. 6a). When the PTT key is
released, the radio will return to Receive
Mode.

• You cannot transmit on receive-only

channels like the Weather Channels
or Channels 15 and 70. If you try, an
error tone will sound, the Channel
Number and TX indicators will blink
three times, and then go back to the
normal display (Fig. 6b).

• If the PTT key is pressed when the

battery condition is low, one last
transmission will be allowed, then an
error tone will sound with

BAT LO

displayed. No further transmission
will be allowed.

8. Selecting the Transmit

Power

To change the transmit power, press and
hold the H/L key for over two seconds
(Fig. 7a, 7b).

Restricted Channels

Certain channels are limited by law to 1
watt transmit power (USA Mode Channel
12, 17, 67, 77; INT Mode Channel 15, 17,
CAN Mode Channel 12, 15, 17, 20, 66,

77). These channels will always transmit
on low (1 watt) power.

• You cannot change the transmit

power setting on receive-only chan­nels (all weather channels, USA
Mode Channel 15, 70, INT Mode
Channel 70, CAN Mode Channel 70)

• If you press the H/L key while scan-

ning or while on a receive-only chan­nel, the error tone will sound and the
transmit power setting will not
change.

Blinking

Fig. 7b: Lo Transmit Power Display