Hi Patrick, 

I just went through a similar search for my new boat. I had a Standard Horizon 2150 at the flybridge, and a really old Standard Horizon Titan + down below at my salon driving station. I had the B&G, Standard Horizon GX2200, ICOM (various models) and a few others on my previous boat, and were never really happy. 

I settled on the Furuno FM-4800 which is pretty new. It has many of the things you're looking for, which were my criteria as well. NMEA 2000 built in, GPS internal, second station via a wired mic, etc. 

I have been using it only a few weeks, but the GPS is absolutely outstanding - it is up and running and has a position within 15-30 seconds, which is faster than any other radio I know of. My Standard Horizon GX2200 would often fail getting a GPS signal, even in a good location. The unit has been built very well, looks nice, and has a very loud speaker. The screen is definitely bigger on the Furuno vs. the SH 2150.

I'm hoping to write up a bit more about this soon, but so far I'm very pleased with the radio.

Thanks Steve!

I’ll definitely take a look at the Furuno. 

I knew from some of your earlier posts you were not entirely happy with the B&G and others.

Steve,

The Furuno FM-4800 does indeed look nice but for roughly half the price (after rebate) the Standard Horizon GX6000 is looking very appealing! Am I missing something critical or do I just need to see both in the flesh to appreciate the Furuno?

Thanks

Patrick

I have only used the GX6000 for a few hours on another boat and have not owned one. I believe one of the Bens either has one or had access to one for a while. I know the big feature is the wireless remote, but in my experience, the marine industry has not figured this out yet, and while they're getting closer, I would rather have a wired second station, if needed.

I did like the GX6000 and I'm sure it would be a great radio too. I just invested in a full Furuno system, so having the FM-4800 was an easy choice since it integrates well with DSC calls and such with the rest of the equipment, plus it looks similar too.

Thanks.  As I understand it the GX6000 gives one the option of wireless or wired remotes - or even both (as long as you only want one wired remote).  So if I went that route I could get the radio and one Ram4 mic and see if later on I really need (want) a wireless remote too.  I think my HX870 probably does all I need when I need to step away from the radio or second wired station.

PS On further investigation it seems that SH have both a Ram4 mic and a Ram4W - the latter being the wireless option that also requires a base station connected to the GX6000.

Ben E. has a GX6000, perhaps he can chime in with his experience with that radio.

I currently have a Raymarine Ray90 ( https://panbo.com/raymarine-ray90-a-full-featured-black-box-vhf-radio-with-wireless-handsets-and-bluetooth-audio/) and I've been very happy with it.  The wireless handsets with this radio are all implemented with WiFi and so far I've found them to work really well.  It has a number of additional niceties, like pairing the wireless handheld with a Bluetooth speaker for louder, clearer sound.  

It does have a hailer and can be purchased with or without AIS RX.  

I've had the opportunity to play with Furuno's new fixed mount radios and thought it was also a very nice radio.  

Ben

Hi Patrick, First of all, thanks for the head's up about the new Standard Horizon GX1800/1850 radios. The details are just rolling out but I like a lot of what I see so far:

http://www.standardhorizon.com/?cmd=DisplayProducts&DivisionID=3&ProdCatID=83

https://www.thegpsstore.com/Standard-Horizon-GX1850G-Explorer-VHF-with-GPS-Black-P5873.aspx

As for the GX6000, I did have one on Gizmo last season and while I should have returned it already, I'm planning another round of testing in the lab before a more detailed writeup. It is a very good VHF with about every feature imaginable, and I found the WiFi wireless RAM4W to work really well. But it's also quite large and expensive, and has some quirks. For instance, I am dumbfounded that SH does not yet offer a charging cradle for the RAM4W, even though it seems to have exposed contacts for one. Using a USB cable isn't that hard, and a charge lasts a long time, but still...

The GX6000 also launched with a significant glitch in the AIS output over NMEA 2000. It was fixed with a software update but it's a little disconcerting that it may have been slowly uncovered by a bumbling boating writer in Maine, as I wrote about here:

https://panbo.com/standard-horizon-gx6000-bad-and-good-news-plus-new-hx890-and-hx40/

But you'll see that in that update process I also learned about the powerful PC configuration software that works with the GX6000. I don't think that the new GX1800/1850 radios can be updated and configured like this, but -- the manual is up -- they definitely do let you customize the soft keys as also discussed in that entry. I consider this a very valuable feature and like the whole E2O icon and menu system.

I've been shopping for the same and came up with the Simrad RS35 Fixed-Mount VHF Radio with AIS, NMEA 2000. Has everything you want. Defender has them on sale for $171. The bought a bunch of these at a good price.

However, some of the review indicate that the hailer function has some issues. Does anyone know if there's truth to this?

Larryo

Sorry, never tried the hailer but I got to like the RS35 and HS35 wireless remote quite well

https://panbo.com/simrad-rs35-vhf-hs35-wireless-handset-testing-pretty-well/

Pretty good deal at Defender:  https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|344|2028693|2028952&id=5499116

I was reluctant to purchase Uniden UM385 because of other reviews, but the price made it worth trying. I loosened the spring action on the mike bracket due to reports of a weak plastic mike fitting. I feel a fix must have been made and I saw no weakness with the mike. I installed the radio and a 42" antenna on my pontoon boat, launched at the St Johns River, 26 miles from me, requested a radio check, and received a clear response on ch 16. Several miles into my voyage I requested a RR bridge opening on ch 09 and was told I was heard loud and clear. I received various wx stations clearly. I don't like the channel selection method, but I can live with that. Happy with my choice.

more detail: https://panbo.com/marineelectronicsforum/postid/1392/