Have you looked at the SEA157? We have tugboat customers who won't use any
other brand. Some operator familiarization is required as the controls are
not intuitively obvious. We have areas on the Columbia River where local VHF
high band public safety radios (police, fire, ambulance) blast through on
top of marine channels on most brands. The SEA brand is immune to the
interference.
I have not had reports of any public safety interference on the new Standard
and Icom units, but have not really sought out the information either.
From a factory warranty standpoint, Vertex Standard Horizon is hard to beat.
They stand behind their equipment the best.
Doug K7ABX
"Moose" wrote in message
news:eDZad.353683$mD.25406@attbi_s02...
Wayne.B wrote:

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 03:50:14 GMT, Moose wrote:

So even if made by the same manufacturer, there may be differences. When
choosing between the M502, FM3000, and M602, are the differences merely
features? ...or is one or more of these units a "commercial duty" one
that
will withstand abuse/elements better than the others?

============================================

My experience with ICOM equipment is that all of it seems to be well
built and very reliable, regardless of model. My advice is to not pay
for features that you are unlikely to use.

I've looked into this situation further, and have found that the Furuno
FM3000 and Icom M502 are EXACTLY the same radio - same circuit board,
electronics, microphone, and display. You pay about a $65 premium for the
Furuno face plate.

Now the Icom M602 is a different radio. Different internals, slightly
better
signal to noise ratio, etc. i.e. It's a better radio. Not just more
features, but higher end specs, too.

Whether or not it's worth the extra $250 will be up to the individual
buyer...

Still, I think these are the best quality radios one can buy. If anyone
knows of something better, let me know.

Moose