I believe that most modern gadgets from digital watches to cell phones
suffer from poor design so that they are not intuitive in their use.
The only people who can easily operate them are people like kids who
have the time to go through all the menus. Unfortunately, this
tendency has now come to the handheld VHF world.
I had two Uniden "Atlantis" VHF units and each broke in exactly the
same way. They were dropped and the volume/power knob broke off.
Other than that, I liked them as they were simple and intuitive. When
looking at new models, I avoided any units that had vulnerable knobs.
I found the WEST Marine model 55 that has no knobs and bought it.
Unfortunately, its operation is modelled after cell phones with an "up/
down" toggle that serves for volume, squelch level, channel selection,
etc depending on what other button is pressed. BAD DESIGN. This
counterintuitive design will cause problems for people who are trying
to use it under adverse conditions. I will probably return it to West
Marine and continue looking.
I wish Uniden or others would simply re-design the knobs on their
units to be protected by the case as this would really solve the
problems.