Selecting the Transmit Power | West Marine VHF200 specification

Fig. 8b: Transmission Ended Display

Blinking

Fig. 8c: Message shown when trying to transmit on a receive-only channel

Fig. 9a: High Power Display

•When the PTT key is released, the Radio Status Display will show TX END (Fig. 8b)

•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 indicator will blink three times and the Radio Status Display will show REC ONLY (Fig 8c). After 3 seconds, the radio returns to the normal display, then goes back to the normal display.

•If the PTT button is pressed when the battery condition is low, the radio will send one last transmission, then it will sound the Error Beep Tone with BAT LO display. No further transmission will be allowed. See page 8.

9.Selecting the Transmit Power

By law, Marine VHF radios must be able to transmit at 1 watt power as well as the radio’s maximum transmit power. The West Marine VHF200 radio actually has three transmit powers: 5 watts (HI), 1 watt (MED), and 0.5 watts (LOW).

The general rule is to use the lowest transmit power that results in clear com- munications with whomever you are com- municating. At distances less than a mile, for example, 0.5 watts may result in clear and consistent communications, and will have the benefit of greatly extended bat- tery life.

Pressing the H/L key will change the transmit power from 5 watts (HI) to 1 watt (MED) to 0.5 watts (LOW) and back to 5 watts with each press. The Radio Status Display will indicate the newly selected transmit power as follows:

•When High Power is selected, the bottom of the screen will Radio

West Marine VHF200 Owner’s Manual