Standard-Horizon HX890, CLASS-H DSC Radio
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:34 pm
[Originally part of an earlier discussion on formal recommendations for DSC radios, but now separated into its own thread--jimh]
I recently acquired a new Standard Horizon HX890 handheld described as Class H. The vendor states "...The new HX890 shares all the same capabilities of the extremely popular HX870, with the addition of some great new features...." Note that the HX870 is described as a Class D radio.
http://www.standardhorizon.com/indexVS. ... rodID=2869
I was disappointed to discover that the HX890 does not support transmitting the DSC Position Request function yet the HX870 does support this function (according to its manual). To be fair, the HX890 manual omits this (TX) function although it describes how to receive (RX) a position request from another radio. However, the HX890 manual also describes support of auto polling a "fleet" of other vessels (positions), yet my initial testing shows that the function does not work--which may be reasonable insofar that auto polling requires periodic transmission of a position request to each of the vessels in the "fleet".
It also appears that the HX890 does not support transmission of All Ships Urgency and Safety messages, while the HX870 does (again, according to the manual).
Clearly, and contrary to the product advertisement, the Class H HX890 does NOT share all the same capabilities of the Class D HX870. Upon contacting the vendor, I was advised that the differences in capabilities are due to the differences in Class. (They also advised that they may revise their advertising.)
I've found little information on the relative capabilities of VHF/DSC Class D and Class H on the internet--[the prior] thread seems to be as good as it gets (and thank you for that!). But it appears that Class H is a step backward from Class D (which is unfortunate).
I also regret that the link (in the initial thread post) to the gentleman from Australia, Glenn Dunstan, appears to be broken. I would have liked to view his information on the matter.
Finally, the "great new features" advertised for the HX890 appear to be limited to the ability to receive FM broadcast (entertainment) stations, and some new voice scrambling capabilities. Hardly a beneficial trade off for useful marine DSC functionality, IMO.
I recently acquired a new Standard Horizon HX890 handheld described as Class H. The vendor states "...The new HX890 shares all the same capabilities of the extremely popular HX870, with the addition of some great new features...." Note that the HX870 is described as a Class D radio.
http://www.standardhorizon.com/indexVS. ... rodID=2869
I was disappointed to discover that the HX890 does not support transmitting the DSC Position Request function yet the HX870 does support this function (according to its manual). To be fair, the HX890 manual omits this (TX) function although it describes how to receive (RX) a position request from another radio. However, the HX890 manual also describes support of auto polling a "fleet" of other vessels (positions), yet my initial testing shows that the function does not work--which may be reasonable insofar that auto polling requires periodic transmission of a position request to each of the vessels in the "fleet".
It also appears that the HX890 does not support transmission of All Ships Urgency and Safety messages, while the HX870 does (again, according to the manual).
Clearly, and contrary to the product advertisement, the Class H HX890 does NOT share all the same capabilities of the Class D HX870. Upon contacting the vendor, I was advised that the differences in capabilities are due to the differences in Class. (They also advised that they may revise their advertising.)
I've found little information on the relative capabilities of VHF/DSC Class D and Class H on the internet--[the prior] thread seems to be as good as it gets (and thank you for that!). But it appears that Class H is a step backward from Class D (which is unfortunate).
I also regret that the link (in the initial thread post) to the gentleman from Australia, Glenn Dunstan, appears to be broken. I would have liked to view his information on the matter.
Finally, the "great new features" advertised for the HX890 appear to be limited to the ability to receive FM broadcast (entertainment) stations, and some new voice scrambling capabilities. Hardly a beneficial trade off for useful marine DSC functionality, IMO.