posted 01-29-2015 12:03 PM ET (US)        

A few years ago there were no VHF Marine Band radios with a NMEA-2000 network interface. Radios tended to stick to the older NMEA-0183 standard for their electrical interface to other marine instruments. In 2015 the marketplace has many radios with NMEA-2000. Here is a quick overview of the 2015 VHF Marine Band radio choices, based on three considerations:

--NMEA-2000: does the radio have a NMEA-2000 network interface?

--AIS: does the radio have an integral AIS receiver?

--GNSS: does the radio have an integral GNSS receiver?

BRAND       MODEL       NMEA-2000   AIS     GNSS    PRICE
ICOM        IC-M506     No          No      No      $450
ICOM        IC-M506     Yes         No      No      $550
ICOM        IC-M506     Yes         Yes     No      $650
LOWRANCE    LINK-5      No          No      No      $180
LOWRANCE    LINK-8      Yes         Yes     No      $300
SIMRAD      RS12        Yes         No      No      $200
SIMRAD      RS35        Yes         Yes     No      $350
RAYMARINE   RAY50       Yes         No      No      $250
RAYMARINE   RAY60       Yes         No      No      $300
RAYMARINE   RAY70       Yes         Yes     Yes     $650
STD-HORIZON GX1600      No          No      No      $170
STD-HORIZON GX1700      No          No      Yes     $250
STD-HORIZON GX2200      No          Yes     Yes     $400
GARMIN      VHF100      No          No      No      $250
GARMIN      VHF200      Yes         No      No      $400
GARMIN      VHF300      Yes         Yes     No      $999

The prices I show are typically the minimum advertised price or MAP price. It may be possible to find a less expensive price, but the MAP price is a reasonable way to compare prices.

I did not include every known brand of radio in my survey. The brands I have survey are those I would consider for my own boat. If someone wants to add information about radios from other brands, please feel free to provide the data in a similar format.

posted 02-03-2015 09:50 AM ET (US)            

Standard-Horizon has a rebate program that began on January 1, 2015 and runs until July 31, 2015.

Standard-Horizon offers rebates of $40 on the:

--GX1700
--GX2200

Standard-Horizon offers rebates of $30 on the

--GX1600
--GX1300
--GX1200

See details of the offer at

http://www.standardhorizon.com/pdf/ 1-1-2015_2015_Gear_Up_For_Summer_rebate.pdf

ICOM has a rebate program in effect from February 1, 2015 to March 31, 2015.

ICOM offers a $50 rebate on the IC-M506 series of radios.

ICOM offers a $20 rebate on the IC-M412 radio. This radio may be obsolete as some retailers have marked the price of the radio as a closeout price. See details of the offer on the rebate coupon.

I also found up-to-date MAP prices for the M506 series radios, and changed the prices in the listing above. All MAP prices seem to drop $50.

Raymarine has a rebate offer in effect from January 9, 2015 until April 30, 2105.

Raymarine offers a $50 rebate on any Raymarine VHF radio. I am not certain that this rebate offer is available if only a radio is purchased. To qualify for the radio rebate you may have to purchase a "qualifying product" because the rebate on the radio is listed as an "additional $50 bonus" incentive. Check with a retailer to verify this offer, or read the fine print from Raymarine.

SIMRAD has announced a rebate program beginning February 6, 2015 and running until March 31, 2015. If you buy a qualifying chart plotter product or chart plotter and transducer bundle, you receive a free RS35 VHF Marine Band radio and a rebate of up to $500, depending on the model of chart plotter. Or, you can choose to get a free GoFree WiFi device instead of the radio. Details are found at

http://www.simrad-yachting.com/Global/Simrad-Yachting/Offers/ 30082_Simrad_English_Final.pdf