How to Troubleshoot a Uniden VHF Radio

Uniden's VHF radios are for marine applications.

Uniden's Very High Frequency (VHF) radios are for marine applications. Uniden also make non-marine, two-way radios for General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) and Family Radio Service (FRS) but they are considered Ultra High Frequency (UHF) radios because they operate on frequencies higher than 300 MHz---the cutoff for VHF. Uniden's marine application VHF radios are supplied in hand-held and fixed-mount variants.

Instructions

1. Remove the hand-held's charger cable or take the radio off the charger stand when transmitting. The charger is supplying a low voltage and the radios are not designed to transmit while charging because the AC or DC adapter doesn't provide enough power. If the battery doesn't charge it's often due to transmitting while charging.

2. Change the batteries or recharge them if the radio won't transmit on the five watt setting but will transmit at one watt. There's not enough juice in the batteries to function at five watts.

3. Extend the antenna to the maximum height if the Uniden VHF radio's range appears limited. Try going out on deck to transmit with limited line-of-sight blockage.

4. Eliminate any sources of electrical interference if, while scanning, the radio stops on a particular channel all the time. A quick fix is to press the up or down button to get the radio scanning again, but noise is the likely cause. Move out into the open. Switch off electrical and mechanical gear one by one and use elimination to try to identify the source.

References

• Uniden Solara DSC Fixed Mount VHF Radio
• Uniden Atlantis 250 Handheld VHF Radio