Marine radio speaker options?

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JimN
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Re: Marine radio speaker options?

Post by JimN »

Midnightsun wrote:QR_BBPOST Speaking of hailers. I have never had much luck with them due to restricted mounting locations in my last boat and even this one. If the hailer is installed on the arch there is just too much feedback from it to be useful as it seems it is to close. Is there any secret recipe to eliminate feedback when the hailer is installed not far enough from the mic?
An older radio won't have a feedback eliminator, but newer ones should. They might not, but they should. A fairly inexpensive Behringer graphic equalizer for an audio system has a feedback eliminator and these are far more expensive- I see no reason for them to avoid using one.

To avoid feedback, stay behind the mouth of the horn. The horn isn't supposed to cover anything behind it, but any hard object ahead of it can reflect the sound back to the mic. You can also test the mic, to see how much sound it picks up from the side or behind- ideally, it won't pick up anything from behind and sounds from the sides should be significantly quieter than what enters directly toward the mic.

The Carver that has the hailer I asked about has canvas ahead and behind the forward-swept arch, so it should prevent feedback if the hailer was loud. OTOH, I was under the canvas, so I didn't really get the full effect.
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Re: Marine radio speaker options?

Post by km1125 »

JimN wrote: I would like manufacturers of this kind of equipment to include the full specs- the Amazon link shows 40W max input and in another line, "It features a sensitivity of 120 dB with an impedance of 8 ohm". The sensitivity needs to show the input voltage, not the impedance. If it's 120dB @40W, fine, but they need to show this and it's not 120dB @5W- the 9dB loss matters.

Sorry, but as an audio guy, this annoys me because it can lead to all kinds of problems with speaker lifespan when someone uses the spec and it doesn't perform as needed.

'The radio is an Icom IC-M100 and the manual shows that the speaker needs to be 4-8 Ohm, 5W minimum. I hope the output is more than 5W, to be honest. I was always under the impression that these were to be used when communicating with other boats while under way or when rescuing someone in a disabled boat or from the water. I don't expect it to be heard when some nimrod blows past with open exhaust, though.
You might be able to get those specs from the actual manufacturer, but I'd never expect to see them on Amazon or similar sites. You can blame that on buyers though. Look at the latest Cadillac commercials. Not ONE word on the actual features or capabilities of the car, nor what might set it apart from the competitors. Everything is about "you" being "bold" or "iconic".
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Re: Marine radio speaker options?

Post by Midnightsun »

Guess my unit does not have the feed back thingamadohickey. It is a high end VHF from Raymarine. Amazing how things get retired so quickly with new stuff replacing it, seems like it was but a few years ago I installed it. https://www.raymarine.eu/vhf-radio-comm ... index.html

May try pointing the speaker rearwards and see if it improves. Just sounds counter productive pointing away from people you want to talk to. :confused:
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Re: Marine radio speaker options?

Post by JimN »

km1125 wrote:QR_BBPOST
JimN wrote: I would like manufacturers of this kind of equipment to include the full specs- the Amazon link shows 40W max input and in another line, "It features a sensitivity of 120 dB with an impedance of 8 ohm". The sensitivity needs to show the input voltage, not the impedance. If it's 120dB @40W, fine, but they need to show this and it's not 120dB @5W- the 9dB loss matters.

Sorry, but as an audio guy, this annoys me because it can lead to all kinds of problems with speaker lifespan when someone uses the spec and it doesn't perform as needed.

'The radio is an Icom IC-M100 and the manual shows that the speaker needs to be 4-8 Ohm, 5W minimum. I hope the output is more than 5W, to be honest. I was always under the impression that these were to be used when communicating with other boats while under way or when rescuing someone in a disabled boat or from the water. I don't expect it to be heard when some nimrod blows past with open exhaust, though.
You might be able to get those specs from the actual manufacturer, but I'd never expect to see them on Amazon or similar sites. You can blame that on buyers though. Look at the latest Cadillac commercials. Not ONE word on the actual features or capabilities of the car, nor what might set it apart from the competitors. Everything is about "you" being "bold" or "iconic".
I looked on several sites from hailer manufacturers and they don't seem to want to post it. Look at audio equipment sites- same spec, same importance, much more in-depth. I know there's overlap in the markets- most boat owners will upgrade the AV in their boat.
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Re: Marine radio speaker options?

Post by JimN »

Midnightsun wrote:QR_BBPOST Guess my unit does not have the feed back thingamadohickey. It is a high end VHF from Raymarine. Amazing how things get retired so quickly with new stuff replacing it, seems like it was but a few years ago I installed it. https://www.raymarine.eu/vhf-radio-comm ... index.html

May try pointing the speaker rearwards and see if it improves. Just sounds counter productive pointing away from people you want to talk to. :confused:
This is their loud hailer? Which mic are you using, the Fistmic?

The Raymarine forum has this- maybe it will help-

https://forum.raymarine.com/showthread.php?tid=663
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Re: Marine radio speaker options?

Post by Midnightsun »

JimN wrote:QR_BBPOST
Midnightsun wrote:QR_BBPOST Guess my unit does not have the feed back thingamadohickey. It is a high end VHF from Raymarine. Amazing how things get retired so quickly with new stuff replacing it, seems like it was but a few years ago I installed it. https://www.raymarine.eu/vhf-radio-comm ... index.html

May try pointing the speaker rearwards and see if it improves. Just sounds counter productive pointing away from people you want to talk to. :confused:
This is their loud hailer? Which mic are you using, the Fistmic?

The Raymarine forum has this- maybe it will help-

https://forum.raymarine.com/showthread.php?tid=663
Thanks for the link, will see if I can update the firmware. Yes, using the fist mic, only option I have.
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Re: Marine radio speaker options?

Post by JimN »

This is their loud hailer? Which mic are you using, the Fistmic?

The Raymarine forum has this- maybe it will help-

https://forum.raymarine.com/showthread.php?tid=663[/quote]

Thanks for the link, will see if I can update the firmware. Yes, using the fist mic, only option I have.[/quote]

You can call Raymarine, too- pretty easy to get info form tech support.
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