If you have a handheld GPS or VHF radio, you have almost certainly watched it slide off the dash or out of your fingers and crash onto the deck. Did you crack the display? Break the casing? Maybe jam a button or two? The last time I saw this happen, the screen on my handheld GPS went permanently blank.
When you're choosing a new handheld, you certainly want to know how well it will hold up to use and abuse. Shock, water intrusion, extreme temperature and other mistreatment is a given, no matter how careful you are.
GARMINThe Garmin GPS Map didn't just survive this test. Some of these units are also in service in Iraq. In one case, a unit survived a blast that destroyed the Hummer it was in.
So, which units can take a beating and which ones will go to that big parts department in the sky? I wanted to know. And the only way to find out was to conduct my own electronics stress test, what I have come to refer to as a sadistic orgy of breakage.
THE VICTIMS
I called the major manufacturers of handheld GPS and VHF units and invited them to participate. They were told up-front about the simulated abuse: falls to the deck, drops overboard and flings across the dock. Four manufacturers were confident enough to participate, and one was so bold as to submit two units for my unique form of testing. It should be noted that a few manufacturers said "no thanks."
Garmin had the guts to send a color handheld GPS/Chartplotter called the GPSmap 76C. It costs about $400, takes a micro SD card with Mapsource data (so you can load up card with either road on nautical data), is WAAS enabled and claims to be waterproof. It has a quad-helix antennae, weighs 7.7 ounces and has a 140 x 260 pixel display measuring 1.6 x 2.2 inches.
Lowrance also took the leap with a GPS/Chartplotter, the iFinder H2O. This unit is reportedly waterproof, has a grippy rubberized band around the outside and is WAAS enabled. The Lowrance is also very inexpensive for a unit of this type, costing about $200. The screen measures 2.83-inches on the diagonal, with 320 x 240 pixels, and the unit weighs a half a pound.
Raymarine enabled my rampage by sending their Ray 101 VHF radio, a unit which has only been on the market for a couple of years. It costs about $180 and pushes five watts with a set of NiMH or alkaline batteries. (It comes with batteries and a charger, plus a 12-volt adaptor cord.) Raymarine doesn't just call this unit waterproof, they say it's "submersible."
Uniden was particularly bold, sending me two handheld VHFs to put to the test. The first was the pocket-sized, full-strength (5-watt) Voyager, which goes for about $160. This unit is two-thirds the size of most handhelds. It has all the features you find on full-size units, is supposed to be waterproof and runs on a 850 mAh li-ion battery. Uniden's full size 5-watt MHS 350 ($150) also entered the race. This unit has a 1,250 mAh NiMH battery and is another that is rated "submersible."
All of these units claim to be shock-resistant. The antennae on all the VHFs are rubberized and essentially unbreakable. On the GPS units, they're built-in.
LENNY RUDOWThis is why we call it a torture test.
TORTURE TEST
Handheld units of every variety are practically guaranteed to drop onto a fiberglass deck sooner or later, so the first thing I did was get on my boat, line the units up at the helm and nail the throttle. All five clattered to the deck, but none of the units showed any damage. So I did it again. And again. After five crash-downs I notice I'd chipped the gel coat on my deck and called this stage of the testing complete. All five units were still working just fine.
I then thought back to the time I accidentally dropped my cell phone into the cooler with a feisty mahi-mahi. It didn't survive the experience. So I grabbed my fishing rod and cast for a few minutes. Soon I have a nice striped bass. Not only will it be dinner, it will aid me in my experiment.
I gathered up the units, and tossed them into the cooler along with the still-kicking fish. I decided to help the fish out a little bit. I grabbed one side of the cooler, lifted it a foot off the deck, and dropped it. I lifted again, and this time shook it back and forth. I could hear ice cubes and electronics crashing around – just the effect I was looking for. I shook until my arms got tired, then removed the blood-flecked units. All I managed to do was put a little scratch onto the display on the smaller Uniden, and on the Lowrance. Even covered in fish slime and ice water, these units were still pretty darn grippy. I especially like the Lowrance in this regard, as the rubberized band around it makes it easiest to hold. All of them are were completely functional.
I ran back to the boat ramp, secured my boat, and pitched each handheld off the bow into two feet of water. Haven't we all dropped handhelds over the side? I sauntered up to my truck, and backed it down the ramp. But where'd the Garmin go? If I were a woman, and capable of reading instruction manuals before acting, I might have noted that the Garmin floats. That could be a real advantage when your GPS accidentally goes overboard. For me, it was a problem. Luckily, I soon spotted the Garmin bobbing around near the end of a pier, where I retrieve it.
LENNY RUDOWNote the rubberized collar around the Lowrance, which is easy to grip even when slimed by a fish.
Once again, the units all survived and appear to be in good shape. So I'll needed to come up with something better – like the time I destroyed my first handheld VHF by accidentally backing my trailer over a bag of gear. For the next test I place the units in a row on the concrete launch ramp, and haul my trailer and 1,800-pound boat over them.
This time, some damage did occur. None of the units came through this tragedy without injury. Each had a scratched casing and a few dings. But they all kept working. It was time to take the gloves off.
I returned home, but before I got serious about destroying these things I took the units up to my office for a close exam. First, I wiped them down and discovered that most of the scratches were superficial, visible only when the units were tilted to catch the sun's glare.
Next, I popped open the battery compartments. On the Garmin, it was bone-dry. Under the rubber-protected external antennae port, however, there were a few tiny droplets of water. When I opened the battery compartment on the Lowrance, I discovered several droplets. I also noted that the plastic door to this compartment had a small flexible piece, which makes me question its longevity. The Raymarine also had a few droplets in the battery compartment. Both Unidens were 100-percent moisture-free, thanks in part to rubber protectors over the speaker/mic ports. I did have to note that on the MHS 350, the protectors are aggravatingly hard to open.
LENNY RUDOWThe Lowrance survived the onslaught with minimal damage.
KILLER KIDDIES
I had expected some catastrophic failures by this point, but these units are proving to be pretty darn tough. However, as all parents know, one of the most destructive forces on planet Earth is a young child. And I have lots of kids. So I decide to turn the units over to them for a little unsupervised playtime.
What luck! A friend had dropped her three kids off with us for the day. So I had a three-year-old boy, two five-year-old boys, two five-year-old girls, and a seven-year-old girl to help me. I handed out the units and broke out a bag of candy bars.
The only rule I set was that they could not hit anyone. "Otherwise," I told the troops, "do your best to break 'em."
My particularly destructive son David got the ball rolling by kicking a Uniden down the hardwood stairs. The next thing I know the stairway looked like an electronics waterfall, with GPS and VHF units tumbling down at an alarming rate. But the only damage this did was to our hardwood floors, and my wife's patience level. I deflected her looks-could-kill glance with a grin, and ushered the kids into the kitchen, where the floor is less likely to get dented.
The handhelds were then smacked repeatedly onto our stainless-steel cutting board. They were used for indoor hockey. One adventurous youngster took a VHF into my basement workshop, mounted it in a toolbench clamp and attempted to remove the antennae without unscrewing it. Then there was a VHF antennae light-saber battle. Hyper-active Max held a GPS in each hand and clapped them together until little Kaleb wrestled one away and burried it in the dog food bowl. Emma and Mollie were pretending to be concert singers, using a couple of units as microphones. I chastised the children for their lack of destructive ambition, handed out sticks and suggested they use the handhelds as drums, instead. They started whacking away.
STILL TICKING
After an hour of the most outrageous abuse any handheld electronics unit has ever faced, they all still worked. Sure, there were more scratches and a few more casing dings. But I was stunned at our collective failure to trash anything.
Then one of the kids shouted out an idea: we should put all the units into a blanket, hold it by the edges, and trampoline the things into the air. We moved the party outside, spread out around the blanket and created a navigation/communication maelstrom with a thousand bucks worth of electronics.
LENNY RUDOWThe Author's electronics are subjected to the ultimate punishment.
The units zinged through the air like exploding popcorn. Handheld-to-handheld contact was frequent and violent. I'm not sure what sort of nautical event we were simulating at this point, but I didn't care anymore – killing these units had become a challenge and this was bound to cause some damage. I let them go at it until the kids started to tire. The units weren't flying as high or hitting each other as hard as they were, but before I can figure out what to do next Mollie yelled out, "Let's flush them down the toilet, Daddy!" That's my girl.
We brought them back inside, and tossed the units into the john. Mollie flushed. The electronics swirley complete, I removed the handhelds and rinsed them. Finally, we had done some damage.
The Garmin had a hairline crack about 1/16th of an inch long in the casing next to the display, and three scuff marks on the display itself. The Lowrance had beads of moisture inside the display face and in the battery compartment. The Raymarine showed no visible marks, but the gasket under the volume knob had been knocked out of kilter, and it was very hard to turn. Both Unidens had a few minor-league scratches on the display covers, but otherwise could still be sold as new.
I felt at peace. I can't imagine how else I could have made these things suffer – the torture test was done. I decide to let some time pass before making a final assessment, so any toilet-water intrusion that had taken place would have a chance to do internal damage. A week later, I opened the units up and checked all the internal compartments for corrosion. Nothing. I fired them up, and they worked just fine. Who would have believed it?
Mariners, you can buy these units and use them with confidence.
Lenny Rudow was senior technical editor for Boating Magazine for more than 10 years, and is currently the electronics editor for Marlin and GoBoating magazines.