[It’s another MadMariner feature from a few weeks back. —Tim]

I recently acquired a new handheld VHF radio for use aboard my boat. It’s Cobra Marine’s MR HH475 FLT BT. Yeah, that model number’s a mouthful, but don’t let that scare you. It actually makes sense if you break it down. It’s a "marine radio", it’s "handheld", it "floats", and it has "Bluetooth." So naturally it’s the MR HH475 FLT BT. Got it?

This is one snazzy radio. I’ve had a chance to experiment with its innovative features, so I can say with confidence that I look forward to putting it into service aboard Two Lucky Fish, my C-Dory 22.

[The Cobra MR HH475 FLT BT comes complete with a lithium-ion battery, a mountable charging base that holds the unit securely, and both 110-volt AC and 12-volt DC power adapters.]

Although my boat is small enough that a single fixed-mount VHF radio is generally sufficient, I recently experienced the need for a backup radio, and I didn’t have one aboard. I know what you’re thinking: "How could the guy from Navagear not have a handheld VHF radio along?" Whatever the reason, I found myself with a malfunctioning VHF radio, and when I realized this was the case, I felt like I do when I leave my wristwatch at home; its absence was a definite handicap, as well as a distraction.

That experience convinced me it was time to acquire a secondary VHF radio. In many ways, the Cobra MR HH475 FLT BT is like most other handheld VHF radios. It’s waterproof, and it floats, which is nice. For a floating VHF radio, though, it is remarkably compact. Many floating handhelds feel a little bit "too big," somehow, which isn’t a complete surprise; they need to displace more than they weigh. This model accomplishes that without looking or feeling awkward. A minor point, perhaps, but one I noticed right off the bat.

What really sets this unit apart are two features in particular: Rewind-Say-Again and Bluetooth. I’ve written before about the clever Rewind-Say-Again feature some Cobra marine VHF units have, so I knew I wanted a model that included it. To describe this feature briefly, the radio features a 20-second digital buffer that stores the most recent transmissions received. So when you realize you missed something important, or forgot the slip assignment you just got from the harbormaster, you can press the Rewind-Say-Again button and hear it over again.

[The two buttons in the middle are the Bluetooth button and the Rewind-Say-Again button.]

I wasn’t especially keen on the Bluetooth feature, because I hadn’t yet figured out what value that would offer me. At this point, I’m glad to have both Rewind-Say-Again and the Bluetooth feature, and I’d like to share my experience so far with both of them.

REWIND

How does it work in practice? It’s very intuitive and easy to use. I would estimate that most users will find occasional use for it, and some will use it a lot. In either case, I think it’s simple enough that you won’t need to consult the Owner’s Manual to make it work for you. You just press the Rewind-Say-Again button. The unit plays back ALL of the most recently received transmissions it can store in its 20-second buffer. Moreover, it plays them back in reverse chronological order.

Whuh-huh? Actually, it’s a lot more intuitive to use than to describe. It plays back the transmission you just received ("OK, got it. Sea Lion out and back to 16."), and then it plays the transmission before that one ("We’re pulling the last pot now, and we should be at the marina in about an hour."), and then the one before that ("I’m holding a slip for you, when do you think you’ll get here?"). It’s a lot like an email thread where the most recent message is at the top. Read that conversation from the bottom up and it all falls into place.

This is pretty clever, because the substantive information is often not the very last transmission. It’s probably one or two transmissions prior. So you push the Rewind-Say-Again button, and you hear the last transmission, and mentally "walk back" through the conversation as the buffer plays back.

One thing you should be aware of: Rewind-Say-Again only works when you are not in scan mode. I find this a little bit annoying, because often the broadcasts I want to hear again are ones that I only caught part of, usually because I wasn’t actively paying attention to the radio when they were received. For me, that’s most likely to occur while the radio is in one of the scan modes (tri-watch, memory scan, and scan). So I find it frustrating that it won’t store those.

I contacted Bill Boudreau, Cobra’s Marine Product Manager, to ask about this, and he indicated that there were several reasons they decided the feature should operate the way it does. Among them is that fact that no channel information accompanies the playback, so you wouldn’t have any idea which channel a transmission came in on while the radio was scanning. Also, received transmissions from multiple channels could end up all mixed up together, and in some cases could be misleading.

Instead, Cobra made the decision to record to the buffer only when the unit is monitoring one single channel. This occurs when you are actively engaged in or monitoring a radio conversation; in that situation, you know the context of the transmissions recorded in the unit’s buffer, so there’s less chance for misinterpretation.

BLUETOOTH

I’m going to admit it: I’ve never used Bluetooth before this. I keep thinking about getting one of those Bluetooth headsets for my cell phone, but it hasn’t happened yet. So first, I had to figure out what this Bluetooth functionality was for. The instructions are fairly clear, and once I figured it out, I was intrigued.

[In Bluetooth mode, the Cobra MR HH475 FLT BT can place and receive telephone calls through your cellular phone, which can remain safely tucked away.]

What if you could place and receive cellular phone calls using a floating, waterproof marine radio as the interface? Why, you could be kayaking across the channel, with your cell phone safely tucked away inside a dry bag inside the cargo compartment, and if you received a call, your waterproof VHF radio would chime, and you could take the call right there on that device!

At this point, I’ve played with this feature a lot, and I like it. When a call comes in, you can take it on the radio. You can redial the last number directly from the radio. The Cobra even allows you to actuate the Voice Command feature on your phone, if you’ve got it. This works, but it takes some practice to get it all configured and working right.

One of the problems I encountered is that if my spoken command ("Call home") is ambiguous ("Showing three found…call this home?"), you can’t see the screen on your phone, so you don’t really know how to respond. If you already use Voice Command (I didn’t, before now) you’ll probably have an easier time of it than I did. You would probably know which voice commands produce the behavior you want, so you wouldn’t be in the dark like I was in the beginning.

Suffice to say that receiving calls is extremely easy, and that’s the Bluetooth task most people will probably use most frequently. Redialing the last outgoing call you made is also extremely easy, and that’s probably another Bluetooth task many users will take advantage of.

So it’s a good radio, it’s got a pair of genuinely innovative features, and I’m glad I’ve got one aboard my boat. Now if it could just update my Twitter account…