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West Marine VHF490 Owner's Manual

Fixed-mount marine radio
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VHF490 FIXED-MOUNT MARINE RADIO
MODEL 18114496
Owner's Manual

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Summary of Contents for West Marine VHF490

  • Page 1 VHF490 FIXED-MOUNT MARINE RADIO MODEL 18114496 Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 2: Making A Voice Distress Call

    MAKING A DISTRESS CALL Lift the red cover. Press and hold the DISTRESS button for three seconds. Your radio transmits your boat’ s location every few minutes until you receive a response. Lift the red cover and press the button. DISTRESS NOTE: If the radio displays Enter User MMSI, cancel the automatic distress call and make a normal voice distress call.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    TABLE OF CONTENTS Installing the Hardware Mounting the Radio Connecting the Radio Making a Voice Distress Call Inside Front Cover Connecting the Accessory Cable Introduction Connecting to a GPS Receiver Features Connecting to a Chartplotter Explanation of Terms Connecting to an External Speaker Getting Started Maintenance and Troubleshooting What’...

  • Page 5: Introduction

    DSC calls. It is also used by the Coast Guard if you send an automated distress call. Station Any DSC radio, whether it’ s operated on a boat, at a marina, or by a shore station. GETTING STARTED What’s Included VHF490 Marine Radio VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 6: Parts Of The Radio

    External VHF antenna with a male PL259 (SO238) connector and 50 Ω Antenna connector impedance. Minimum 4 ft, 3dB rated antenna for sailboats, 8 ft, 6 dB rated for Connecting the radio (see page 23). power boats. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 7: Parts Of The Microphone

    2. Select USA/CAN/INT. The screen displays the UIC channel setup. 3. Choose the channel mode you want to use: US (USA Mode), Canadian (Canada Mode), or international (Intl Mode). 4. Press ENT-1W/25W. The radio activates the new channel mode and exits the menu. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 8: How It Works

    The radio has been unable to receive valid GPS data for at least four hours; it can no longer track your position. You Input Position need to manually input your position (see Setting the GPS position manually on page 11). Battery Low The battery voltage output is too low (below 10.5 VDC). VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...
  • Page 9 9 & 16. Normal mode with both Weather Alert and Triple/Dual Watch You can activate Weather Alert Watch and Triple/ Dual Watch at the same time. The radio performs both checks at their scheduled time. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 10: Scan Mode

    To turn Weather Alert Watch on or off, press and hold CALL-MENU while the radio is idle. Select Setup and then WX-Alert Mode. Use CHANNEL UP and CHANNEL DOWN to choose WX Alert Mode setting On or Off. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 11: Weather Mode

    (see page 10.) If you have no FIPS codes programmed into your radio, the radio will notify you of all alerts in any area. • To turn off the radio’ s alert tone, press any button. • To cancel weather mode and return to the previous marine channel, press the WX-MEM button again. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 12: Using Your Radio

    Setup USA/CAN/INT Dual/TriWatch GPS Setup 1W/25W FIPS Codes Auto CH SW POS Reply Test Reply Channel Name Group MMSI User MMSI WX Alert Mode [Exit] System Contrast Lamp Adjust Key Beep 1W/25W [Exit] [Exit] (Close Menu) 1W/25W VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 13: Using Your Radio

    5 minutes in a single transmission. If you talk for over 5 minutes continuously, the display shows RELEASE MIC BUTTON. • For the best sound quality, hold the microphone about two inches away from your mouth. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 14: Boosting The Transmission Power

    • For more information about how the NWS uses FIPS codes, see the NWS website: www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/nwsfipschg.htm. • To see an index of FIPS codes by state, see the website of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): www.itl. nist. gov/fipspubs/co-codes/states.htm. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 15: Changing Display And Sound Options

    If the radio is not receiving valid GPS data, the radio displays Input Position. Follow the steps below to manually input your position. NOTE: Be certain any manually-entered position is correct. If you enter the wrong position and then make a DSC distress call, you will be telling the arrows to adjust each of the values in turn. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 16: Using Digital Selective Calling (Dsc) Features

    Store a list of 20 names and MMSI identification codes for DSC calls. Standby Mode Standby Automaticcally respond to all DSC calls within an “Unavailable” status. Display the last 10 distress calls received by the radio and the last 20 general Received Call Log Receive Log calls. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 17: What Is An Mmsi Number

    6. To save this MMSI number, select Yes, then confirm the number. To cancel this MMSI number, select No. The radio returns to the Setup menu. Group MMSI Number You can change the group MMSI number as often as you want. Follow the steps below to enter a group MMSI number into the radio: VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 18: Using The Directory

    One blank space Lower-case letters (a through z) Numbers (0 through 9) Punctuation (/ ‘ + -) Punctuation (/ ‘ + -) Numbers (0 through 9) Lower-case letters (a through z) One blank space Capital letters (A through Z) VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 19: Making Dsc Calls

    • You see a rowboat entering the area, but since it doesn’t have a radio, you can’t communicate with the rowboat. You use all ships calling to alert all the other boats in the area of the possible danger. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...
  • Page 20 4. The radio asks you to confirm the call. Select Send to continue with the call or select Cancel to cancel the call. 5. The radio switches to channel 70 to transmit the call request then automatically switches to the designated response channel. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 21: Making An Automatic Distress Call

    20 non-distress calls that it received. If you have unread incoming DSC calls, the radio displays a Message icon. When you display all Distress and Other receiving logs, the message icon disappears. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 22: Test Calls

    Making Test Calls (Test) You can use the test call feature to make sure your radio is working and configured correctly. To avoid overloading coastal receiving stations, you should limit test calls to these stations to once a week. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...
  • Page 23 6. When the other station acknowledges the test call, the radio displays an acknowledgement screen. Receiving Test Calls When another station sends you a test call, the radio displays the test request screen. • To acknowledge the test call, select Reply. • To reject the test call, select Cancel. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 24: Position Request And Reply

    6. If the other station does not have valid GPS data, the radio displays No Position. Receiving a position request (Position Reply) When another station requests your current position, the radio displays the following screen: VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 25: Putting The Radio Into Standby

    Follow the steps below to put your radio in standby: CALL 1W/25W 1. Display the Call menu. 2. Select Standby to place your radio in standby mode. The radio displays the standby screen, above. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 26: Disabling Automatic Channel Switching

    Yes; to cancel the change, select No. The radio returns to the channel list. 7. To restore a channel back to its original name, select the channel and choose Default. 8. When you are satisfied with the channel list, select Exit to close the menu screen. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 27: Installing The Hardware

    Install the radio back into the mounting bracket. Connecting the Radio To operate correctly, your radio requires two electrical connections: • providing it with power from the boat’ s electrical system • connecting a VHF-FM marine antenna to the antenna connector VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 28: Connecting The Radio

    If you connect the radio to a GPS receiver, the radio can automatically transmit your current position during an automated distress call or during a normal DSC call. Your radio supports a standard NMEA0183 input from a GPS receiver. Follow the steps below to connect your radio to your GPS receiver: VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 29: Connecting To A Gps Receiver

    Your radio provides a standard NMEA0183 GPS output that you can connect to a chartplotter. When it receives another boat’ s position data in a DSC call, the radio sends the position data to the chartplotter so you can see the location: VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 30: Connecting To A Chartplotter

    Adjust the contrast and backlight brightness level (see page 11). Adjust the backlight brightness level. The display is too bright at night. Turn off the radio; hold CALL-MENU button and turn it back on (see page 11). VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 31: Engine Noise Suppression

    In severe cases of noise interference, it may be necessary to install a noise suppression kit. Contact the dealer where you purchased the radio for more information. VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 32: Specifications

    2.5 watts (10% Distortion, 8 Ω load) Power Requirement 360 mA @ 13.8V DC at squelched, 920 mA @ 13.8V DC at maximum audio output IF Frequencies 1st 41.925 MHz, 2nd 455 kHz (1st 21.7 MHz, 2nd 455 kHz for DSC) VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 33: Reference Tables

    STATE CONTROL assistance to ships; also used to talk to ships and coast stations operated by state or local governments DIGITAL SELECTIVE CALLING DSC signals only (no voice communications allowed at any time) VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 34: Marine Radio Channel Chart

    Broadcasts Announced on Channel 16 157.150 161.750 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator) 157.150 157.150 US Coast Guard Only INHIBIT 161.750 Canadian CG Continuous Marine Broadcast (CMB Service 157.200 161.800 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator) 157.250 161.850 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator) VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...
  • Page 35 Port Operations 156.9750 156.975 Commercial, Inter-Ship 157.025 161.625 Port Operationsx 157.025 157.025 Commercial, Inter-Ship 157.075 161.675 Port Operations 157.075 157.075 Government, Canadian Coast Guard 157.125 161.725 Port Operations 157.125 157.125 Government, Canadian Coast Guard 157.175 161.775 Port Operations VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 36: Weather Channels And Frequencies (Us, Can, And Int)

    • A STATEMENT is a message containing follow up information to a warning, watch, or emergency. Event SAME Code Type Blizzard Warning Warning Coastal Flood Watch Watch Coastal Flood Warning Warning Dust Storm Warning Warning Flash Flood Watch Watch Flash Flood Warning Warning VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...
  • Page 37 Radiological Hazard Warning Warning Shelter in Place Warning Warning Volcano Warning Warning Test Message Test Practice/Demo Warning Test Required Monthly Test Test Required Weekly Test Test Biological Hazard Warning Warning Boil Water Warning Warning Chemical Hazard Warning Warning VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 38: No Response Event Code

    The radio supports RMC, GLL, GNS, GGA and ZDA sentences. When these sentences are received, the radio displays latitude/ longitude, date, time, course, and speed. If any sentence except an RMC or GLL sentence is received, the radio uses the information based on the following priority order. • Status:RMC > GLL > GNS > GGA VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 39: Nmea Output

    When the radio receives a DSC call (Distress, Position Reply, or Position Send), it outputs a DSC/DSE sentence from the NMEA output port. NOTE: When the radio receives a distress call, it outputs a sentence in the following format: • $CDDSC,12,3081234000,,07,00,0354013946,0657,,,S,E*6D • $CDDSE,1,1,A,3081234000,00,60875646*13 VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 40: Regulations And Safety Warnings

    Tout changement ou modification non approuvé expressément par la partie responsable pourrait annuler le droit à l’utilisateur de faire fonctionner cet équipement. Tout changement ou modification doit être approuvé par écrit par West Marine. Avis de conformité à la FCC : Ce dispositif a été testé et s’avère conforme à l’article 15 des règlements de la Commission fédérale des communications (FCC).

  • Page 41: Three Year Limited Warranty

    “Limited Warranty Term”). The warranty period is not extended if we repair or replace a warranted product or any parts. West Marine reserves the right to change the availabil- ity of limited warranties, at its discretion, but any changes will not be retroactive and will only apply to subsequent purchases.
  • Page 42 (as explained here), then we will: • At West Marine’ s option, we will repair the product or, if we are unable to repair it, we will replace it with a comparable product that is new or refurbished;...
  • Page 43 How State Law Relates to the Warranty. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state. 43000-1851 Rev:12/13 VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...

  • Page 44: Notes

    NOTES VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...
  • Page 45 VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...
  • Page 46 VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...
  • Page 47 VHF490 RADIO 1-800-BOATING...
  • Page 48 www.westmarine.com Printed in Vietnam U01UT655ZZA(0)

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