West Marine VHF 250 Owner's Manual
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West Marine VHF 250 Owner's Manual

Marine multi-band transceiver
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Do you have a question about the VHF 250 and is the answer not in the manual?

Questions and answers

Mike Dinning
June 5, 2025

My VHF 250 turns on in the charging cradle, but doesn't turn on outside of the cradle.

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Summary of Contents for West Marine VHF 250

  • Page 2: Maritime Radio Services Operation

    Unauthorized changes or modifi cations to this equipment may void compliance with the FCC Rules. Any change or modifi cation must be approved in writing by West Marine. Changes or modifi cations not approved by West Marine could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Family Radio Service (FRS) Band ......... 21 AM Band ................21 FM Band ................. 22 Aircraft Band ................22 Indicator Meanings ..............22 Owner’s Manual Conventions ............23 Indicator Sounds .................24 Batteries ..................24 Installing the Lithium Ion Battery Pack ........25 West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...
  • Page 4 Setting the Key Beep ..............38 Adding FIPS Codes ..............38 Changing Channel Names ............40 Restoring Default Names ............40 Setting CTCSS Codes ............41 Setting Frequency Steps ............43 AM Band................43 FM Band ................43 Setting FM Muting ..............44 West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...
  • Page 5 USA Channel Frequencies ..........60 Canadian Channel Frequencies ..........62 International Channel Frequencies ........64 NOAA Channels and Frequencies ........66 FRS Channels and Frequencies ..........66 CTCSS Channels and Frequencies ........66 DCS Codes ................66 Three Year Limited Warranty Statement........67 West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 6: A Quick Start Guide For The Vhf250

    Press ▲ or ▼ to change channels. The marine channels begin with 01 in Canada and 01 in the USA, and continue in a closed loop, through 88 the USA and 88 in Canada. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 7: Frs Band

    FRS channel. Without enabling the CTCSS code feature, you and others in your group might also hear everyone else in the area on that same channel. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 8: Weather Band

    1/2.5/5W to change to the AM Broadcast band. The default LCD screen shows the frequency, the USA frequency step setting and the power level icon. Press either ▲ or ▼ to change frequency by 10KHz West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 9: Fm Band

    The default LCD screen shows the frequency, and the power level icon. Press either ▲ or ▼ to change frequency by 25KHz (108.00, 108.025, 108.050 MHz etc) until you reach the desired frequency. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 10: Scanning Introduction

    Channel Scan of 8 Channels Stored in Memory Channel Scan of 8 Channels Stored in Memory When you scan those channels, each channel is checked in order and the scan sequence repeats until you interrupt it. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 11: Triplewatch

    Scanning Channels as well as Memorized Station Preset operations for the other bands, in addition to using the special features of either Triple or DualWatch, consult the Table of Contents which immediately precedes these Quick Start pages. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 12: Fcc Rf Exposure Information

    The use of accessories that do not satisfy these requirements may not comply with FCC RF exposure requirements and should be avoided. For more information about RF exposure, please visit the FCC website at www.fcc.gov West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 13: Lithium Ion Battery Pack Warning

    (+60°C). Exposing the chemical contained within the battery pack to temperatures above +140°F (+60°C) may cause the battery to rupture, fail, or reduce performance. In case of exposure to the cell contents, wash the affected area thoroughly, and seek medical attention. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 14: What's Included

    Wrist Strap Wrist Strap Manual Manual should that be neccessary. should that be neccessary. If any of these items are missing from the box, contact West Marine or call 1-800-BOATING. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 15: Introduction

    Introduction Your West Marine VHF250 represents the latest in marine radio technology in a conveniently sized and rugged package. It has features you’ll come to count on for day in and day out use. The product combines size, value, and fully featured performance that makes it a good choice for an all around marine communications radio.
  • Page 16 fi ve levels of battery power. Sounds an alert tone when battery power reaches a level before shutting down. Battery Save — during specifi c transmit operations, the radio powers down to extend battery life. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 17: Vhf250 Controls

    VHF 250 Controls VHF 250 Controls 15 16 15 16 West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...
  • Page 18 12. ▲ and ▼ — Press to select channels above or below your currently selected channel. Press and hold to change channels rapidly. Press to scroll through a band’s menu selections. 13. Belt Clip —Squeeze and attach to your belt for convenient carrying. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...
  • Page 19 18. Battery Latch — Lift the latch to remove and replace the Lithium-Ion battery or to install the Alkaline Battery case. 19. MIC — Speak clearly into the microphone aperture when transmitting for best results. Position the microphone at least 4 inches from your mouth. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 20: Radio Charger Cradle

    120/240V AC outlet. The DC adapter connects to a vessel’s 12V socket and this jack. 22. Charging Latch — Holds the radio in place when you in- sert it into the cradle. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 21: Lcd Displays

    Some indications are common to all six bands. Some screens are condition specifi c such as a Low Battery situation. VHF Marine Band Family Radio Service (FRS) Band AM Band West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 22: Fm Band

    The initial setting is 5W. USA or INT or CAN (UIC) — indicates the frequency band in use for marine operation. Memory — displayed when the radio displays a channel stored in memory. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 23: Owner's Manual Conventions

    fi rst apply power. If you choose not to alter it, the default is the setting used by the radio. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 24: Indicator Sounds

    PTT key, you must recharge/replace the currently installed battery(s) Batteries Your West Marine VHF 250 comes equipped with a Lithium Ion battery which snaps into the back of the radio and secures with a latch. The battery has a minimal charge when shipped.

  • Page 25: Installing The Lithium Ion Battery Pack

    2.5 watts. To install the four AAA batteries in the alkaline battery pack, refer to the following steps and illustrations. Hold the lower part of the pack and with the other West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 26: Battery Life And Indication

    ‘battery low’ tone sounds repeatedly each second, and BATTERY LOW appears on the message line. To cancel this warning, press any key. The fl ashing icon continues until you turn off the radio. The message and tone, however, disappear. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 27: Alkaline Batteries And Radio Performance

    Using the keyholes in the rear of the cradle as a template, confi rm that the area on the wall has solid backing such as a wooden beam. Then drill holes and use the screws and West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 28: Attaching The Belt Clip

    Move the clip in the direction of the arrow and lift it off the post. Step One Step One Step Two Step Two Attach Attach Step One Step One Step Two Step Two Remove Remove West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 29: Basic Operation, Controls, And Settup Options

    Press WX to switch to the weather channels. Ten channels are designated as weather channels. All carry the same information. One will provide the best reception for your particular area. Use ▲ or ▼ to cycle through the ten channels West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 30: Selecting A Channel

    1/2.5/5W, the power level changes from 1 to 5W with the Li-Ion battery or 1 to 2.5W with alkaline batteries installed. You cannot override the 1W power level setting for Channels 75 and 76. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 31: Transmitting

    After this time, an error tone sounds and RELEASE PTT KEY displays. After you release PTT, pressing PTT again restarts the 5-minute time interval. Operation - Family Radio Service Band Fourteen FRS channels are available for transmitting and West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 32: Operation - Am Band

    Note: AM broadcasts are subject to interference from many outside sources, as well as weather disturbances. The signal strength and atmospheric conditions can also play a part in reception. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 33: Operation - Fm Band

    fi nds a signal, and will stay on that frequency. • Memory channels can be added and deleted as in VHF mode. Press SCAN/MEM to scan those channels in memory until a channel with signal is reached. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 34: Using The Radio Menu Options

    To access the menu options for any band, press MENU. The options for each band are: Marine Band FRS Band AM Band FM Band Aircraft Band West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 35: Accessing The Menus

    [Marine Band Only] The radio is set as a factory default to the USA channel frequencies. To change to either Canadian [CAN] or International [INT] channels follow these steps. Press either ▲ or ▼ until you West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 36: Lamp (Backlight) Adjust

    Timer then highlight either 5 seconds (default), 30 seconds, 1 minute, or 5 minutes then press ENTER. A double beep sounds to confi rm your selection. Scroll to EXIT and press ENTER to return to the menu screen. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 37: Adjusting Display Contrast

    (TripleWatch), or you can choose to only monitor Channel 16 and your regular channel (DualWatch) which lets the radio check each channel more frequently. From the marine band’s menu screen, use ▲ or ▼ to West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 38: Setting The Key Beep

    FIPS or Federal Information Processing Standards codes (FIPS codes). They are a standardized set of numeric codes issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to ensure uniform identifi cation of geographic entities through all West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...
  • Page 39 P r e s s t h e e n t e r k e y A d d A d d 0 2 _ _ _ _ 0 2 _ _ _ _ E x i t E x i t West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 40: Changing Channel Names

    Channel Name menu. Use ▲ or ▼ to Exit and press ENTER. Restoring Default Names [For Marine Band Only] If you want to restore all the factory default West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 41: Setting Ctcss Codes

    To select a different channel, press either ▲ or ▼ Press ENTER to choose it. You can select ON, OFF, or EXIT, next. Use ▲ or ▼ to choose ON (to associate a CTCSS West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...
  • Page 42 Note: CTCSS codes range between 1 and 142. If you set a code number outside this range (for example 190), when you press ENTER to set that number, an error tone sounds to tell West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 43: Setting Frequency Steps

    FM MENU. Either scroll to Exit or wait until the radio times out and returns to the previously selected FM station. Note: during the time you are taking these steps, your radio continues to broadcast the station selected. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 44: Setting Fm Muting

    LIGHT/LOCK. Locked remains next to the channel number or frequency to remind you that the locked option is enabled for all bands. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 45: Manually Selecting Coast Guard/Distress/Hailing Channels

    Press the key again to switch to Channel 9, the backup calling channel. 9 appears and NON COMMERCIAL appears at the bottom for USA channels. Press again to return to the standard marine channels. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 46: Storing A Channel Or Frequency In Memory

    VHF band only. If you take no further action, the screen returns to the standard marine screen in 3-seconds. To remove a channel from memory, with the stored channel displayed, press and hold SCAN/MEM. MEMORY disappears. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 47: Selecting And Using The Weather Channel And Weather Alert (Wx)

    Note: if the event code is longer than 16 characters, the display label scrolls across the display bottom then changes to the abbreviated format. Thus, HURRICANE WARNING (17 spaces) becomes HURRICANE WARN... and remains. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 48: Using The Triplewatch Or Dualwatch Mode

    2 seconds: the currently selected marine channel, the backup calling Channel 9, then the Coast Guard/Distress/Hailing Channel 16, before starting with the current channel again. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 49: Scanning - The Basics And Beyond

    Marine VHF radios use scanning to let you monitor several channels at once. It’s common to want to listen most of the time to a specifi c channel, yet also check for traffi c on selected other channels. To accomplish this, your VHF250 West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...
  • Page 50 MEM a second time to remove the channel from memory. These various scanning modes can be turned on and off using three keys — 16/9/TRI, WX/ALERT, and SCAN/MEM. The scanning modes can be used in conjunction with one another, or used separately. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 51: Normal Scanning

    To activate Normal Scanning, momentarily press SCAN/ MEM. The radio scans all the channels you stored in memory from lowest to highest. The VHF marine band display shows CHANNEL SCAN at the bottom. The FRS band displays SCAN. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 52: Triplewatch And Dualwatch Scanning

    2 seconds. Channel 16 and 9 are no longer checked. The radio continues to scan only channels stored in memory. CHANNEL SCAN appears on the bottom and each channel number is displayed in rapid sequence. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 53: Both Watches And Weather Channel

    • All channels, except CH70, and the weather channels, can be stored in memory. When you turn off the radio, all West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 54: Scanning (Memory Preset Station Tuning) In The Am, Fm, And Aircraft Bands

    It is no longer available for that session. Note: if no frequencies have been stored and you press SCAN/MEM, an error tone sounds. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 55: Examples Of Mode Applications

    Two available units are HHSPM Speaker Mic [West Marine SKU 7830425] and VOX100 Headset Mic. [West Marine SKU 7830409] For details, consult your West Marine dealer or call 1-800-BOATING.

  • Page 56: Care And Maintenance

    In the event that the radio fails to perform or clearly needs servicing, please contact either 1-800 BOATING (1-800 262- 8464) or your local West Marine store. In case of the need to return it to our service center, be sure...
  • Page 57 You can hear The transmit power is set Use BAND/1/2.5/5W to change transmissions, but the to 1W watt. to a higher transmit power level. other radio cannot hear you. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 58: Reference Section

    (FRS with Subaudio) ±kHz Modulation Distortion 750 μS De-emphas 0.3 to 3kHz BPF Hum and Noise 750 μS (MRN) De-emphas 0.3 to 3kHz PF (FRS) Current Drain @ High Power 5W (MRN) 1500 (FRS) West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...
  • Page 59 10 max. Audio Output Power @ 10% THD (MRN) 0.45 0.3 min. Oscillator Dropout Voltage (MRN) 3.8 max. Current Drain @ No Signal (MRN) 85 max. Current Drain @ Maximum Output (MRN) 250 max. West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 60: Usa Channel Frequencies

    63 A 156.1750 Simplex VESSEL TRAFFIC VESSEL TRAFFIC 156.1750 SYSTEM 64 A 156.2250 Simplex COMMERCIAL COMMERCIAL 156.2250 65 A 156.2750 Simplex PORT OPERATION PORT 156.2750 OPERATION 66 A 156.3250 Simplex PORT OPERATION PORT 156.3250 OPERATION West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...
  • Page 61 MARINE OPERATOR MARINE 157.2750 OPERATOR 161.9250 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE 157.3250 OPERATOR 161.9750 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE 157.3750 OPERATOR 162.0250 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE 157.4250 OPERATOR 157.4250 Simplex COMMERCIAL (SHIP- COMMERCIAL 88 A 157.4250 SHIP) West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 62: Canadian Channel Frequencies

    160.6250 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 156.0250 156.0750 Simplex CANADIAN COAST COAST GUARD 61 A 156.0750 GUARD 156.1250 Simplex CANADIAN COAST COAST GUARD 62 A 156.1250 GUARD 160.8250 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 156.2250 West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...
  • Page 63 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 157.2250 161.8750 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 157.2750 161.9250 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 157.3250 161.9750 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 157.3750 162.0250 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 157.4250 West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 64: International Channel Frequencies

    Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 156.0250 160.6750 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 156.0750 160.7250 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 156.1250 160.7750 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 156.1750 160.8250 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 156.2250 West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...
  • Page 65 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 157.2250 161.8750 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 157.2750 161.9250 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 157.3250 161.9750 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 157.3750 162.0250 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 157.4250 West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 66: Noaa Channels And Frequencies

    74.4 146.2 77.0 151.4 79.7 156.7 82.5 162.2 85.4 167.9 88.5 173.8 91.5 179.9 94.8 186.2 97.4 192.8 100.0 203.5 103.5 210.7 107.2 218.1 110.9 225.7 114.8 233.6 118.8 241.8 123.0 250.3 127.3 131.8 West Marine VHF250 Radio Owner’s Manual...

  • Page 67: Three Year Limited Warranty Statement

    (C) improperly installed, (D) serviced or repaired by someone other than an authorized West Marine service center for a defect or malfunction covered by this warranty, (E) used in any conjunction with equipment or parts or as part of any system not manufactured by West Marine, or (F) installed or programmed by anyone other than as detailed by the Operating Guide for this product.

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