Uniden MHS450 User manual

OWNER'S MANUAL
UNIDEN
MARINE
2-WAY
VHF RADIO
MHS450

2Uniden MHS450 Radio Owner’s Manual
Table of Contents
A Quick Start Guide for the MHS450..................................5
Storing a Channel in Memory.............................................6
Normal Scanning................................................................7
DualWatch Scanning ..........................................................8
TripleWatch Scanning.........................................................8
Weather Channel, Stored Channels,
and Dual/TripleWatch Scanning ........................................9
Maritime Radio Services Operation..................................10
FCC/Industry Canada Information....................................10
FCC RF Exposure Information .........................................11
Lithium Ion Battery Pack Warning ....................................12
What’s Included ................................................................13
Introduction.......................................................................14
Features ...........................................................................14
MHS450 Controls .............................................................16
Radio Charger Cradle.......................................................18
LCD Display......................................................................19
Owner Manual Conventions .............................................20
Indicator Sounds...............................................................20
Batteries ...........................................................................21
Installing the Lithium Ion Battery Pack ....................21
Using the Alkaline Battery Pack ..............................21
Power AutoSave and Battery Life Indication ...........23

3Uniden MHS450 Radio Owner’s Manual
Alkaline Batteries and Radio Performance..............23
Mounting the Charging Cradle .........................................24
To Mount the Cradle on a Counter Top....................24
Mounting on a Wall..................................................24
Attaching the Belt Clip ......................................................25
Getting Started .................................................................26
Selecting a Channel .........................................................26
Transmitting Power Level .................................................27
Transmitting......................................................................27
Using the Radio Menu Options.........................................28
USA/CAN/INT (U.I.C.) — Settings....................................29
Lamp (Backlight) Adjust....................................................29
Adjusting Display Contrast ...............................................30
Setting Dual or TriWatch...................................................30
Setting the Key Beep........................................................31
Setting the Key Lock.........................................................31
Manually Selecting Coast Guard/Distress
/Hailing Channels ..........................................................32
Storing a Channel in Memory...........................................32
Using the Weather Channels............................................33

4Uniden MHS450 Radio Owner’s Manual
Adding FIPS Codes..........................................................34
Changing Channel Names ...............................................35
Restoring Default Names .................................................36
Using the TripleWatch or DualWatch Mode......................36
Using Scan with Triple Watch,
Dual Watch, or Weather Alert ...........................................37
Triple Watch and Dual Watch Only..........................37
Both Watches and Weather Channel ......................38
Using the External Speaker/Mic Jack ..............................39
Resetting the MHS450 .....................................................39
Troubleshooting................................................................40
Specications ...................................................................42
Care and Maintenance .....................................................43
USA Channel Frequencies ...............................................44
Canadian Channel Frequencies.......................................46
International Channel Frequencies...................................48
NOAA Weather Channels and Frequencies .....................50
NOAA Weather SAME Event Codes ................................50
Three Year Limited Warranty............................................55

5Uniden MHS450 Radio Owner’s Manual
A Quick Start Guide for the MHS450
Follow these steps to get going!
Rotate VOLUME until the display lights. The Power
On tone sounds. The default display shows channel
16 in the US marine band, a 5 watt level and the
purpose of the channel such as DISTRESS at the
bottom edge.
Press ▲ or ▼ to change channels. The marine
channels begin at 01 and continue, in a closed loop,
through 88A.
1.
2.
A
01A VTS/Com
03A CG Only
05A VTS/Com
06 Safety
88A Commerc
88 Mar Opr
87 Mar Opr
Memory
A
01A VTS/Com
03A CG Only
05A VTS/Com
06 Safety
88A Commerc
88 Mar Opr
87 Mar Opr
Memory

6Uniden MHS450 Radio Owner’s Manual
To listen to your local NOAA weather channel, press
WX/ALERT. One channel of the 10 available will be
best. Press WX/ALERT to return to marine channels.
To transmit, repeated press 1/2.5/5W to select a
power level. Then, press ▲ or ▼ to select a channel.
Press PTT. The display conrms transmitting at the
bottom of the screen and your power level as well.
Storing a Channel in Memory
The MHS450 radio can scan channels you have stored in
memory. You can store marine channels for later scanning.
To store a channel in memory, follow these steps:
Use ▲ or ▼ until you reach a channel you want to
store.
Press and hold SCAN/MEM to store the channel
in memory. A double beep sounds to conrm your
action.
3.
4.
5.
1.
2.

7Uniden MHS450 Radio Owner’s Manual
CHANNEL STORED appears at the bottom of the
display.
If you take no further action, the screen returns to the
standard marine screen in 3-seconds.
Now that you have several channels stored in memory, you
can choose to scan them in three separate methods, Normal
Scanning, Dual Watch Scanning, and Triple Watch Scanning.
Normal Scanning
Normal Scanning lets you
scan all the channels you store
in memory using the steps in
the section preceeding this
one.
To activate Normal Scan
mode, momentarily press
SCAN/MEM. The radio scans all the channels stored
in memory from lowest to highest. The display shows
CHANNEL SCAN at the bottom.
MEM MEM MEM MEM MEM MEM MEM MEM
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 interupt it.
3.
4.
CHANNEL SCAN
USA Memory
5 Watts
Marine Band
A
Alert
CHANNEL SCAN
USA Memory
5 Watts
Marine Band
A
Alert

8Uniden MHS450 Radio Owner’s Manual
DualWatch Scanning
Marine channel 9 is reserved as a backup hailing, calling
channel for areas of high marine trafc. Channel 16 is the
reserved Coast Guard Distress, hailing channel.
Press and hold 16/9/TRI. If you have set DualWatch as your
default mode using the RADIO MENU options (see page 28),
the radio begins to include a check of Channel 16 along with
any other stored channels.
MEM
16
MEM MEM MEM MEM MEM MEM MEM
2 seconds
TripleWatch Scanning
Using the option in the RADIO MENU choices (see page 28),
you can choose to have the radio not only scan the channels
you stored and Channel 16, but also Channel 9, the backup
hailing, calling channel.
When you press and hold 16/9/TRI, the radio scans
according to the sequence shown below. In this case, the
radio is set to marine channel 25 and TripleWatch has been
selected from the RADIO MENU.
16
25 09
TripleWatch Scan of Marine Ch. 25,
Hailing Ch. 9, and Distress Ch. 16

9Uniden MHS450 Radio Owner’s Manual
Weather Channel, Stored Channels, and
Dual/TripleWatch Scanning
You can store your NOAA weather channel in memory in the
same manner as any other marine channel using the steps
on page 5.
For this example, you have stored 8 marine channels. You
have pressed WX/ALERT to display one weather channel.
You have selected the TripleWatch option using the RADIO
MENU setup. Now you press SCAN/MEM. Scanning takes
place in the order shown below. Every 2 seconds, during
the scanning of the 8 marine channels, the radio checks
channels 9 and 16. Then, approximately every 7 seconds,
the radio checks the selected weather channel and then
channels 9 and 16.
MEM
1609 WX1609
MEM MEM MEM MEM MEM MEM MEM
2 seconds
~7 seconds
=Channel Check Scan Sequence of Stored Channels,
TripleWatch, and TripleWatch with WX
To learn about other sections which contain details dealing
with General Setup, Battery Operation and Charging, Menu
Options, Storing Channels, Scanning Channels, and using
the special features of either Triple or DualWatch, consult the
Table of Contents which immediately preceeds these Quick
Start pages.

10 Uniden MHS450 Radio Owner’s Manual
Maritime Radio Services Operation
Warning! This transmitter will operate on channels/
frequencies that have restricted use in the United States.
The channel assignments include frequencies assigned for
exclusive use of the U.S. Coast Guard, use in Canada, and
use in international waters. Operation on these frequencies
without proper authorization is strictly forbidden. For
frequencies/channels that are currently for use in the U.S.
without an individual license, please contact the FCC Call
Center at 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322).
For individuals requiring a license, such as commercial
users, you should obtain a license application from your
nearest FCC eld ofce (for US users) or Industry Canada
(for Canadian users).
FCC/Industry Canada Information
Certication FCC Part 80 or RSS-182/188
Output Power 5W
Emission 16K0F3E, 16K0F2D
Transmitter Frequency Range 156.025 to 157.425 MHz
This device complies with Part 80 of the FCC Rules, as
well as Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject
to the condition that this device does not cause harmful
interference.
Unauthorized changes or modications to this equipment
may void compliance with the FCC Rules. Any change
or modication must be approved in writing by Uniden.
Changes or modications not approved by Uniden could void
the user’s authority to operate the equipment.