West Marine VHF470 User manual

Color: Black
Model 18736389
Color: Gray
Model 18736397
Owner’s Manual
VHF470

MAKING A DISTRESS CALL
Lift the red cover. Press and hold the DISTRESS key for three
seconds. Your radio transmits your ship’s location every few
minutes until you receive a response.
Lift the red cover
and press the white
DISTRESS button
underneath.
Making a Voice Distress Call
Speak slowly - clearly - calmly.
For future reference, write your ship’s name & call sign here:
1. Make sure your radio is on.
2. Press the 16/P key to switch to Channel 16 (156.8 MHz). (If the corner of the display does not show
16, press the 16/P key again until it does.)
3. Press the PUSH-TO-TALK key and say: “MAYDAY -- MAYDAY -- MAYDAY.”
4. Say “THIS IS {name of your ship (three times)} and call sign/ship registration number (once).”
5. Repeat “MAYDAY {name of your ship}” once.
6. Tell where you are: (what navigational aids or landmarks are near, or read the latitude and longitude
from your GPS).
7. State the nature of your distress (e.g. are you sinking, medical emergency, man overboard, on fire,
adrift, etc. ).
8. State the type of assistance you need (medical, towing, pumps, etc.).
9. Give number of persons aboard and conditions of any injured persons.
10. Estimate present seaworthiness of your ship (e.g. how immediate is the danger due to flooding or fire
or proximity to shore).
11. Briefly describe your ship, giving ship name (e.g. “Blue Duck is 32 foot cabin cruiser, white hull, blue
deck house”).
12. Say: “I WILL BE LISTENING ON CHANNEL 16.”
13. End message by saying “THIS IS {name or call sign of your ship}, OVER.”
14. Release the PUSH-TO-TALK key and listen.
NOTE: If you do not get an answer after 30 seconds, repeat your call, beginning at step 3, above.

Table of Contents
Making a Distress Call .............. ii
INTRODUCTION.......................E-1
FEATURES ............................... E-1
EXPLANATION OF TERMS ..... E-2
WHAT'S INCLUDED.................. E-3
PARTS OF THE VHF470 .......... E-3
READING THE IDLE
SCREEN ................................ E-5
USING THE POP-UP
KEYBOARD ........................... E-6
MENUS ..................................... E-7
USING SOFT KEYS................ E-12
OPERATION MODES ............. E-18
SETTING UP THE
HARDWARE .....................E-23
ATTACHING THE ANTENNA .. E-23
INSTALLING THE BATTERY .. E-23
MOUNTING THE CHARGER.. E-24
SETTING UP YOUR RADIO ...E-25
TURNING IT ON .................... E-25
ENTERING THE
USER MMSI ......................... E-25
SETTING IT UP....................... E-25
OPERATING THE RADIO ...... E-28
DIGITAL SELECTIVE CALLING
FEATURES (DSC) ...............E-29
WHAT IS DSC? ...................... E-29
MMSI NUMBERS .................... E-30
USING THE DIRECTORIES ... E-30
MAKING DSC CALLS ............. E-32
MAKING AN AUTOMATIC
DISTRESS CALL ................. E-34
DSC CALLS ............................ E-35
TEST CALLS........................... E-37
POSITION REQUEST
AND REPLY.......................... E-38
DISABLING AUTOMATIC
CHANNEL SWITCHING....... E-39
GPS FEATURES.....................E-39
GPS OPERATION
OVERVIEW .......................... E-39
GPS MENU ............................. E-39
NMEA FEATURES ..................E-41
CHARTPLOTTER
CONNECTION .................... E-41
NMEA OUTPUT ..................... E-42
ADDITIONAL FEATURES ......E-42
RENAMING CHANNELS ....... E-42
MARINE RADIO APP..............E-42
MAINTENANCE AND
TROUBLESHOOTING .........E-42
SPECIFICATIONS...................E-44
REFERENCE TABLES ........... E-45
MARINE RADIO CHANNEL
CHART ................................. E-46
WEATHER CHANNELS AND
FREQUENCIES (US, CAN,
AND INTL) ............................ E-51
EMERGENCY ALERT
(SAME) SYSTEM .................... E-51
REGULATIONS AND
SAFETY WARNINGS...........E-53
MARITIME RADIO
SERVICES OPERATION ..... E-53
BASIC RADIO GUIDELINES .. E-54
FCC/INDUSTRY CANADA
INFORMATION ................... E-54
COMPLIANCE......................... E-56
ANTENNA SELECTION AND
INSTALLATION ................... E-57
THREE YEAR LIMITED
WARRANTY ........................E-57
NOTES ....................................E-61

E-1
VHF470 RADIO 1-800-BOATING
E-1
INTRODUCTION
West Marine's VHF470 is a floating, hand-held class D DSC radio with an integrated GPS receiver. It is
also Bluetooth capable so you can use West Marine's smartphone app (iOS and Android) to set up the
radio and text message other VHF text message capable radios. You can enter other information such as
DSC directory information and update the radio's firmware.
FEATURES
Your radio provides the following key features:
• Submersible design . Complies with floating JIS8/IPX8 water-resistant standards, which means the
radio can be submerged in 4.9 feet of water for up to 30 minutes without damage. The radio will only meet
this rating if fully assembled and all rubber seals and bungs are well maintained and correctly fitted. This
means that the speaker microphone bung is inserted, and the battery pack (or case) and antenna are attached
and securely fastened.
NOTE: After your radio is submerged in water, the sound might be distorted. This is because there
is still water remaining in and around the speaker and microphone. Just shake the radio to clear
excess water, and the sound should return to normal.
NOTE: If your radio is exposured to salt water, clean it thoroughly with fresh water and dry it before
turning it on. The charger is not waterproof.
• Memory Scan mode. Lets you save channels to memory and monitor them in quick succession.
• High/LO power level select. Lets you boost the transmitter power from 1W to 2.5 or 6W for added
transmission distance.
• Battery level display and low battery alert.
• Dual and Triple Watch operation . These different watch modes let you monitor up to two Coast
Guard Distress/Hailing channels and one weather channel along with one regular marine channel.
• All marine VHF channels for the U.S., Canada, and international waters
• Emergency 16/09 Channel monitoring . Set unit to scan one or both of these emergency channels
regularly within normal scanning cycles.
• Class D second receiver is dedicated to monitoring the DSC watch channel 70 to ensure that no
incoming messages are missed.
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Channel watch.
Sounds a warning tone when a hazard alert is issued.

E-2
VHF470 RADIO 1-800-BOATING
E-2
• LCD and key backlight/Flashlight/SOS Strobe . Pressing the Light/Lock key initiates various light
options (see Page E-4).
• Key Lock . Locks keys to prevent accidentally changing channels or entering data.
• Selectable Backlight Timer . Lets you select the length of time the backlight will be on.
• DSC . Lets you call other ships or groups using their unique identification code. This radio complies with
International Class D DSC standards for Handheld GPS/VHF marine transceivers.
• GPS (Favorite Position mode). Lets you save your current position as well as manually enter other
positions.You can save positions into a directory to return to them as desired.
• Bread Crumbs . Tags specific GPS points along your route. You can set how far apart these points should
be (seconds, minute, etc) through the menus.
• Waypoints . Create a list of coordinates and use that list to navigate to various destinations.
• NMEA input/output . Lets you connect to a chartplotter and, through menus, determine what NMEA data
you want to receive.
• 10 weather channels available for monitoring.
• MOB (Man Overboard). Lets you lock onto the current position when a Man Overboard situation occurs.
• Compass Display. Lets you determine the way you want the radio to display your course - by showing
your course and direction or by showing location on an north-south-east-west display. Automatically auto-
plots to a received DSC distress call.
EXPLANATION OF TERMS
Term What it Means
DSC Digital Selective Calling. A VHF radio standard for communicating among boats
and sending automated distress calls.
FIPS Federal Information Processing Standard. A set of location codes roughly
equivalent to your county codes.
WX Weather Radio
GPS Global Positioning System
NMEA National Marine Electronics Association. The organization that governs
standards for electronic equipment used on boats. NMEA 0183 is the standard
for serial data communication used by GPS.
MMSI
Maritime Mobile Service Identity number. A unique, nine-digit number that
identifies you and your boat when making DSC calls. It is also used by the Coast
Guard if you send an automated distress call.

E-3
VHF470 RADIO 1-800-BOATING
E-3
WHAT'S INCLUDED
NOTE: Some of the graphics in this manual may vary slightly from the actual product.
PARTS OF THE VHF470
Front view
Key Press to... Press and hold to...
POWER N/A Turn radio on and off.
Push-to-Talk N/A Transmit on a current TX
power.
MON key Quickly open and close squelch (single
press/release). Open Squelch.
Soft Function Keys (3)
Activate function assigned to that key.
Function displays on screen above key.
See page E-12.
NA
MENU KEY Open the menus. NA
▲▼►◄ Move up, down, left, or right on a screen. NA
Antenna
VHF470 Radio
Charging Cradle
AC Adapter DC Adapter
Lithium Ion
Rechargeable Battery
Not shown:
External speaker/
microphone
1 meter NMEA
cable
Belt Clip
Wrist Strap
Mounting Hardware
Note:Thermal sensor on back.
Screen
Ext. Speaker/
Mic jack
Antenna
Power
Push-
to-Talk
Monitor Menu
Direction
Arrows
CLR Light/Lock
Speaker
16/P
VOL/
SQ
Function
Keys
LED
DISTRESS
Microphone

E-4
VHF470 RADIO 1-800-BOATING
E-4
Key Press to... Press and hold to...
CLR key Returns to the IDLE screen. NA
Light/LOCK key
-Press once to activate the LCD and key
backlight.
-Press twice to activate LED steady on
(Flashlight).
-Press three times to activate the SOS
strobe light.
-Press a fourth time to turn the LED off.
Lock key input to prevent
input errors.
16/P key
Cycle through call channel, channel 16,
channel 9, and back to the starting
channel.
NA
VOL/SQ key Press once: Adjust volume.
Press twice: Adjust squelch. NA
DISTRESS key Activate DISTRESS screen. Send out default distress
signal.
Back view
Belt clip
Battery
Battery charging
contacts
Battery
latch
Wrist strap slot
Charger
Charging
contacts
CHARGE LED
Screw holes
NMEA
contacts
Screw hole

E-5
VHF470 RADIO 1-800-BOATING
E-5
READING THE IDLE SCREEN
The Idle screen shows different information depending on what you are doing. Not all icons display on
every screen. This dummy Idle screen displays many of the possible icons. The table below shows pos-
sible icons and what they mean.
ALT
INTL
6W
TRI
MEM
WX 15
COMMERCIAL
MOB WX CALL
< >
TX
LAT:32˚53,6604N
LON:096˚59,3158W
TIME:20:47 Local
DATE:Aug 23,2017
1
8
9
7
65432
101112
16
15
14
13
17
Display icons and what they mean
Number Icon What it means
1Battery level
2 INT Channel mode (USA, INTL, or CAN)
3Displays when mail is available.
4ALT Weather Alert
5Flashes when satellite acquired. Does not display if no
satellite acquired.
6Displays when Bluetooth is turned on.
71W, 2.5W, or 6W Power output.
8TX or RX Indicates Transmitting (TX) or Receiving (RX).
9Various Text Channel Name
10 Soft Key #3 Name of soft key (see page E-12).

E-6
VHF470 RADIO 1-800-BOATING
E-6
Number Icon What it means
11 Soft Key #2 Name of soft key (see page E-12).
12 Soft Key #1 Name of soft key (see page E-12).
13 GPS Data Latitude, Longitude, Time, and Date at current position.
14 WX Displays when Weather mode active.
15 MEM Displays when a channel is saved into memory.
16 TRI Displays TRI (Triple) or DUAL (Dual) watch mode as
set in Menus.
17 Channel Number Current channel number.
HOW IT WORKS
The VHF470 uses a 3-part operating structure: Menus, Soft Keys, and a pop-up keyboard. These ele-
ments work with each other to quickly set up and operate your radio.
• Menus - Press the MENU key to access the menus (see page E-7).
• Soft Keys - The soft keys relate to the three keys on the bottom of the screen. Many of these keys can access
functions that are set up through the menus (see page E-12).
• Pop-Up Keyboard - Some of the menus and soft keys require alphanumeric input. The radio brings up a
keyboard for this. You can change the keyboard from alphanumeric characters to special characters.
USING THE POP-UP KEYBOARD
When you need to enter text, a digital keyboard pops up. "Type" on this keyboard by using the ▲, ▼,
►, and ◄keys on the radio's keypad to move a curser through the keyboard. Press SELECT to select
that character and move to the next spot.
• The ABC/abc key switches between capital and lower case letters.
• Select the @&? key to switch to the special character keyboard. Select ABC/abc to switch back to an
alphanumeric keyboard.
• After using the ▲, ▼, ►, and ◄ keys on the radio's keypad to select a letter, press SELECT to "type" the
letter. The letter then displays on the screen.
• Select the ◄ and ► keys to move the curser backwards or forwards into the entry.
• Select ENTER to move the curser to the next line.
• Select del to delete the character to the left of the curser.