 (May 2007)
Sailing Today, one of Britain’s best known and respected sailing magazines, has once again recommended the Entel HT640 VHF marine radio over all other marine VHF radios in its class.
In the May 2007 issue, “Gear and News” editor, Colin Jarman, confirms that after it won the coveted “Best Buy Award” in the magazine’s group trials (October 2006 edition), he continued to test the very same radio handset over the winter months.
“Pleasingly, our long term trials of the set at sea have backed up this judgement” said Colin.
According to his Gear on Test feature, plus points for the Entel HT640 include its waterproof submersibility (now rated IP68 – withstanding immersion at a depth of 5 metres for up to 60 minutes), its optional 5 watt or 1 watt RF power output, and the superb clarity of transmission and reception:
“We could hear the transmission of other stations well and, when asked, recipients said our transmissions were clear too … “
With the 2007 sailing season now beginning in earnest, Entel is proud to see the experts at Sailing Today are still going overboard for the HT640 – awarding it 4 stars:
“A good robust set at a sensible price” – Sailing Today, May 2007
(April 2007)
Sports Boat and RIB magazine has joined the ranks of sailing experts clamouring to endorse the submersible Entel HT640. In their April 2007 edition, comparing this VHF marine radio with others produced for the leisure marine market, SB&R describes it as a “stunner”.
What particularly caught their attention was the IP68 submersibility, “ … which means it will withstand total immersion in water to a depth of five metres for an astonishing 60 minutes” and the fact that its “good all-round performance” has seen it “picking up ‘Best Buy’ awards from everyone who has tested it - and rightly so”.
The SB&R reviewer continues: “Perhaps the best feature though is the battery life, which, thanks to lithium-ion battery technology, runs to an exceptional 14 hours from a fresh charge. Throw in decent looks and a three-year manufacturer’s warranty and you really can’t do better.”
(October 2006)
Sailing Today group tested 14 VHF marine radios, from various manufacturers, during the summer of 2006. Entel’s HT640 came out top, being awarded “Best Buy” status with 5 stars for performance. Sailing Today’s verdict on the HT640 concluded: “Good battery life and good all round performance – all at a modest price.”
(December 2005)
In the latest head-to-head handheld portable marine review the HT640 comes out top again, against all current competition. That's three consecutive best buy wins for the HT640 in the last year alone! Quote from review..."There wasn't much doubt that when it came to performance the Entel [HT640] was the outright winner: it was crystal clear in both directions..."
Extract from Motorboat & Yachting magazine December 2005 with permission from the editor:
Entel HT640 Marine VHF Radio
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Entel were set up ten years ago as the UK distributor for Standard Communications, but soon branched out into designing and producing their own range of communications equipment. So far, Entel have concentrated mainly on land based radio: the marine range consists of a single hand held VHF - the HT640.
Smaller and slighly lighter than most, the HT640 was one of the first hand-held VHFs to benefit from lithium-ion battery technology that is old hat in mobile phones, but has been painfully slow to catch on for marine VHF. It means that the battery pack that screws onto the back of the HT640 and which weighs just 120g (a shade over 4 ounces) is enough to give it a nominal operating life of 16 hours. The basic controls are pretty obvious: there's a rubbery knob to switch it on and adjust the volume, with a collar around its base that sets the squelch. Up |
and down arrow keys are used to select the channel, and the press-to-talk switch is in the usual place on the left hand side. So is the high-and-low power key, and another that operates the light and keypad lock. You don't have to be an expert to guess that the Mem key commits the current channel to the unit's memory, or that the Scan switches quickly between Ch 16 and whichever channels you've told it to memorise. What's rather less obvious is that holding down the WX key switches the radio between international, US and Canadian channel allocations, or that the A/B key can be used to zp quickly between any channel you have pre-set as channel A or B.
There wasn't much doubt that when it came to performance the Entel was the outright winner: it was crystal clear in both directions and on all channels. |
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"But the star of the show was the Entel. At less than half the price of the Simrad, its audio and transmit quality were just as good, and its battery life was better." |
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 (November 2004)
In the November edition of Yachting Monthly our HT640 notched up yet another "Best Buy" award. This model keeps on winning!
 (September 2004)
In their September publication the technical team of Motorboats Monthly publication carried out extensive tests on all VHF portables currently on the market. Once again HT640 gets a conclusive “Best Buy” This model has clearly stamped it’s mark as one of Europe’s best selling marine portables.
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