Page 2 - FCC Rules
Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Maritime Radio Services Operation Warning! This transmitter operates 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 int...
Page 3 - Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual; Table of Contents; Installing the Lithium Ion Battery Pack
3 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Table of Contents Maritime Radio Services Operation .............................................2FCC/Industry Canada Information ............................................... A Quick Start Guide for the MHS550 ...........................................6 Marin...
Page 4 - Using the Alkaline Battery Pack; Mounting the Charging Cradle; Setting the Transmitting Power Level; Operation - Family Radio Service Band; Adding FIPS Codes
4 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Using the Alkaline Battery Pack ..............................................5 Battery Life and Indication ......................................................6 Alkaline Batteries and Radio Performance .............................7 Mounting the Charging Cradl...
Page 5 - Setting the Key Lock; Specifications
5 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Other Options ..............................................................................44 Setting the Key Lock ...............................................................44 Manually Selecting Coast Guard/Distress/Hailing Channels ...........................
Page 6 - A Quick Start Guide for the MHS550; VOLUME; until the display lights. The Power
6 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual A Quick Start Guide for the MHS550 Follow these steps to get going!Marine Band Rotate VOLUME until the display lights. The Power On tone sounds. The default display starts with the VHF Marine Band and displays USA Channel 16, at a 5 watt power level, and DISTRESS...
Page 7 - to select a power level. Then press ▲ or ▼ to select; PTT; FRS Band; Briefly press; MENU; : Selecting and assigning one of the 142 Privacy
7 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Before you transmit, press and hold BAND/1/2.5/5W to select a power level. Then press ▲ or ▼ to select a channel. P ress PTT (the Push To Talk button) on the side of the radio to transmit. Release to stop transmitting. To change bands, follow these steps. FRS Ban...
Page 8 - TRANSMITTING; Note; same time. The radio sounds the PTT error tone and; Weather Band; Press; AM Band; Press either ▲ or ▼ to change frequency by 10KHz
8 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual To transmit, press PTT . TRANSMITTING appears in the message line of the LCD screen. Note : Do not press PTT and turn on power at the same time. The radio sounds the PTT error tone and RELEASE PTT appears in the LCD message line. See Page 3 5 to select various me...
Page 9 - AM MENU; FM Band; FM MENU; Aircraft Band
9 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual (500, 510, 50 KHz, etc) until you reach the desired station. In Europe, the step is 9kHz. Note : See Page 3 5 to select various menu options for this band using the AM MENU screen. FM Band Briefly press BAND/1/ 2.5/5W to change to the FM Broadcast band. The defau...
Page 10 - Scanning Introduction; Page; Normal; This means the radio checks each channel in; Normal Scan; CHANNEL SCAN
10 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Scanning Introduction There are three types of VHF marine scanning choices that you can select: Normal, DualWatch, and TripleWatch. Normal and TripleWatch scanning are described below. For additional details regarding the various scanning modes, see Page 49. Nor...
Page 11 - MARINE MENU; TripleWatch; TRIWATCH
11 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual TripleWatch Using the MARINE MENU option choices (see Page 3 5), you can choose to have the radio monitor a working channel (in this example, Channel 5,) and Channel 16, the safety and hailing channel, and Channel 9, the backup hailing, and calling channel. Alth...
Page 12 - FCC RF Exposure Information; WARNING
1 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual FCC RF Exposure Information WARNING! Read this information before using the radio In August 1996 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States with its action in Report and Order FCC 96-36 adopted an updated safety standard for human exposure t...
Page 13 - Lithium Ion Battery Pack Warning; this equipment in any charger other than the one designed; Lithium Ion batteries must be recycled or disposed of; Avoid exposing the Lithium Ion battery, attached or
13 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Lithium Ion Battery Pack Warning This equipment contains a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery.The rechargeable Lithium Ion battery contained in this equipment may explode if disposed of in a fire.Do not short-circuit the Battery Pack.Do not charge the rechargeable...
Page 14 - If any of these items are missing from the box, contact
14 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual MHS550 Radio Wrist Strap Alkaline Battery Case (batteries not included) Lithium Ion Battery Pack Mounting Hardware What’s Included DC Adapter DC550 Belt Clip CLIP550 AC Adapter AC550 BP550 Charging Cradle RSC550 BT550 Accessory ID numbers such as are provided to...
Page 15 - Introduction; technology in a conveniently sized and rugged package. It; Features; The MHS550 brings the following key features to make; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; — Provides you with
15 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Introduction Your Uniden MHS550 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...
Page 20 - Radio Charger Cradle; charging and goes off when the battery is fully charged. If a
0 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Radio Charger Cradle 20 . Front Charging Indicator — Lights during battery charging and goes off when the battery is fully charged. If a fully charged battery is placed in the cradle, the LED does not light and no charging takes place. While you can monitor incom...
Page 21 - LCD Displays; The LCD screen for each band displays the information spe-; VHF Marine Band
1 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual LCD Displays The LCD screen for each band displays the information spe- cific for that band. Some indications are common to all six bands. Some screens are condition specific such as a Low Battery situation. VHF Marine Band Family Radio Service (FRS) Band AM Band...
Page 22 - Indicator Meanings; Band Indication; International channel charts in the back of this manual or for; Watt or 2.5 Watts or 5 Watts
Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual FM Band Aircraft Band Indicator Meanings Band Indication 1 — shows which of the 6 bands is currently selected (VHF, Weather (WX/ALERT), FRS, FM, AM, and Aircraft) CHANNEL or Frequency 1 A — shows the currently selected channel number. See the USA, Canadian, and Int...
Page 23 - Owner’s Manual Conventions; To indicate a key, button, knob or other physical control, we
3 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Memory 4 — displayed when the radio displays a channel stored in memory. Alert 5 — displays when weather alert is enabled. Scan 6 — displays when you enable scanning. TRIWATCH or DUALWATCH 7 — displayed in the VHF Message Line when either mode is active. Displaye...
Page 26 - Warning; Battery Life and Indication; BATTERY LOW
6 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual hand, lift the cover to reveal the contacts in the chamber. Note the polarity markings.Position the alkaline batteries according to the and terminals and snap each into place. Close the cover as shown. Using alkaline batteries let you continue to use the radio un...
Page 27 - Alkaline Batteries and Radio Performance; To Mount the Cradle on a Counter Top
7 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Note : During the time you press PTT to transmit, you may notice the power level indicator drop to a lower level and then return to a higher level once you stop transmitting. This is normal and merely indicates that additional power is required to transmit compar...
Page 28 - Attaching the Belt Clip; as shown. Place the clip on the post and slide it in the
8 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual washers provided. Otherwise, select mounting hardware (not supplied) that is appropriate for the mounting material. On Counter Top Attach to Wall Lock Down Attaching the Belt Clip To conveniently carry the radio, attach the provided belt clip as follows. Align th...
Page 29 - DISTRESS
9 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Basic Operation, Controls, and Settup Options Each band has settings that are specific to that band and certain controls as well. To start using your MHS550, find the desired band and follow the steps in the section. Operation - Marine and Weather Bands Rotate VO...
Page 31 - Transmitting
31 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Channels 75 and 76. Transmitting To transmit, follow the steps below. Press ▲ or ▼ to select a channel. The selected channel number appears on the display along with the country label, and the selected power setting. Press the PTT switch. TRANSMITTING appears at...
Page 32 - Use either ▲ or ▼ to reach one of the 14 available
3 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Operation - Family Radio Service Band Fourteen FRS channels are available for transmitting and receiving use. The transmission/reception range depends on local terrain, the presence of steel and similar structures as well as other variables. Use either ▲ or ▼ to ...
Page 33 - Press either ▲ or ▼ to; Operation - Aircraft Band; Press either ▲ or ▼
33 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual 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. Operation - FM Band Momentarily press BAND/1/2.5/5W to switch to the FM...
Page 34 - Using the Radio Menu Options; use of the radio and makes using it more convenient. Each; Marine Band
34 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual 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. Using the Radio Menu Options The MHS550 lets you select options that personalize your use of the radio and makes usin...
Page 35 - Accessing the Menus; again or use ▲ or ▼ to scroll to; ENTER; press a key or make a selection in more than 30 seconds,; C a n a d i a n M o d e
35 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Accessing the Menus To access the menu selections for each band, change to that band and press MENU . To exit a menu for any band, press MENU again or use ▲ or ▼ to scroll to EXIT on that menu. Then press ENTER to return to the previous screen. Note : if during ...
Page 37 - Contrast; 6 D u a l W a t c h
37 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Adjusting Display Contrast[For All Bands] You can adjust the contrast setting of the LCD to accommodate various viewing conditions. 1. Press ▲ or ▼ from the band’s menu screen to highlight Contrast . Press ENTER . 2. Press ▲ or ▼ to increase or decrease the leve...
Page 38 - Specific Area Message Encoding; O ff
38 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual From the marine band’s menu screen, use ▲ or ▼ to scroll to the Dual/TriWatch option. Press ENTER . Press either ▲ or ▼ to reach either 16/9 TriWatch (default) or 16 DualWatch . Press ENTER to select it. A double beep sounds and the radio returns to the root men...
Page 40 - Exit
40 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Changing Channel Names[For Marine Band Only] Each channel has a default name which you can change. When a channel is allocated to a specific service, changing the name on your radio can help make identification faster and easier. Or you can change the name to a ...
Page 41 - C o n t r a s t; F R S CODE
41 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual names, use ▲ or ▼ to highlight Default All located between Channel 88 A and Exit . Use ▲ or ▼ to highlight Yes then press ENTER to restore all the original names. A double beep sounds to confirm the action.To restore only one name to default, highlight the chann...
Page 44 - Other Options; LOCK; K E Y P A D L O C K E D
44 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Setting FM Muting[FM Band Only] You can turn FM Muting ON to silence your radio as you tune frequencies where either no station exits or the station that is using that frequency is weak. Muting eliminates the noise unless the level of the signal is sufficient fo...
Page 45 - KEYPAD; Manually Selecting Coast Guard/Distress/Hailing; NON COMMERCIAL
45 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual During Key Lock mode, you can adjust only the following controls: PTT switchLight/Lock key Volume Squelch1/.5/5W (Only while pressing and holding PTT .) If any other control is used, an error tone sounds.To disable the keypad lock, press and hold LIGHT/LOCK for ...
Page 46 - MEM; to confirm your action.
46 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual If you are listening to a weather (WX/ALERT) channel and you press 16/9/TRI , the radio drops out of weather mode and switches to Channel 16 and displays 16. Storing a Channel or Frequency in Memory[For All Bands] Once you have stored channels in memory, you can...
Page 47 - Selecting and Using the; If the radio receives a weather alert by means of either a
47 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Selecting and Using the Weather Channel and Weather Alert (WX/ ALERT) The radio receives ten National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather channels. Although the radio receives all ten, one channel will be received best due to your geographic location....
Page 48 - ALERT; WEATHER ALERT MODE DISABLED; Using the TripleWatch or DualWatch Mode; If during setup of your MHS550, you selected Triple or
48 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual (17 spaces) becomes HURRICANE WARN... and remains. To verify if the radio is in the ALERT mode, press and hold WX/ALERT for about 2 seconds. If ALERT is active, WEATHER ALERT MODE ENABLE scrolls along the screen bottom. This message appears for about 6 seconds t...
Page 49 - Notes; DUALWATCH; Scanning - The Basics and Beyond
49 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Guard/Distress/Hailing Channel 16, before starting with the current channel again. To exit either mode, press and hold 16/9/TRI for about seconds. Notes : If you selected DualWatch during setup, when activated, every two seconds, the radio checks the current cha...
Page 51 - Normal Scanning
51 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual The scanning modes can be used in conjunction with one another, or used separately. Pressing and holding 16/9/TRI , for example, starts and stops TripleWatch mode. TRIWATCH is shown in the display when it is selected. There are insufficinet characters available ...
Page 52 - C H A N N E L S C A N
5 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual CHANNEL SCAN at the bottom. The FRS band displays SCAN . TripleWatch and DualWatch Scanning [VHF - FRS] For the marine, weather, and FRS bands only, to initialize the TripleWatch scanning mode, press and hold 16/9/TRI. Now TRIWATCH SCAN appears on the LCD’s messa...
Page 54 - Scanning (Memory Preset Station Tuning) in the
54 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual memory stored channels are retained so that upon turning the radio on again, they are immediately available. Scanning (Memory Preset Station Tuning) in the AM, FM, and Aircraft Bands As you can store up to 5 frequencies in each of the other bands, you can also m...
Page 55 - HHSPM
55 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Examples of Mode Applications While there are many scenarios for making a mode choice or setting the MHS550 in a certain manner that applies to your own special requirements, we hope the following three examples might help you get started. You’re a safety boat a...
Page 56 - Care and Maintenance; If the antenna has been damaged, do not transmit except; Troubleshooting; If you missing parts or accesoories, call Parts & Service at
56 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Care and Maintenance Your MHS550 is a precision electronic product and you should treat it accordingly. Due to the rugged design, very little maintenance is required. However a few precautions should be observed: • If the antenna has been damaged, do not transmi...
Page 58 - Reference Section
58 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Specifications Transmitter Items Unit Nominal Frequency Tolerance @ 25° C to 50° C PPM ±0.5 Frequency Stability -20° C to 50° C PPM (MRN, 5W) W 5 (MRN 2.5W) W 2.5 (MRN 1W) W 1 Carrier Power (FRS/MRN 0.5W) W 0.5 (MRN 5W) dBc 53 Spurious Emission (MRN 2.5W/1W) dBc...
Page 60 - USA Channel Frequencies
60 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual USA Channel Frequencies Ch No. RX Freq TX Freq Status Full Name 16 Char Name 1A 156.0500 156.0500 Simplex VESSEL TRAFFIC SYSTEM/ COMMERCIAL VTS/ COMMERCIAL 3 A 156.1500 156.1500 Simplex COAST GUARD,GOVT ONLY COAST GUARD ONLY 5 A 156.500 156.500 Simplex VESSEL TR...
Page 62 - Canadian Channel Frequencies
6 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Canadian Channel Frequencies Ch No. RX Freq TX Freq Status Full Name 16 Char Name 160.6500 156.0500 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 160.7000 156.1000 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 160.7500 156.1500 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 156.2000 1...
Page 64 - International Channel Frequencies
64 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual International Channel Frequencies Ch No. RX Freq TX Freq Status Full Name 16 Char Name 1 160.6500 156.0500 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 160.7000 156.1000 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR 3 160.7500 156.1500 Duplex MARINE OPERATOR MARINE OPERATOR ...
Page 67 - Three Year Limited Warranty
67 Uniden MHS550 Radio Owner’s Manual Three Year Limited Warranty WARRANTOR: UNIDEN AMERICA CORPORATION (“Uniden”)ELEMENTS OF WARRANTY: Uniden warrants, for three years, to the original retail owner, this Uniden Product to be free from defects in materials and craftsmanship with only the limitations...
