Help with "Saber R" model number please

[JRUTA]

Hi all,
Im looking at buying a vhf Saber R, I'm fairly familiar with the saber line, but I'm not sure the seller has the model number listed correctly- H43QXN7139CN is the model number given, which SHOULD be a vhf Saber R with securenet, however when I look this number up through decoding, it says nothing about being an "R" model, and more importantly, says its NOT submersible (shouldnt an R model be?) I'm also not sure what the designation of- H99QX+053H means. Any help from Saber Gurus would be appreciated before i get hosed. Thanks, John.

[kotaguchi]

Model no does not tell you if a radio is "R"or not..Same thing goes for the Astro Saber R,XTS3000R,XTS2500i,XTS5000R portables.All these

radio have the same model no as the non "R"radios.

I would not go swimming with a '"R"rated radio unless you can get it tested to make sure the water tight gasket seals hold and it is still truly "R" or you may get water leakage into the inside of your radio....

[MT2000 man]

Agree 100% with what Ko said above.

Additionally, new Saber/Astro "R" battery are very expensive. Most people that have an "R" radio change the case over to the regular saber non-R case just to save on batteries.

While the saber Ruggedized is cool (I've had many myself), the bulkiness/expensive batteries/age, etc. does come into effect. And also, as Ko said, I would NOT dunk that radio in water, EVEN if it was a true "R" without it's seals/gaskets getting checked/pressurized by "M".

Even then, how often do most people take thier radio swimming ??

[JRUTA]

Thanks, I'm starting to think I'll skip the "R" lol.