Portable Marine Radio

[capt sunshine]

I'm a new boater (23 ft chris craft deck boat) and am interested in buying a portable hand held marine radio to keep on my boat in case of emergency. There are a lot of brands and models out there. One suggestion was Standard Horizon. But there are a number of models to choose from. I boat mainly on medium size lakes and Ohio river. I'm mostly concerned about having an emergency on the Ohio River.
I would appreciate hearing from anyone that could offer good advise on purchasing a portable marine radio.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Portable Marine Radio

Welcome to the board.
VHF radio use inland is very different from Lake to lake.
Many inland lakes will have no use at all so Handheld radio not worth much.
Large lakes with several marinas will likely have some VHF use.
If they have a fuel dock and guest dock then they will likely have a VHF radio.
Lakes with a Coast Guard Station of course will have VHF radio and monitor Channel 16.
As far as best brand I think they all are very good today.
So I would pick the features you want.
Some radios will have a display to tell you what each channel if used for.
If you do not know what each channel if for this can help you select the correct channel.
I would suggest a radio that has rechargable AA batteries and come with a 12 volts dc charger and a 110 volt charger.
This way when one of the batteries fails you only have to buy a single AA NI-MH battery not a whole battery pack.
Also a hand held that is waterproof and floats is a good idea.

Today some handheld come with a built in GPS and DSC distress button.
So if you need to call the Coast Guard or another boat you can tell them your location.

You no longer need a licence but are still required to follow the rules.
You are required to montior Channel 16 the Calling and Distress channed when the radio is on and not in use.
For this reason you will want a radio that scans or at least has a dual watch. Most today have both.

If you have not heard of DSC I will include a few links where the Coast Guard explains what it does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-f4nhnBThg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdkxsWBncSc&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQk5MRwuxgo&feature=channel

 

[capt sunshine]

Re: Portable Marine Radio

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. Your post was very helpful. My main reason for considering purchasing a marine radio involved boating on the ohio river and my boat breaking down or having some other emergency.