VHF choices

[gregtobin]

As a newbie, I plan to fish within 2 miles of shore (in the Chesapeake) and want to get a VHF before venturing out. Maybe this is a dumb question - If I buy an inexpensive handheld VHF, will an extra antenna (e.g., the 8' Shakespeare) do anything for distance and clarity? Or do you get get garbled speech on a cheap radio?

How often do boaters use the VHF? Is it only in emergencies, or do you try to hail nearby boats to trade fishing stories?

 

[JUSTINTIME]

Re: VHF choices

yes it is all about your power out and the size of ur antenna

icom or standard horizon makes the best 2 handheld right now

 

[Boatist]

Re: VHF choices

VHF on a boat I would get a Fixed 25 watt radio first.

Yes a good 8 foot 6DB gain antenna connected to a hand held will give you a big range increase. Most hand helds have a rubber duck antenna. At best antenna are -3db so a 5 watt radio will have a EPR (Effective radiated power) of 2.5 watts. Same radio hooked to a 6DB gain would have a ERP of 20 watts. Hand held also only as good as the battery.

A fixed mount 25 watt radio with same antenna would have ERP of 100 watts. With the 8 foot antenna mounted 2 feet above the water the range is 4.5 to 5 miles. So Boat to boat your looking at about 10 miles max. To Coast Guard out here range is about 80 miles because they mount their antennas on top of 3000 foot mountains.

Hard to buy a bad radio today but I like ICOM. Better to get a good antenna than a top of the line radio if your on a limited budget like most of us.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: VHF choices

i have both, i keep the hand held in my pocket sealed (waterproof) for real emergencies. and keep fresh batteries. on good days with the fixed, i can get about 12 miles.

 

[jurgenscraft]

Re: VHF choices

Good evening all ,I use a Icom radio and a Shakespeare GALAXY 5525 FLT 6 Db gain 8 foot antenna on the boat, I also have the GALAXY 5018 FLT 9 Db gain mounted as a base antenna from the cabin we opperate from, I find the coms between the two antennas are good giving us a working range of about 15 nautical miles using 25 watts of power.I keep my radio set at max power output (high power) the reason being when in a emergency you may be thinking of the emergency and forget to switch from low power to high power.Here in South Africa, the marine VHF radio frequencies are controlled and cannot be used for general chit chat ,we use the 29 Mhz marine frequencies for that very much the same as CB type coms. Kind regards William Wright.

 

[KRS]

Re: VHF choices

A mobile mounted radio will work on your battery even when there isn't enough juice to start your motor... a handheld goes dead and you're outta luck.

A mobile mounted radio is fixed to your boat, the handheld can be left at home or dropped overboard.

I would trade output wattage for antenna length and height any day..... spend good money on your antenna and mount it well.

 

[dmarkvid2]

Re: VHF choices

I also have both, a hand held Uniden, and a fixed radio on board. I use the fixed all the time, the portable hand held I have in case I have to abandon ship. I have two batteries for that which I can take with me. The fixed radio would have to go down with the ship.