VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

[Jobless Recovery]

Can anyone out there give their opinions on pros and cons of a mounted VHF radio vs. a hand held unit. Never had one and could use all the info I can get.

 

[LadyFish]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

Fixed, fixed, fixed if you go offshore at all. plus, you can't drop it overboard, drop and break! Your battery in a handheld will give out before the fixed one will operating off your marine battery.

Also, it is my understanding that a handhelds best range is 3-6 miles, of course you can link to your boat antenna but a fixed mount VHF should get you 25 miles or better. And, if you have to buy a good antenna anyway in order for your handheld to reach further, you might as well go for the less expensive and more dependable fixed mount.

I'm sure there may be many good reasons for a handheld but for me, I trust the mounted VHF.

 

[rickryder]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

Fixed, fixed, fixed if you go offshore at all. plus, you can't drop it overboard, drop and break! Your battery in a handheld will give out before the fixed one will operating off your marine battery.

Also, it is my understanding that a handhelds best range is 3-6 miles, of course you can link to your boat antenna but a fixed mount VHF should get you 25 miles or better. And, if you have to buy a good antenna anyway in order for your handheld to reach further, you might as well go for the less expensive and more dependable fixed mount.

I'm sure there may be many good reasons for a handheld but for me, I trust the mounted VHF.

X2 I agree with fixed.

 

[JoLin]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

If you venture offshore you should have both. Period.

A fixed-mount VHF will get you a range of 25 miles or better. The VHF radio is a line of sight device affected by the earth's curvature. A typical 8' antenna will get you a range of 5-6 miles depending upon the actual height of your antenna above the water. If the receiving boat's antenna is the same height, you'll then have a 10-12 mile effective range. If the shore station's antenna is 50' high, then your effective range increases a lot more (I don't feel like doing the math, but the formula is simple- you can google it easily).

My .02

 

[smallboatlover]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

i would go with the fixed you will always know were it is.

 

[veritas honus]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

The hand held has 5 watts of power. The fixed has 25 watts. As JoLin said, vhf is "line of sight". If you can see it, you can talk to it. Depending upon the area your boating, there may be bouys or towers with repeaters. These extend your range. They work for hand helds the same way they work for fixed mount; it comes down to wattage and antenna height. If you can afford it, there's nothing wrong with having both. A back-up is always a good back-up plan.

 

[barbosam]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

I agree with fixed mount, it's not going anywhere so you know where it is when you need it. Handheld is a backup that belongs in your ditch bag, but then again I might be obsessivley redundant when it comes to anything safety.

 

[mphy98]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

Fixed is what I have. When we go to Canada you need all the range you can get. Hand helds do not cut the mustard!

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

well first you have to determine who you will be talking to and where they are. Like everything on boats, you have to evaluate your circumstances and know your limitations. At first, Alex Bell didn't have anyone to talk to.

The expense and clutter of a fixed VHF and antenna might no tbe worth it for a small boat on busy water, or a small boat in deserted areas. If your boat is exposed to salt air, the fixed might not last so long. Do you want it just for an emergency (and will likely never use it) or for regular communications with other boats, who actually use them and keep them on? Do you have alternatives for emergencies?

Around here there is a lot of radio traffic both from the harbor ops and the fishermen. On a pleasure boat lake, I would expect few users.

I have fixed on one boat and carry a hand-held for a spare (only b/c I already have one). I use hand-helds in small boats in a remote area but we have two base stations on shore, one with a 75' tall antenna. The range of the hand-helds is limited. We can talk to each other but I can't rely on reaching USCG about 8 miles away.
If you use a hand-held, be certain that the antenna is vertical. I screwed a charger base onto the dash board to keep the handheld secure, high and vertical.

 

[emilsr]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

If you do anything offshore you MUST have a good fixed unit and as tall an antenna as you can stand. It's not a bad idea to have a handheld as a backup....can come in handy at times too.

For inshore, and especially if you have cell coverage where you boat, a handheld is usually more than enough. I have both....but I never installed the fixed unit in the current boat. Have used the handheld just a few times, and only on an inland lake where all the houseboaters used VHF. Just don't need them for the kind of boating we're doing but (as they say) your mileage may vary. All depends on where/how you boat.

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

VH Nailed it a fixed mount radio puts out 5 times the power of a hand held unit, that alone is reason enough to go with the fixed mount should you have the room to. The comment that radios are line of sight is true BUT you will get some bounce effect that can extend your range depending on certain atmospheric conditions as well as the geological surroundings. Atmospheric bounce tends to be more common at night.

In a nutshell fixed mount with a good antenna is heads and tails better then a hand held.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

The comment that radios are line of sight is true BUT you will get some bounce effect that can extend your range depending on certain atmospheric conditions as well as the geological surroundings. Atmospheric bounce tends to be more common at night.

sky bounce on 2 meter ham band is rare (basically same as marine vhf) I've personally heard it maybe a handful of times over the years, so it certainly isn't anything to count on! I've personally communicated on 2 meters with 1 watt for 200+ miles. All the magic is in the antenna. A good antenna will easily make up for lack of power, but power will never make up for lack of antenna.

in case anyone is curious...


Tropospheric Ducting:

Occasionally, signal bending in the atmosphere's troposphere known as (ducting) can allow 2-meter signals to carry hundreds or even thousands of miles as evidenced by the occasional 2 meter contact between the west coast (California) and the Hawaiian Islands. Though these long distance contacts are usually made using weak signal modes such as SSB (Single sideband) or CW, long distance ducting contacts do occur using FM modes as well.

Sporadic "E":

Another VHF propagation event called, Sporadic E propagation; is a phenomenon involving radio reflections off highly ionized segments of the ionosphere which can bring contacts well over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) with very strong signals received on both ends of the conversation. Sporadic-E events can last for hours or can last for minutes. Sporadic-E is a rare and completely random propagation phenomenon.

 

[Beefer]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

For the reasons mentioned above, absolutely fixed. Be sure it has the DSC feature, and hook it up to your GPS so you actually see the benefit of it. I'd also recommend an 8' antennae. There are 6', but the extra 2' adds a lot of range.

I have both, the handheld is in my ditch bag. On one charge, it stays charged for 6 months or more (little to no use, in storage). The only time I take this out of the ditch is for charging, or if I'm away from the boat (beachin' it), and want to keep an ear on the weather. Best part of the handheld was that I picked it up on craigslist for $20.

Even if you boat inshore, you may be far enough away from a receiving VHF when you're trying to call for help with a handheld because of the limited range. If I only had one, it would without a doubt be a fixed mount.

 

[Jobless Recovery]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

Ok, ok fixed it is. Now I need to know what is the DSC feature. We typically boat inland but some of the lake are very large. We usually use the iphone which we've downloaded a Navionics Lake West program that is pretty awesome and the iphone also has a built in compass with lat/long and both can be used WITHOUT cellular service.

I found this one online - it just has so many features that I can't tell if it's good enough for what I need. Any thoughts out there?

http://www.iboats.com/Uniden-Um380-...9002260--**********.027192117--view_id.729869

http://www.wholesalemarine.com/p/C-E-MRF75/Cobra+VHF+Marine+RadioTri+Watch+with+Scan.html

 

[dan t.]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

One is as good as the other,I personaly would get the Uniden

 

[NYBo]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

Being a belt-and-suspenders kind of guy, I vote for having both. A hand-held is a valuable addition to your ditch bag. My hand-held has DSC/GPS capability.

 

[Jobless Recovery]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

Well I'm going out to the Marine store this weekend to talk to the salesperson. There are so many makes and models that I need real help making a choice. But I WILL be going with the fixed model Just need to find a place out of the way to mount it.

 

[NYBo]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

Just make sure whatever you buy is DSC Class D compliant, not the less-capable, soon-to-be-obsolete SC101.

 

[Jackson 88]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

Go with the fixed.

 

[keninaz]

Re: VHF Radio stationery or handheld?

I used to take my 23' cuddy offshore to the Farallon Islands on nicer days to fish off SF.
I had a fixed radio of course but you never know.
I also carried an HT in a one gallon bag with spare batteries. It would float and I could change the batteries in the bag and operate it there too.
I keep it on my person just in case in went overboard so that hopefully I could contact another boat in the area.
I always thought it was a good idea anyway.