VHF hand held or dash mount many Questions

[catchem79]

Hi guys, I bought a Hummin Bird hand held VHF radio at Cabelas. A week ago I was two miles out on Erie with a motor that wouldn't start. Well lucky for me I had two trolling motors on my boat and a full charge on the batteries and the wind was in my faver so I made it back ok BUT, I couldn't get a single answer to my calls for assistance. I tried two differant channels (68 & 78) changed the batteries in the radio. Several boats were far off but in sight. At one time I could hear someone else calling for his buddy and another time I could hear one side off a conversation. Another guy said that radios are good for 1 mile per watt. Is this true? What is a good brand of dash mount radio thats not to pricey? Do the dash mounts use alot of juice? If I am out all day and leave the radio on to listen to chatter will it run my battery down bad? What is the diferace between a 3 ft. and 8ft. anntena? (besides length) Was I doing something wrong with the humminbird? I hate to sound like a dummy but this year is the first year I have had a boat big enought to go out on the bigger water. Just tring to be safe. I know the next time I go out I'll call for a radio check as soon as I get out. Any info would be helpful on radio subject. Thanks Catchem 79

[Foxy Carp]

A general rule for anntenas is basicly the longer the better. If there are any large obstructions in the way, the message will not come in clear or even at all. The 8 ft. anntena will not help you get through anything large in the way, it will just give you more distance when nothing is in the way. What I am leading to up to say is that I would recomend getting a dash mount radio with a nice long anntena. Shakespere makes some good inexpensive components and I don't think they use up too much energy. But your hand held radio will work if you are not planing get too far away from others.
Hope this helps!

[Jason Adam]

Use channel 16 for emergency. Below is the link to the FCC VHF channel Guide.

http://wireless.fcc.gov/marine/vhfchanl.html

Your handheld probably has a 1/5watt selector, as opposed to a 1/25 watt on a fixed mount. I keep a handheld for emergency if my electronics die. Your not going to get the preformance out of a handheld that you do out of a fixed mount. The fixed mount do not take too much power. If nothing else, install one and keep it off until emergency.

Also consider keeping a cell phone as a backup

[TimT]

Jason, thanks for that link. I've been meaning to try and find that info.

I would not even consider purchasing a radio that didn't allow me to do a selective scan. "Selective" being the keyword. Plus, you want to make sure you get an antenna that is going to "reach out and touch someone". Next time, you may not be so lucky. The price difference between your handheld and a good radio/antenna combo can't be more than $200. I would consider that to be one of the least expensive items you're ever going to find in the marine/fishing market.

[WALLDADY]

The anntena is what its all about . VHF work on line of site . The higher the anntena the fartheryou can hear and talk .
Another thing to think about is , water resistant or proof . water proof is the way to go especially if you have an open boat . I speak from experience . Its a little more expensive , but way worth the extra price .
If your hand held unit has a removeable ant. , you can buy an adapt. that will fit to a external anntena and that in itself will increase distance . Low batteries will also greatly affect your radio performance . The dash mount doesnt draw very much power and can be hooked up to your electronics battery without interferance . At least mine did .

hope this helps

Good Luck and Safe Trips ....... Walldady

[TimT]

I just happened to be looking at some electronics and noticed this;
http://www.ritzcamera.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/boatersworld/home.d2w/report?Krypto=0xTbhRcOn6d2ypSTFtyq6qPjT%2FVrsqAumY jNqwQ7di8l9Xm56%2BvSXlEt9fHSdeP2L9d6LETYoc3tiHf1la SCCCYyYMrjjY%2BwgYIUyX4RqRwiiJgEkl25YYbST6xHHyKgn% 2FzhqqEjU%2BGLqxg8B35aiBQBzOFo1PXFB0NUXYCgjzvr7M2E athI1S8tXpHJ%2BfAuaRZaSHQ3fW4%3D

If that link doesn't work, go to www.boatersworld.com and search on "intrepid".

Anyhow, feature-packed at a low price. Certainly, I wouldn't buy this without looking at more radios, but I thought it was worthwhile to show how much you can get. There are other intrepid models lower than 200, but I didn't put a whole lot of time in researching these.