VHF Radio?

[Bill Edmundson]

Does anyone have/use a VHF radio anymore? I have one in each boat. I had a handheld on for over 2 hours yesterday. It gets weather. But, a 2 hour scan of 16, 23, & 72, not a chirp.

Bill

[parsj1957]

Still use a VHF hand held -- lots of commercial traffic in the San Francisco Bay where I do most of my sailing, and you hear Coast Guard alerts as well. Also there are spots on the bay where I don't get cell service, but the VHF would still get me assistance if needed.

Not my most critical piece of safety equipment, but I make sure I have it, charged and operational whenever I'm on the water.

[hoodman]

I've wanted to get one mainly for weather radio. Especially for the lakes near here where there's no cell service. Sometimes in the summer you never know when those thunderstorms might pop up. Any recommendations for a decent handheld?

[TomB]

I wouldn't go on the Great Lakes without one if for no other reason than the USCG monitoring for my distress call. Weather and listening to the freighters when they are close is handy too. While not required to have VHF, we are required to monitor for distress calls if we have a radio. Tom

[parsj1957]

I've wanted to get one mainly for weather radio. Especially for the lakes near here where there's no cell service. Sometimes in the summer you never know when those thunderstorms might pop up. Any recommendations for a decent handheld?

I like my Model # 14078562 VHF160 Floating 6W Handheld VHF Radio - from West Marine but a quick check showed they don't make it any more (mine is two years old -- paid ~$150 including extended warranty). Items I looked for and like on this one - 6w boost when greater distance needed, long battery life (I've left it running for two days without it draining), floatable/waterproof, dual and tri watch ability. And it's loud enough for my bad ears.... for what its worth...

[riplash]

I use a handheld Cobra marine radio in my damn plastic boat (175 bayliner), and I carry it with me in my wooden Paddle board and kayak. I mainly boat on the Inter Coastal waterway so normally there is a lot of chat on those channels. I am planning on putting in a fixed mount VHF in the Calypso.

[kens]

Does anyone have/use a VHF radio anymore? I have one in each boat. I had a handheld on for over 2 hours yesterday. It gets weather. But, a 2 hour scan of 16, 23, & 72, not a chirp.

Bill

Where were you at when you were monitoring?
At your backyard?
On the water?
Offshore?
Nobody is supposed to just 'talk' on 16.
Who is expected to be on 23 & 72?

around here, Savannah, 14 is channel traffic in the river, but notice that ships time their moves around high tide, so nobody is talking other than high tide. the pleasure boaters are inside the beer cooler, not on vhf.

and then,,,how do you know anybody on the other end is really awake? you cannot know from vhf by itself.
I can sit on my boat trailer and hail a comm check IF a certain marine service company is monitoring.
If I cannot hail a comm check, I call them by phone and request a vhf monitor.
then they wake up and answer a vhf comm check (in my backyard)

All you read about VHF is that it is a 'line of sight' antenna transmission. I will dispute that, it is a 'other party paying attention' transmission.
Why can you always receive a weather broadcast, you know that weather antenna is NOT line of sight ?
If I am on J-reef and I call comm check, I can talk to that certain service company (paying attention) that has their antenna 12 miles inland, and I am 20 miles offshore, but the curvature of the earth says that line-of-sight is only 12 miles. Go figure.

VHF is possibly a mix of voodoo and black magic.
How do you know that the 'other party' does have their radio on,,,, on the same channel as you?