VHF Range?
- Thread starter SailorElliot
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- antenna vhf vhf antenna
Seems like 50% of the time (maybe more) when someone calls radio check on 16 the coast guard replys to say that's not allowed thus giving a back door positive response to the requester. I think if they didn't respond people might actually do it less.If only you could communicate this to the yahoos in my area! I would guess a full quarter of the Channel 16 calls are "radio check"! It's like we are using old tube sets, or everyone has just re-stepped their mast. Why do they expect a modern, solid state VHF to suddenly fail? I think they just like hearing themselves talk (perhaps they are all politicians?). Anyhow, back to work.<end rant>
No one has mentioned the antenna cable and connections. These can degrade service quite a lot if they are old or corroded. Moisture can enter the cable and degrade its performance which will reduce the power output of the antenna reducing clarity over the nominal range. Short story, replace the antenna cable and if you don't have experience soldering coax connectors, find some who does. See the article below.
The USCG has Rescue 21 which is a DSC based monitoring system. They can receive a signal from 21 miles out transmitted at 1 watt from sea level. Make sure your radio has a gps connection and an MMSI number.
The USCG has Rescue 21 which is a DSC based monitoring system. They can receive a signal from 21 miles out transmitted at 1 watt from sea level. Make sure your radio has a gps connection and an MMSI number.
Easy VHF Terminations - Marine How To
If You Don't Know How to Solder..... If you really don't know how to solder a VHF PL259 connector there are other options as you'll see below. This one is laughable, except that when this owner needed his VHF it was no joke or laughing matter that it failed to transmit. The previous owner or...
marinehowto.com
But if I was in trouble, I would hope a FAST power boat would be responding, not one of my friends in his good old boat!
But alas, I use mine as you do. Talking to barge operators to make sure they see me and the like.
Greg
In my area too.
I sometimes wait for someone to ask for a radio check, then respond. CG yells at the first guy.
or sometimes I will hail another vessel just to make sure my radio is working.
we used to have a Seatow channel for automated radio checks, but it hasn’t worked in a year or more. At least I hope it is not my radio.
Greg
The Seatow automated stations around Boston seem to be down too. I wonder why they stopped? I can only imagine how much money Seatow was bringing in last year with all the new boaters who never thought they'd need a membership.... or charts.... or functional depth transducers....
we used to have a Seatow channel for automated radio checks, but it hasn’t worked in a year or more. At least I hope it is not my radio.
SeaTow discontinued the service last year -
Sea Tow to discontinue Automated Radio Check Service
The service ended at the beginning of the Oct., 2020. https://www.seatow.com/boating-safety/automated-radio-checks
forums.sailboatowners.com
Make sure your RF cabling is in good condition even with bad connections the radio will typically receive but basically be useless if you go to transmit. Before you buy an EPRIB consider a DSC radio with internal GPS. This will alert the coast guard and everyone near you with an accurate GPS location automatically without you having to read it out to anybody. This eliminates the errors that a panicky human under stress might introduce. The coast guard has big antennas up way high so have a lot of range. The next step up is a DSC radio with GPS and AIS receive. This will beep whenever an AIS equipped ship is about to flatten you. Nice if you are stuck in fog. Also the radio will give you the name of the ship that is about to flatten you so you can talk to them by name. The final step is VHF with DSC and AIS transmit. Standard Horizon was going to do it, years ago but so far as I know hasn't yet put that product on the market. Maybe now it is available, was the Quantum 6000 or something and spend about $800 but actually decent price compared to the alternatives
So true. As a ham radio operator we learn quickly to ignore jammers, or what would be equivalent radio checkers on Ch16. Especially on 2 meter VHF repeaters. They go away after not hearing any response to their replies. However, there have been time that teams of RF trackers are out and about so we are told to do everything to get them to transmit.If only you could communicate this to the yahoos in my area! I would guess a full quarter of the Channel 16 calls are "radio check"! It's like we are using old tube sets, or everyone has just re-stepped their mast. Why do they expect a modern, solid state VHF to suddenly fail? I think they just like hearing themselves talk (perhaps they are all politicians?). Anyhow, back to work.
If you're interested in upgrading to something newer Defender and others are having big sales right now. A quality unit is like $130 if you don't need anything fancy like remote mic capability.
Overpriced.
Standard Horizon and ICOM are two of the top VHF brands in terms of quality and price. Garmin, Raymarine, and B&G/Simrad are also good the selling point is integration with their other instruments. However, with NMEA 2000 networking, they work together pretty well.
This is a much better deal and it is on sail until Sunday.
Standard Horizon VHF Radios with AIS/GPS/NMEA2000 - GX2400B
The Standard Horizon GX2400 VHF Radio with AIS and GPS is NMEA2000 and NMEA 0183 compatible and has an integrated voice scrambler. It has second station capability using the wired RAM4 or wireless RAM4W (when used with the optional SCU-30 WiFi Module). Th
It's true, the other one is way too expensive. Although this one is still a lot ($400)! Thanks for the advice!!
Overpriced.
Standard Horizon and ICOM are two of the top VHF brands in terms of quality and price. Garmin, Raymarine, and B&G/Simrad are also good the selling point is integration with their other instruments. However, with NMEA 2000 networking, they work together pretty well.
This is a much better deal and it is on sail until Sunday.
Standard Horizon VHF Radios with AIS/GPS/NMEA2000 - GX2400B
The Standard Horizon GX2400 VHF Radio with AIS and GPS is NMEA2000 and NMEA 0183 compatible and has an integrated voice scrambler. It has second station capability using the wired RAM4 or wireless RAM4W (when used with the optional SCU-30 WiFi Module). Thwww.defender.com
Here is a selection of radios and prices. If you are on the cheap because you just bought you boat, a couple of possibilities is to buy a hand held or seek out used radios. Just note that cheap and safety equipment are not necessarily compatible concepts.
VHF Radios
www.milltechmarine.com
It is a good idea to program your VHF to scan several channels, including the NOAA weather channel. I scan channels 16, 9, and 13 along with NOAA. When transiting busy shipping lanes, channel 13 comes in handy to listen to bridge to bridge communications of ships and barges. I often hear a commercial vessel say he is not sure what that sailboat will do (meaning me), so I call him and explain my intentions. On days when the weather is iffy, the alarm for weather alert will sound off repeatedly, and makes me jump every time. We once had a tornado alert for the area just ahead of us, and a water spout reported just behind us, so we ducked into the ICW ASAP.
I would not add more weight to the masthead (bigger antenna) without a demonstrated need.
The 18nm is Flicka to Flicka probably good enough cause even if you are a collision course you have 90 min or so to sort it out. Flicka to ship your range will be better, Flicka to coast guard better yet.
Not sure if anyone else covered this I did not read all the way to the end.
A big advantage of the VHF is it broadcasts to everyone within range. I taught the boating safety classes for the Coast Guard Auxiliary and one of the things we make sure this is something everyone understands.
It was illustrated big time one weekend while we were on patrol. A guy out fishing off shore started having chest pains and collapsed. The captain called in and was an hour out. The station launched a boat and could get an EMT to him a half hour out but he would still be an hour out from getting to an ambulance to get to the ER. Launching a helo wasn't any better the closest is in Mobile. Sounds like a dire situation evolving and nobody wanted to be around to carry the body off the boat was the feeling circulating. Then The captain called back don't launch anything, we are still coming in and have an ambulance waiting. A couple of boats over there was a Cardiologist out fishing heard the call came to the aid of the guy having heart issues and had him not better but still alive. Had the boat relied on their cell phone or EPIRB the circumstances would easily been very different.
EPIRB is great but rescuers will try to make sure it is an honest to goodness emergency and ask for others in the area to identify or assist before launching. Cell phones only work if you know the number of the person closest to you to help. The VHF is you best avenue for help should the need arise.
A big advantage of the VHF is it broadcasts to everyone within range. I taught the boating safety classes for the Coast Guard Auxiliary and one of the things we make sure this is something everyone understands.
It was illustrated big time one weekend while we were on patrol. A guy out fishing off shore started having chest pains and collapsed. The captain called in and was an hour out. The station launched a boat and could get an EMT to him a half hour out but he would still be an hour out from getting to an ambulance to get to the ER. Launching a helo wasn't any better the closest is in Mobile. Sounds like a dire situation evolving and nobody wanted to be around to carry the body off the boat was the feeling circulating. Then The captain called back don't launch anything, we are still coming in and have an ambulance waiting. A couple of boats over there was a Cardiologist out fishing heard the call came to the aid of the guy having heart issues and had him not better but still alive. Had the boat relied on their cell phone or EPIRB the circumstances would easily been very different.
EPIRB is great but rescuers will try to make sure it is an honest to goodness emergency and ask for others in the area to identify or assist before launching. Cell phones only work if you know the number of the person closest to you to help. The VHF is you best avenue for help should the need arise.