VHF hand held or fixed unit?

[wolfie]

I am looking for a VHF unit for my quintrex hornet 4.5 I will be occasionally fishing the
bay, chasing spotties etc not to far out though as the boat is not very big. I am leaning
toward hand held unit for my situation, but maybe the extra power and range might come
in handy on a fixed unit. I would appreciate any feedback.

[bcb20]

Wolfie,

I'm in exactly the same position although I'm looking to fish offshore on the goldie, and would also appreciate feedback from more knowledgeble members.....

[Mad_Barry]

Most handhelds are around 5 w transmitting power, where mounted units are about 25 watts.

Handhelds have reduced transmitting power due to having less power/battery to draw on.

I think you can get handhelds up in the higher power output levels, but cost would be.. ??????????

[Jeremy]

I don't think the handheld units are any cheaper than the fixed units. Range is line of sight, so the higher your aerial, the longer your range. I would definitely suggest the fixed unit, and try to mount it somewhere that will keep it as dry as possible. It is not difficult to mount and wire it up yourself. As for the aerial, get the 8' version and mount it as high as you can in the boat. It is worth thinking about where the tip of your aerial will be when folded down tho, as people have had eye problems from walking into aerials when folded down.

I do suggest that you do the MROVCP course (radio operators) as you will learn alot about the operation of your radio and protocol that should be followed, but don't be put off using your radio if you haven't done the course. Better to log on and off if you can.

Jeremy

[familyman]

Got a Uniden vhf off ebay from the states for less than half the cost of a base model here .
And yes it has aus freqs as well as us and canadian freqs.Also has dsc and gps interface ,hi and lo power settings etc.
Good deal I thought
cheers jon

[Jonli]

The height of antenna play a very important role as far as range is concerned as well as well matched antenna length to the frequencies you are working on , high power with unmatched antenna would be a waste of power and if this is combined with
a low mounted antenna , might as well buy a handheld with LiO battery .

Jonli .

[cuda]

fixed or hand held

there is 2 ways to look at it, are you looking at buying 1 for communication between people you know or more for safety and emergency situations.
it is true fixed radios have more power and better range, but how well do they work if you have battery failure or an electrical fire / fault, not to well i would guess

i have a fixed 27 meg radio which seems to keep me in contact with most people and to log on with vmr and i also carry a hand held vhf radio incase of battery or electrical problems, same with my gps i run it off the main power but it always has batteries in it as a back up, again if battery / electrical problems i can still use the gps to give my location

hope this helps a little

Gary

[Trevor+]

Depends on your point of view. We have both.

I do not want to be in the terrible position of being in the water (or seeing others from my boat in the water) and wishing I would have spent that extra few hundred dollars to get better than the minimum safety gear to cope with many adverse situations.

The handheld VHF (in a waterproof Aquapac) is in the grab bag with the cylume sticks, strobe light etc.

The fixed unit has greater power and should be your first option. The handheld is for when you have no power or are floating.

The potential for disaster seems to be growing - more boats on the water, more without lights, more whales and surfacing very very close, etc etc . . . I know of one situation this year where a whale got tangled in the anchor rope and the guy was able to quickly cut the rope. He and his kids would have gone over had he not cut the rope.

$300 for a waterproof handheld is not a lot to pay for more options in the event of an adverse situation. I have given greater consideration to safety issues and 'what would happen if' rather than adheance to the basic laws. Also kept in perspective, I spend more than $300 on some reels.

Hope this helps. Kind regards Trevor.

[-Sharp]

i have a Uniden Fixed unit, but i only get high channels, wats up with that?