nicecast Posted July 4, 2017 Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 Curious what the Forum braintrust thinks. I'm rarely more than 2-3 miles in the Gulf off of Marco (never more than 5) in my 22 Pathfinder. When inshore I'm 99% of the time between Goodland and Choko, mostly closer to Goodland. Bottom line, it is very, very rare I don't have cell signal. I know a fixed mount is "better." But, given my boating routine... I feel I'm safe with a quality handheld. Agree or disagree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason p Posted July 4, 2017 Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 I think you'd be fine with a handheld just realize your giving up quite a bit of power (25W for a fixed vs. 8-ish for a good handheld) Lots of ideas and antenna options for handheld set-ups here, pretty thorough discussion as well. http://mbgforum.com/topic/4994-advice-on-vhf-radio-and-antenna/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnd Posted July 4, 2017 Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 Handheld. 6 watt. Put in your ditch bag, keep it charged. One less thing to take up room on helm, one less thing wired into boat. Plus you can easily take when with friends as a back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldestCityLocal Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 Handheld all the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bamaskeet Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 Just remember that a handheld radio puts out 6 watts while a fixed mount produces 25 watts. And typically a fix mount antenna will be higher for better range. My experience is a handheld will get you about 2-3 miles range, while a fix mount will get you 10-12 mile range. The Coast Guard, uses a high antenna and more power, so often, you can get communications at a little longer range than the above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnd Posted July 6, 2017 Report Share Posted July 6, 2017 In the for what it's worth..in a canoe with a handheld (in other words no tall antenna) we had urgent situation..USCG picked up my handheld at roughly 20 mikes. Able to communicate and triangulate our position. They have some very powerful equipment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicecast Posted July 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2017 Thanks for the replies. After doing some research and hearing some the opinions here I decided to put a fixed mount VHF in the console (out of the way) and get a Shakespeare Stowaway emergency/temporary antenna: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/shakespeare--stowaway-emergency-vhf-antenna--519058?cm_mmc=PS-_-Google-_-GSC%20-%20Vendors-_-519058&product_id=519058&adpos=1o1&creative=108421556524&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=Cj0KCQjwv_fKBRCGARIsAL6R6egMO-K7BvF9ckXFjH20ILNzxTtCwgIPyziI0YAtw7LutnWSlo9pJvMaAiJYEALw_wcB I'll also continue to carry a handheld. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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