>> I'd love to hear which radio people are using that are stronger than 5W that is also handheld, *and* contains a VHF radio. It is next to impossible to pick up weather when out in the Apostle Islands. The Radio Shack route just doesn't seem to work. Any tips? -Patrick ************************************************************************** * A good marine radio can be an important safety aid. I use mine mostly for weather reports, but they can also be used to keep the Coast Guard or Pukaskwa Park people from launching an SAR mission if you should become overdue, for contact between groups of kayakers, and for calling for rescue in an emergency. If you read the SAR article in the Dec/Jan issue of Wavelength, you may have noticed that none of the 56 kayakers who were rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard possessed a VHF radio. In the Apostle Islands, I rarely have trouble picking up VHF weather broadcasts from Duluth. I use a relatively cheap and bulky VHF marine radio that I bought several years ago. It is an off brand, and I can't think of the name right now. Linda has an Icom M1 that I gave her last year (the same model Bill Newman owns). It is light, compact, waterproof, and about $240 at Boat/US Marine in Bloomington, MN. I might get one for myself this year, since it fits into one of the pockets on my PFD. Both radios have a maximum transmission power of 5 W; I think this specification might be regulated by the FCC. Reception quality is unrelated, but likely to improve somewhat with price. I have a telescoping spare antenna for my radio that improves reception. You have to be careful to pull it out to the right length when using it for transmission, however, or you can in theory damage the radio. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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