Re: [Paddlewise] VHF radios/Cell phones

Folks, "line of sight" with reference to VHF-Fm marine radios is not line of
sight if mountains, ant hills or anything is in the way.  Line of sight is
line of sight period.

These radios are limited to almost line of sight, not line of sight.  Using
25W radios adn 4' antennas on two boats I get a range of about 7-8 miles in
our coastal marshes dotted with islands and trees, etc.  Move these onto open
water adn the range jumps to about 12-15 niles.  This is with 25 W now, not
hand held 5W.

To "monitor" anything iwth a handheld is admitting you do not want to use it
in an emergency.  You will not have enough battery power.  Transmitting uses a
lot more than listening.  If you want to use it in case, then turn it off and
conserve battery power for that time when you need it.  If want your cake and
eat it too, carry extra batteries.

Cell phones.  Texas and Louisiana are infested with offshore oil and gas rigs.
There is a whole industry of offshore cells.  Many rigs have the cell antennas
on the rigs.  This network is rather expensive to roam on at about $3.00 per
minute.  But!  with a cell phone you can call anywhere in the world.  The
small boat world in our area carry VHF and cells.  While canoeing, I carry
both also.  The cell can make the call and the VHF can pick up the NOAA
weather radio almost 80 miles away.

When not in use, I carry my VHF in my truck adn monitor ch 16.  I live right
along the coast and have listened to about 5 or 6 live Coast Guard rescues on
it.  Some have been tragis, some really a comedy of errors.

The point is that it works.  The Coast Guard is serious about this stuff.
They don't play around.  A good point made is that IF you can contact a boat
close to you, they will server as a radio relay under direction of the Coast
Guard.  And as mentioned a sailboat has a 40' antenna.  Your will also be in
safe hands much quicker if you can locate another boat to help you.

I listened to a late night winter rescue over a period of 5-6 hours on my
scanner while surfing teh net one night.  The CG had teh vessel in trouble
radio them every fifteen minutes to get a radio fix on their position.  Most
CG vessels carry Rdio Direction Finders connected to their VHF to get a fix on
you, but you must be transmitting to do that.  This is a good case for GPS.
If you can tell them your exact position, you stand a much better chance of
receiving help, especially if your VHF becomes inoperable or the batteries run
down.  Most  boats today have some type of GPS unit onboard adn can use it to
home in on you.

All in all, it is going to help you a lot if you have done your homework ahead
of time.  If you know the features of your VHF and what it will and will not
do, you are that much better off.

As we were taught in scouts.  Be Prepared.

John





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