Re: [Paddlewise] VHF Radio

Steve Holtzman wrote:

> Radio checks with a local yacht club that offers them have impressed me, my
> traveling companions, and the yacht club giving the check. From a distance
> of 2 to 3 miles and using the 1 watt setting, I have consistently put out a
> stronger and clearer signal than many large power boats. I have never had to
> switch to 5 watts to make contact with anyone. I have had many questions
> concerning the height of my antenna. Most people are very surprised to hear
> that I am using the standard rubber duck that came with the radio with a
> height of about 2 feet above the water.

Your experience is similar to mine.  I believe one possible reason for a
cleaner signal from us is that we have no other electrical devices or metal to
louse up the signal.  Out here, VHF signals from fishing vessels are typically
noisy as hell from electrical interference on the boat.  A battery-powered
radio provides a very clean signal.

However, the distances you quote are from you to/from a whip on a larger
vessel, yes?  (Not from yak to yak.)  I suspect you might not always get good
transmissions from yak to yak at 3 miles if each radio is just 2 feet off the
water.  For comparison, I have made beach-to-beach contacts using 3W and 5W
handheld VHF's at 5.5 miles and 8 miles, but each of us was several feet above
the water.  When you are in your yak, sitting on the water, and so is the
person receiving your signal, I wonder what the practical range is.

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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