[Paddlewise] Standard v Raytheon VHFs

	Thanks Jack,  for your experience with the Standard.  You might be
interested to hear that I do  have a Standard Horizon 12v, 25watt which I
use on 'expeditions'.  Hey, these are the sorts of crazy things you can do
when you paddle a Klepper!  
	Radio is a sort of background hobby of mine, which I have combined with
kayaking. Some people fish, some people surf in their kayaks, some people
go bird or whale watching; hey, I play with my radios. 
	Like many kayakers down here in Ozland I run to an electric pump, which is
run off a 12v sealed lead acid battery.  This also gives me adequate power
for the radio.  I bought the Horizon, [which has proved to be JIS-7
waterproof, as advertised, including the mike!, ]  when I was in the U.S. a
few years back.
	This was roughly HALF the price of the only 'waterproof' HH on the market
here at the time, [ an ICOM] .  I run to a sectioned antenna using RG58
stripped back to the marine frequencies and this gives me an antenna
horizon lifted roughly 12feet above sea level, and markedly better than the
rubber ducky antennas on handhelds.  The weight factor of the battery is
negligible in the Klepper;  roughly the equivalent of a large bottle of
medicinal brandy or a nice Australian red. 
	Another radio I use is a Uniden 979XL handheld, with the Australian
Seaphone capability alongside normal VHF modes,  which provides access to
the landline network [ and operates in much the same manner as a digital
cellphone] with 999 backup, which I think is 911 in your country.  But you
wouldn't believe it; Uniden designed a nice little bit of kit like that,
for fishos, yachties, [ probably weren't considering kayakers] and did not
'marinise' it!  I think they envisaged it being used within the cloistered
confines of a flying bridge on a 45ft Bertram or something.   And why you
would bother with a HH on a 'gin palace' I cannot imagine....
	Most of the time I use the one watt transmit option on the Standard
Horizon but it is nice to have the 25w capability as a standby. And it has
this other groovy capability of being able to broadcast your position
automatically if it is hooked up to a GPS and it has this gee-whizz digital
selective calling capability... 
	Now all I have to do is figure out how to hook up some solar cells to the
battery..... and then I might look at a portable HF so I can talk to the
world from my kayak....  the project list goes on and on....!
	But then again, sometimes I leave the gadgets at home... I look on radio
is a hobby, not a safety item to be relied upon.
	cheers,  peterR


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