CONTINUOUSWAVE

I may NOT install a fixed-mount 25-Watt VHF Marine Band DSC radio on my 17-foot side console open boat, and instead just use a VHF Handheld radio. Almost all boating will be on inland waters around Cocoa Beach, Florida. Going out into the Atlantic Ocean will be rare.

I am trying to think through the choice of the type VHF radio to install before I start cutting holes in the console and elsewhere on the boat, and also on the costs involved.

Give me any comments you have [on the choice of just using a handheld VHF radio for this boat and this use].

BACKSTORY. I recently acquired a nice 2010 Boston Whaler 170 Super Sport. The console is original with no added devices or even screw holes. [The only devices on the helm console are] just a Mercury engine tachometer and a switch to control the navigation lamps..

On this new 17-footer, I had been thinking of flush mounting a Standard Horizon VHF Marine Band radio, but I also have been considering just using a nice handheld. On my previous three boats (which were larger) and on which I went offshore regularly, I always had a fixed mount VHF Marine Band radio.

I also plan to install chart plotter-sounder with a 5 to 7-inch display screen, and use a bracket mount on flat portion of the helm console to starboard.

[Moderator's note: moved to the VHF Marine Radio forum for discussion.]

In terms of the cost difference between a 25-Watt fixed-mount VHF Marine Band DSC radio and a handheld, the basic tier fixed-mount DSC radios are not very expensive. For example, a Standard-Horizon basic model GX1410 radio sells for $160. Of course, with the fixed mount radio you need an antenna base mount and an antenna. A basic three-foot or four-foot antenna will be $100. A really nice ratchet base mount in stainless steel will be $50 to $60. So the total fixed mount installation with antenna will be about $320

A VHF Marine Band hand-held radio (without DSC) like the Standard-Horizon HX210 sells for about $105, much less than the fixed-mount. If you want a DSC handheld which will also have a GNSS receiver, the Standard-Horizon HX891 sells for around $240, or $80 less than the fixed mount radio.

In terms of radio range of communication and reliability, the fixed mount is much better than the handheld. The fixed-mount transmitter is more powerful (25-Watts compared to perhaps 5 or 6-Watts, or a 6 to 7 dB gain), the fixed mount antenna is much more efficient and has gain compared the handheld (at least 3 dB and likely more like 5 or 6 dB), and the battery life is limited by the boat's main 12-Volt battery, which could be hours and hours longer then the handheld battery.

In terms of transmitter range, the fixed mount will be at least 10 dB stronger. In terms of receiver range, the fixed mount will be at least 3 to 6 dB better.

A hybrid configuration might be to get a handheld what can be adapted to run of the boat's 12-Volt battery, or at least to have a charger that can maintain the handheld's battery (which is probably lower voltage than 12-Volts).

Another advantage of the fixed mount is ability to use an external loudspeaker that can produce clearer and louder audio than the fixed-mount internal speaker. Again, you could possible adapt a handheld to operate with an external speaker, but producing loud audio will also take more power.

And you could even connect the handheld to a fixed mount antenna. But at that point you have so many wired connections to the handheld radio (battery, speaker, antenna) that you will have a very awkward handheld radio.

Perhaps you should just get a non-DSC $105 handheld, and see how it works out for you.

Flush-mount radios do look nice when they are installed, but when the inevitable time comes to replace or upgrade the unit, that hole in the console can be problematic. The fixed-mount VHF radio on my 1990 Montauk 17 is mounted on a bracket just inside the center console, where it is protected from the elements but still readily accessible; I've already changed it out once for a different sized unit without problems.

Since you are going to be operating inland or near-offshore in a populous area, you will probably always be in range of a cell tower, the need for a VHF radio is greatly reduced, and the higher power of a fixed-mount isn't much of an advantage - after all, the Coast Guard station at Port Canaveral is less than seven miles from Cocoa Beach. However, let's say you are a mile offshore, your boat starts to sink or founder, and your cellphone is wet or the battery is discharged. Under those circumstances, a handheld VHF radio with GPS and digital selective calling (DSC) capability would serve you best - press one button, even if you're treading water, and help is on the way. The Standard Horizon HX891 is a popular and reasonably inexpensive radio that should meet your needs.

Regarding the multifunction display, get the biggest one that will fit in the space on the console. I've got a 9-inch Garmin, and I'm glad I didn't go any smaller. No one ever complains that their screen is too big!

M

The hand-held radio wins on convenience for sure, but I still like the idea of a fixed station. This is my fourth boat over a 37-year period, and I have always had a fixed VHF. I am also a licensed amateur radio operator, and I am picky about radio gear. I prefer Icom or Standard Horizon (Yaesu).

My boat has the tow bar installed over the engine and I have never towed a skier behind any of my boats. So [the tow bar] seems like a possible good location for a 3-foot VHF antenna.

Q1: what other antenna locations are suggested?

seacatflx wrote:My boat has the tow bar installed over the engine and I have never towed a skier behind any of my boats. So it seems like a possible good location for a three-foot VHF antenna.

There are two possible drawbacks for the proposed location, but both are subject to variability:

• putting the radio antenna very close to the spark-ignition engine could result in radio-frequency interference from the engine reducing radio reception and decreasing sensitivity to weaker signals; however most modern engines take steps to reduce RFI generation so they won't interfere with their own computer controllers;
• there could be a chance, although not likely, that when transmitting the RF energy from the radio could interfere with the computer controller on the engine.

My preferred radio antenna for small boats is the GAM SS-2 three-foot metal whip antenna mounted on a four-foot extension mast. See

VHF Marine Antennas for Small Boats
https://continuouswave.com/whaler/refer ... tenna.html

Raising the antenna will significantly improve the range of communication, and it also gets the radiating element away from people.

Also see

GAM SS-2 Testing
https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewto ... =13&t=9850

ASIDE
I was first licensed as a radio amateur in 1964, and have held callsign K8SS for many decades.

Thanks. Kind of leaning towards fixed 25 watt VHF with antenna on starboard rail rail just ahead of the side console or the tow bar. Probably a basic Standard Horizon GX1410G or Icom 330. No need for AIS in the inshore areas the boat will primaryily operate, Bana River and Indian River Lagoon in Brevard County Florida

I am going to go with the GAM SS-2