Marine Radio's

[uglyokuma]

Hey guys I'm still working on my boat and after a bunch of other projects I tried the marine radio and it was dead. Its fairly old and doesn't owe me anything, so I can't complain too much. What would be a good, fairly cheap replacement?? I only plan on using it on the fingers if that matters.

Thanks for all the great info guys!

[waterlogged]

Uglyokuma,

I'd recommend the Icom Brand radio. I recently saw the Icom 409 on sale at West Marine. What's more imp[ortant though than the radio is a GOOD QUALITY antenna. You can have the best radio in the world and if you have a poor quality antenna you can't talk to the boat next to you (just exaggerating a bit there) but the antenna is what counts most for both transmission and reception. I would also make sure it has hi and low power transmit.

Clarke

just my $.02

[Fishstix]

I second the ICOM . They also have real good, clear, loud receive quality.

[uglyokuma]

I looked around for that unit and had no luck, could you point me in the right direction. What kind of price tag came with that unit?? Thanks again for the help.

[muskybob]

Boater's World has this one: http://www.boatersworld.com/product/316311653msk.htm

[uglyokuma]

Any recommendations on antenna's, my old one has a very short range. Its a 3 ft Shakespeare steel whip type.

[muskybob]

I use a "Digital" I bought from someone on another site. It seems to work very well for me. http://www.mycellularsolutions.com/digitalantenna.html

http://www.boatersland.com/digvhf.html

[waterlogged]

We have a 8' shakespere and it's worth every cent.

[jimski2]

VHF radios work on a line of sight transmission system. The higher your antenna is, the farther you can transmit and receive. Your 8 foot antenna mounted 3 foot above the water has the capability to reach another similar mounted radio system up to 44 miles provided weather conditions are right. The Coast Guard which monitors Channel 16 has antennas mounted high on a ridge above Lake Erie that can reach from Detroit to the Saint Lawrence River plus their local station antennas.