View Full Version : marine radios
Musky_45
02-11-2002, 06:10 PM
Was looking at getting a marine radio this year. Just wondering which ones are good and which ones to stay away from. thanks in advance
out2llunge
02-12-2002, 05:54 AM
I had a uniden, never had any problems with it. However, since all of my buddies were using C.B.'s, it made having a VHF rather pointless. Okay maybe there was a safety issue that the VHF is better suited for, but it would likely be my friends that would be on the water to help anyway.
Cheers,
J.P.
fuzzy
02-12-2002, 08:27 AM
Powerboat Reports compared VHF radios in their August 2001 issue and recommended ICOM over Uniden, Standard Horizon, and Raymarine.
http://www.powerboat-reports.com/pub/14_8/features/5126-1.html
magoo
02-12-2002, 09:12 AM
On the 26' I take out on the lake I use a presidential, I think that's the brand, uniden makes it. I have never had a problem with it and it is inexpensive.
Musky_45
02-14-2002, 04:24 PM
Do you guys prefer the 3ft or the 8ft antena and how much farther can you reach with the 8
magoo
02-15-2002, 12:15 PM
depending on how far out you are going to go. If you are going to stay in the general area of a coast guard station you can use a shorter antennae. I prefer the 8ft and up. also make sure that it can handle higher wattage. once you get more than a mile out i like to switch the wattage to I think it's 20watts. If the antenae is not rated for this you can burn something out.
Magoo: All of the antennas made for the marine bands are capable of having a 100watts fed to them with out having any bad effects. Most marine radios also put out 25watts on high power. There is a power limit curcuit that will cut back the power if a mismatch occurs in the antenna, high SWR, so you don't damage the final transisters in the transmitter. As for lenght of antenna, I recommend the 5/8 wave 46" antenna by Maxrad. You can tune it to the marine frequencys and it unscrews for storage, flat mount. It's very flexable when you hit it with the fishing rod, it just bounces out of the way. Don't want to loose that "Musky" you worked so hard to get. And the 5/8 gets just as far out as the 8'er. Recives better too! Good luck CASTING BUCKTAILS.....Kaz