VHF for 17ft. tiller

[Tim]

I'm trying to decide on a radio and not sure what to get.I have a cabelas with pretty good selection.what features are a must have, like the channel selector on the handset? A couple that look good to me are the Standard eclipse and the Shakespeare SE-2510. The shakespeare says it surpasses the coast guard specs for water tightness , while the standard says its completely waterproof.Some of the others to choose from are raytheon,uniden and icom.also with radio I would like to go with a low profile antenna, but not sure where to mount it that wouldn't be in the way.Looks like shakespeare makes a good antenna? trolling on great lakes is main reason for purchase been doing it without and one and not really smart thing to do.

[Tom]

All the radios that you list will get the job done. Put your money in the antenna. eight foot is the only way to go since the VHF radio that you will be using is a line of sight type of signal meaning that the higher the antenna the better it gets out. You get what you pay for on an antenna. The $40.00 ones are just a cheap fishing rod with a thin strand of #18 wire going to the top. The more expensive ones have coils of wire going up that get you out better and farther with more clarity using the 25 watts that all the radios put out. Live with the longer antenna even though it is harder to fish aroung. Tom

[Tim]

I see shakespeare makes a galaxy 4 footer what is the range difference between 4 and 8 ft. I guess 8 would not be too bad could lay it down if it really got in the way fighting fish.Galaxy antennas what I want as far as quality goes? thanks for the info

[Terry/JNR]

Raytheon, I beleive make the most compact unit in either the 45 or 52. The 45 is a good buy for the money and they are garrenteed water proof. I can't remember the exact distances for the antenna lengths, but I beleive the 4 ft is only good to 2 miles in calm water. Line of site, means whether or not your down in a swell or on top of a wave. The higher the antenna, the better.

[Dave in Mpls]

For my money, the Apelco (Raytheon) 8500 coupled with a 8' Galaxy is hard to beat. The 8500 can be had for $180 at Reeds and the antenna will run $90 or so. Also, don't put a $90 antenna on a $5 plastic mount.

Regards