What Marine Band Radio should I buy??

[Capt'nJosh]

I am going to purchase a marine band radio for the boat this summer but know absolutely nothing about them. I want a good unit that I am not going to want to replace in 2 years, but I also want to keep price in mind. Anyone have any recommendations?

Capt'n

[Guest]

I bought a cheap used one. It's old, and powerful, but works for my needs. Make sure it has "scan" mode. Mine doesn't and I wish it did. Also make sure it's waterproof. I mounted mine under the console because mine is not waterproof. It stays dry under there.

Look at your boat carefully to see where you are going to mount it before you buy. You can usually look at the dimensions to make sure it fits. They also make dash (flush) mounted ones if you have enough room and want to cut your dash out.

Don't skimp on the antenna. If you want to talk to someone that is over a 1-2 miles away, you'll need an 8 footer. They're not that expensive.

I've seen nice radio/antenna packages for around $150-200 before. I'll see if I can find the source of the deals for ya.
-Found it brokenlegdave dot com

[This message has been edited by CD (edited 01-28-2003).]

[Try Too Fish]

Some of the newer models have the weather channels on them.I found that to be usefull when your on a lake and a storms brewing.as far as brands go i think they are all made to marine specs. and Uniden has always been on the top end.
good luck

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Try Too Fish
Forced Too Work!!

[Guest]

what do you think of the hand held units?

[Guest]

I posted this in another forum. I have had success with the Raytheon units.

The range on the GMRS is not like they say they are. I have found it to be much less. They also eat batteries pretty bad.
A handheld marine band is not intended for land use. Their range and battery use can very as well.
Go with a dash mount for both the boat and cabin. I have this combo and it works great. The range will be based on two factors of the anntena- db gain and length. The higher the db rating and the longer the anntena, the higher the talking range. I went with an 8 foot fiberglass 11db for land, and use a 3 foot 6db stainless for the boat. My range is about 4 honest clear miles. I then went to a 6 foot glass 9 db on the boat and i can blast out all the way across the lake. Its also important to mount the land anntena in a clearview area, meaning no obstructions.The higher the better, the tip should be able to see the lake.
You also want to cut the coax on the boat anntena. Shortest length to the radio as possible. The boat radio should also be 100% WATERPROOF, not WEATHERproof.
You can also buy a 12v/120v power supply to run the land radio with no batteries.

Good Luck

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[delmuts]

capt. or any of you guys. i have a marine radio i took out of my boat. if i could get it to you , could have it. it has been sitting on a shelf four four years. no nothing else about it. would have to check on the brand if you are interested. i live in N.E. iowa del

[Guest]

Del, iam interested, whats your e-mail?
thanks

[kwkfsh]

Get a fully waterproof one. Icom makes great quality radios. As far as Uniden goes you will never see one on a commercial boat. People whos lives and livelyhood depends on their gear usually have the best gear. Go to any harbor on the ocean and you will see more Icom than anything. As mentioned before VHF signal is known as height of eye, So whatever can be seen from the top of the ant. you can theoretically send to or receive from. So taller is most definatelly better.

[Capt'nJosh]

Del, Shoot me an email, lets work something out.

Capt'n

[email protected]

[Borch]

Good ones are Icon, standard and raytheon. All are waterproof(submersable). Very good units.

[delmuts]

ok guys here is what i have. it is a SMR( southern marine research) radio. serial # 9051806. it has a switch for dual, norm, wx1,wx2,wx3,wx4. seperate buttons for lo/hi, USA/int'l ,ch 16 ,and ch.13/67. i know nothing else about it. maybe some of the guys here can tell you a little more. del. [email protected]