BajaNomad

Marine radio for mulege

Hendo - 4-4-2012 at 07:00 PM

I'm bringing a boat down. Wanted to have some form of safety link with a marine radio. What are some suggestions? Handheld vs. Onboard? Also not sure if there is any lingo that would help. Thanks in advance.

woody with a view - 4-4-2012 at 07:07 PM

AYUDA repeated in rapid succession should get someone's attention. all kidding aside, i hope you never need to use one.

i have two handheld that are used for comm's while on the road and if we are soloing on a fishing trip we try to leave one on the beach with someone. granted, we're in a tin can so we aren't going out much farther than we can swim if we need to. i'm prolly good for a couple of miles in the summer.....

it sure would be nice if someone would post a cohesive thread listing the channels used in each place down the coast.

[Edited on 4-5-2012 by woody with a view]

Pompano - 4-4-2012 at 07:17 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by woody with a view
...
..

.....it sure would be nice if someone would post a cohesive thread listing the channels used in each place down the coast.

[Edited on 4-5-2012 by woody with a view]


Woody, we did just that a couple years ago. Do a search and you should run across it.

Mulege offshore fisherman's monitoring channel is 22.

Regular call channel is 16, same as most other places.

Ch. 73, 74....as Russ reminds me a little further north?..:rolleyes:

and so on..'

Search and ye shall find.



[Edited on 4-5-2012 by Pompano]

Russ - 4-4-2012 at 07:18 PM

Punta Chivato ~ 73
San Bruno - San Lucus ! 74
Mulege ~ 22
If you have the option (a battery) get the mounted unit and a decent antenna (8')
Bigger is better in safety situations.

ncampion - 4-4-2012 at 09:16 PM

Also handhelds are limited to 5 watts whereas most base radios can transmit with 25 watts.

woody with a view - 4-5-2012 at 05:32 AM

which is fine for me. i'm not talking over the horizon.

Bob and Susan - 4-5-2012 at 05:51 AM

the black tip antenna is better than the white
and always have a professional put the screw-on part on...
they come without it soldered

we have both
and here on the bay the mountains sometimes get in the way of the hand-helds signal

but the hand-held would be my choice then no battery needed on the smaller boat

if the battery dies...on the bigger units...no radio

chuckie - 4-5-2012 at 06:03 AM

Mulege "Net" is on CH 21 9:00 M-F..local news, weather fishing report etc...CH 22 is the on Water Channel...If you have an on the water problem, 22 will get more response than 16.....

Hook - 4-5-2012 at 06:38 AM

Will you have a GPS? Fixed mount or handheld? Nice to be able to give numbers on your location, especially if it is a boat under 18 feet or so. Small boats can be hard to spot in inclement conditions.

If you have the space and battery capacity to run a GPS, then definitely get a fixed mount marine radio. It takes a lot to run down a decent battery on a boat, if your charging system is working. Range is MORE than five times that of a fixed mount due to the antenna as well as the increased power.

I do carry a HH as a backup, but it's rather shocking how much reduced the range is. Much of it is the shortness of the antenna.

If going HH, make sure you get one that allows you to replace the lithium ion battery that it came with for AA alkaline batteries in a pinch. Good HH will come with a cartridge that allows for for using AA batts. Or buy a second lithium ion batt as a backup.

[Edited on 4-5-2012 by Hook]

Pescador - 4-5-2012 at 06:45 AM

The big difference comes from the transmitting antenna, so go for the best antenna you can afford. We had a guy from San Lucas Cove who had an inflatable boat but had the good sense to put on a good antenna and when he went out for billfish the safety lanyard attached to his key start failed and he could not get the motor started. Luckily he was heard on the radio and we had someone pick him up within an hour.

Channels reported are all good, San Lucas Cove goes on Channel 78. So with the list here you should have good contact all of the time.

Some time ago we were all on channel 72 and we were able to recieve the Saturday morning Sailors net from San Carlos by Guaymas.

ncampion - 4-5-2012 at 07:50 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hook

I do carry a HH as a backup, but it's rather shocking how much reduced the range is. Much of it is the shortness of the antenna.

If going HH, make sure you get one that allows you to replace the lithium ion battery that it came with for AA alkaline batteries in a pinch. Good HH will come with a cartridge that allows for for using AA batts. Or buy a second lithium ion batt as a backup.

[Edited on 4-5-2012 by Hook]


I agree with all of Hook's suggestions. You can buy an adapter for the HH antenna that allowes you to use a short length of coax cable to run to a standard fixed antenna. I do this on my MH for increased range. (I know it's not legal to use a marine radio in a MH, but I bet we all do it on the Baja road to keep in touch with other traveles in our group)

VHF

captkw - 4-5-2012 at 08:07 AM

HOLA, I highly recomend buying a stanard or a Icom radio and Kenwood !!! and install a fixed mount vhf and do not cut the rg-58 coax ant. wire shorter than 8 ft..very important for the inductence factor and then keep a HH also onboard,,,some day you will need both,,aka comm's and ease of staying in touch !!!! and a good ant. with raditor's (brass) cost a bit more but work a lot better !! and as someone said on this post,,, have the PL-259 connecter done buy someone who knows what the hell they are doing and waterproof all connection,s and run the right size power lead's...TX need's good juice !!!!! K&T:cool: PS, do not solder the connection's !!!

[Edited on 4-5-2012 by captkw]

Bob and Susan - 4-5-2012 at 12:48 PM

if you donot solder the connections
what do YOU do?

without a good connection your radio is worthless

Hook - 4-5-2012 at 05:36 PM

ABSOLUTELY solder the connections and DO NOT shorten the coax that comes with the antenna.

The antenna relies on all of that length of cable to achieve an even divisor or multiple of the wave length of the VHF marine frequency. This assumes you arent using an antenna with a bogus dummy load in the middle of the antenna. Just find a way to bundle up the excess and cable tie it out of the way.

The twist on/screw on 259 connectors are complete dung. And it really isnt rocket science to solder a soldered connection. Lots of illustrations on the net or even on the packet containing the PL-259.

[Edited on 4-6-2012 by Hook]

HOOK/b

captkw - 4-5-2012 at 07:37 PM

HOLA,,hhummm...I don't know what you do for a living,,but I know what I do !!.... Marine Electrical and feul injection specialist.......we have reg's,rule's and starndard's..like the ABYC and the CFR'S (fed) and soldering is only on very specil app's on Large vessel..I know your thinking your doing the best,,but such is not the case..I see a few boat's in each season with the owner's self installed Elec. gear with solder and have,, had to explain to WAY to many folk's as to the many reason's we do not solder on boat's !!! K&T :cool:

[Edited on 4-6-2012 by captkw]

[Edited on 4-6-2012 by captkw]

Bob and Susan - 4-5-2012 at 07:48 PM

i'll bite

why do we not solder on boats?

bob and susan

captkw - 4-5-2012 at 07:54 PM

HOLA,,ya got a land line # you can u2u me with...it takes awhile to explain it all..but I'm just trying to help other boater's..as I have most of my adult life aka...SAR, and good,solid marine advice....K&T :cool:

bump

captkw - 4-5-2012 at 09:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by captkw
HOLA,,hhummm...I don't know what you do for a living,,but I know what I do !!.... Marine Electrical and feul injection specialist.......we have reg's,rule's and starndard's..like the ABYC and the CFR'S (fed) and soldering is only on very specil app's on Large vessel..I know your thinking your doing the best,,but such is not the case..I see a few boat's in each season with the owner's self installed Elec. gear with solder and have,, had to explain to WAY to many folk's as to the many reason's we do not solder on boat's !!! K&T :cool:

[Edited on 4-6-2012 by captkw]

[Edited on 4-6-2012 by captkw]

Bob and Susan - 4-6-2012 at 05:07 AM

here in mulege on the bay...

no phones
no water
no electricty
no tv

sat internet...

bob and susan

captkw - 4-6-2012 at 07:21 AM

HOLA,yes ,,I know the area rather well and the two island's N.NE of you ..nice place..if you got a good solar pannel w/batt's and reg.you could run a vhf with no problem..and another problem I see all the time in baja is the install of elec.system's using house/car wire and connector's.....NoT Good..think about it"your in a marine enviroment" and system's should be up to snuff..aka.multi strand,tinned wire for ouside stuff that get's hit with wind and weatherproofed connection's....not copper reg. wire !!! if you want it to last and work well ....K&T :cool:

[Edited on 4-7-2012 by captkw]

Hendo - 4-6-2012 at 07:47 AM

Thanks for all the input. I think onboard is the most attractive option so far. Was wondering if there might be any concerns for installation in a aluminum boat?

radio

captkw - 4-6-2012 at 08:53 AM

HOLA, no concern's..but when mounting the ant. I use a soft backing plate with fine thread lock nut's.. K&T..:cool:

tope

captkw - 4-6-2012 at 09:16 PM

woody with a view - 4-6-2012 at 09:19 PM

Capt

it ain't a "tope'" it's a bump!:light:

edit: a TOPE is a mind altering experience at 70 mph.....:rolleyes:

[Edited on 4-7-2012 by woody with a view]

WOOODY

captkw - 4-6-2012 at 09:28 PM

ROGER,,,,AFIRM,,,GOOD COPY ON ALL !!!!!! I have hit the the the headlinear a TOOOO many time's in my life and a cussing,,SH-T the dog,wife,kid's are a boucing off the headliner..and NO I dont have to spell !! LOL K&T :cool:

Bob and Susan - 4-7-2012 at 05:37 AM

captkw...you still havent answered

why would you not solder a vhf radio antenna?

i solder mine....if you dont the cable comes loose

Pescador - 4-7-2012 at 06:59 AM

On A VHF radio, the cable length is not a part of the transmission. On my house base radio, I added a length of cable and it no way affected my reception or transmission. I asked at the radio shop where I bought my 5/8 wave antenna and they indicated that with VHF, the length was not an issue.

pescador

captkw - 4-7-2012 at 07:49 AM

IF iT's a long run,you want to switch to RG-8 and it's called insertion loss,, and yes It does make a little bit of diff...and yes Ive been a radio geek for over 40 yr's...K&T :cool: