junking the installed vhf

[dylanwinter]

the new boat has a vhf radio installed - right where I plan on fitting the galley -

I do not want to run an aerila up the mast

up until now I have been using a Raymarine hand held

only ever had to use it on two accasions the Thames barrier and for Dover harbour

I have also never been out of phone signa; range in my journey so far.

Do I need the installed vhf

Dylan

 

[sailorman]

the fixed set will have better range, handy for forecasts ect

 

[lustyd]

No more than you need an anchor. All these things are optional extras which should be fitted if you will use them. You have a handheld and phone so probably will be OK. That said, if you have one you may as well keep it since you'd only get a few beer tokens for the old one.

 

[KenMcCulloch]

Hi Dylan
Given that the new boat is eventually going all the way round the UK, at the very least through the Caledonian Canal (?), you will make a few passages where mobile phone coverage is patchy at best. Even when you arrive in the civilised Firth of Forth you will find it very useful as the big ship VTS reports on 71 can be very useful in helping one avoid being run down as massive vessels appear round one of 2 or 3 blind corners.

If cheap effective fixed VHF sets didn't exist we would of course just deal with the risks ourselves but it seems perverse to throw away a potentially life saving piece of equipment. Not just your own life of course but potentially mine or someone else's; you might be the only station in range of someone transmitting a distress message.

I would be a bit sad if someone died avoidably because someone else had made an entirely self-centred decision not to have a proper VHF set. My syndicate has just installed a rather fancy new VHF because the old, not very good one that came with the boat stopped working properly. Think of it as a way of being part of the community of seafarers.

Regards

 

[dylanwinter]

no pressure then....

Hi Dylan
Given that the new boat is eventually going all the way round the UK, at the very least through the Caledonian Canal (?), you will make a few passages where mobile phone coverage is patchy at best. Even when you arrive in the civilised Firth of Forth you will find it very useful as the big ship VTS reports on 71 can be very useful in helping one avoid being run down as massive vessels appear round one of 2 or 3 blind corners.

If cheap effective fixed VHF sets didn't exist we would of course just deal with the risks ourselves but it seems perverse to throw away a potentially life saving piece of equipment. Not just your own life of course but potentially mine or someone else's; you might be the only station in range of someone transmitting a distress message.

I would be a bit sad if someone died avoidably because someone else had made an entirely self-centred decision not to have a proper VHF set. My syndicate has just installed a rather fancy new VHF because the old, not very good one that came with the boat stopped working properly. Think of it as a way of being part of the community of seafarers.

Regards

it is not about not having vhf - it is about whether the hand held will do

I assume I can reach VTS almost anywhere with the hand held

and I am sorry to say that I am not the sort of person to spend all day with the radio turned up listening to sound checks and chatter on the off chance that I will hear a distress call that no-one else does.

although you make me feel like a rather selfish person for even contemplating not nailing an aerial wire to the mast and keeping a constant ear on the emergency channels

need to think this through

 

[KenMcCulloch]

it is not about not having vhf - it is about whether the hand held will do

There are lots of places where you will struggle to make contact with a shore station with your handheld. When you reach the West coast of Scotland there are lots of places where the topography makes VHF coverage a bit patchy even with a decent masthead antenna.

although you make me feel like a rather selfish person for even contemplating not nailing an aerial wire to the mast and keeping a constant ear on the emergency channels

need to think this through

None of your legion of devoted followers could accuse you of being selfish, Dylan (in other than a few completely minor ways). Don't you dare hammer nails into your nice wooden mast though. The proper way to do it is to rout a u-section channel up the mast and either stick the coax cable in the (shallow) channel with sealant in a carefully chosen wood-ish colour, or carefully glue a strip of more or less matching wood into the (slightly deeper) channel leaving appropriate slots at top and bottom for the cable. You can use the same channel for a masthead lamp as well, not a bad thing to have really. If using the latter method make sure the cable entry at the top, in particular, is very well sealed so you don't have moisture collecting in the channel.

We are starting to prepare your welcome to Scotland. A bit like the Jubilee but without the inherited wealth and privilege. A big party in Eyemouth I suspect.
Cheers
Ken

 

[dylanwinter]

in that case

There are lots of places where you will struggle to make contact with a shore station with your handheld. When you reach the West coast of Scotland there are lots of places where the topography makes VHF coverage a bit patchy even with a decent masthead antenna.


None of your legion of devoted followers could accuse you of being selfish, Dylan (in other than a few completely minor ways). Don't you dare hammer nails into your nice wooden mast though. The proper way to do it is to rout a u-section channel up the mast and either stick the coax cable in the (shallow) channel with sealant in a carefully chosen wood-ish colour, or carefully glue a strip of more or less matching wood into the (slightly deeper) channel leaving appropriate slots at top and bottom for the cable. You can use the same channel for a masthead lamp as well, not a bad thing to have really. If using the latter method make sure the cable entry at the top, in particular, is very well sealed so you don't have moisture collecting in the channel.

We are starting to prepare your welcome to Scotland. A bit like the Jubilee but without the inherited wealth and privilege. A big party in Eyemouth I suspect.
Cheers
Ken

well,

thanks for your nice words and promise of a hang-over

in the short term not going to start drilling channels in the mast

as I have just varnished it

I think I shall carefully remove the fitted one with the thought that I might replace it one day once I reach a wild place and in the meantime rely on the handheld and the phone

Scotland is a way off yet

D

 

[Croak]

well,

thanks for your nice words and promise of a hang-over

in the short term not going to start drilling channels in the mast

as I have just varnished it

I think I shall carefully remove the fitted one with the thought that I might replace it one day once I reach a wild place and in the meantime rely on the handheld and the phone

Scotland is a way off yet

D

Install it somewhere else, put an aerial on the pushpit. Also carry an emergency aerial for hoisting up the mast in an emergency, then pop the handheld in the grab bag.

 

[Captain Haddock]

From what I've seen of your sailing habits so far you are not crossing any seas. The furthest offshore you may go is around 15 miles and it seems to be that you are always day sailing. You don't venture out into hairy weather.

As you've said your mobile is your primary communication device followed by the hand held. I'd stick with the handheld as it's served you well so far as a backup and you've not needed anything more... why change?

Sell the fixed VHF and put the proceeds to something more immediately useful. Origo Stove maybe?

 

[sailorman]

From what I've seen of your sailing habits so far you are not crossing any seas. The furthest offshore you may go is around 15 miles and it seems to be that you are always day sailing. You don't venture out into hairy weather.

As you've said your mobile is your primary communication device followed by the hand held. I'd stick with the handheld as it's served you well so far as a backup and you've not needed anything more... why change?

Sell the fixed VHF and put the proceeds to something more immediately useful. Origo Stove maybe?

Ooooooo i have a paraffin Origo in the for sale section

 

[VicS]

the new boat has a vhf radio installed - right where I plan on fitting the galley -

I do not want to run an aerila up the mast

up until now I have been using a Raymarine hand held

only ever had to use it on two accasions the Thames barrier and for Dover harbour

I have also never been out of phone signa; range in my journey so far.

Do I need the installed vhf

Dylan

A fixed VHf is better than a hand held because it is several times more powerful and therefore has a potentially greater range.

The aerial does not have to go on the mast its just that the higher it is the better it is and the greater the potential range.

Power boats don't have their aerials on (tall) masts

Personally I would find another location for the VHF and connect it to a deck mounted aerial.... perhaps not the type a power boater would favour .. perhaps one of the "stubby" ones.

If you ever do get to sailing around the remoter parts of the coastline you could well find yourself without effective mobile phone coverage and perhaps out of range of shore stations for a hand held.

For safety reasons I'd refit the fixed VHF.

 

[lustyd]

In my experience when I've been out of mobile and handheld range the fixed set follows very shortly afterwards unless another vessel is nearby. I'm not saying don't have one but I can't see it adding anything useful on a KTL voyage.
Added to which, how many of the people who say that they are very useful/required actually single hand their boats? Often leaving the helm to make a call is difficult, and would be more so in a bit of a sea which is when you're more likely to need to make that call.

 

[dylanwinter]

just agreed

Ooooooo i have a paraffin Origo in the for sale section

just agreed to buy a meths one from another forumite

not at a bargain price I have to say

I did offer DVDs as part payment

he said he would rather have the cash.....

cut me to the quick he did


Dylan

 

[greenalien]

As well as the better range, the other main advantage of a fixed set over a handheld is that, as it runs from the ship's supply, there's a very good chance that it'll actually work if/when it's needed in an emergency - probably just at the time you find out your handheld has a flat battery...
VHF radio is probably the most cost-effective single item of safety equipment you can carry; and a new DSC set with aerial can be had for well under £200.

 

[sailorman]

just agreed to buy a meths one from another forumite

not at a bargain price I have to say

I did offer DVDs as part payment

he said he would rather have the cash.....

cut me to the quick he did


Dylan

i like DVDs

 

[dylanwinter]

you speak sense

In my experience when I've been out of mobile and handheld range the fixed set follows very shortly afterwards unless another vessel is nearby. I'm not saying don't have one but I can't see it adding anything useful on a KTL voyage.
Added to which, how many of the people who say that they are very useful/required actually single hand their boats? Often leaving the helm to make a call is difficult, and would be more so in a bit of a sea which is when you're more likely to need to make that call.

had not thought of that

you are correct about single handing

leaving the cockpit is always difficult

Dylan

 

[prv]

leaving the cockpit is always difficult

On a small boat, though, the VHF should be reachable through the hatch anyway. Mine is; it's mounted to the inside of the coachroof, next to the aft bulkhead, front face about a foot outboard from the edge of the hatch. So it's easy to reach in and use.

Perhaps the answer for the Hunter is not to remove the radio, but to reposition it. I like your plan of building a decent galley on the starboard side there, don't give that up just for a poxy radio that happens to be squatting in the way.

Maybe mount the antenna on the pushpit, but with plenty of cable coiled up in the locker below it. Then if you ever do find yourself short of range, you can hoist it up the burgee halyard. I did that with my AIS when I bought it the day before crossing the Channel and hadn't had time to fit it.

Or just ditch the whole thing and stick with the handheld.

Pete

 

[RobbieW]

Another reason for a VHF is that, in extremis, the CG/Lifeboat can locate you from your transmissions far more accurately on VHF than a mobile.

A fixed set would make that transmission more reliable for reasons previously given.

 

[prv]

Another reason for a VHF is that, in extremis, the CG/Lifeboat can locate you from your transmissions far more accurately on VHF than a mobile.

In the Coastguard's case, not for much longer

Pete

 

[lustyd]

Another reason for a VHF is that, in extremis, the CG/Lifeboat can locate you from your transmissions far more accurately on VHF than a mobile.

A fixed set would make that transmission more reliable for reasons previously given.

My mobile has GPS so I would just tell them where I was