VHF location of the base unit

[superheat6k]

The VHF on the boat I expect to buy shortly is a Simrad with two remote mics with the base unit located in the engine room on the fwd bulkhead adjacent to the port engine.

Is it me, or is this a bloody stupid place to put the VHF ?

The most likely place for a fire on most boats is the engine room or bay surely, so a fire in there could disable the principle means of calling for help.

So should I move it to another location ?

Or should I at least consider making a metal cover to provide fire protection as this might be simpler (I would also need to run the supply and aerial cables in a metal conduit within the engine room).

The ship's batteries are also in the engine room, but she may have a separate battery for the bow thruster (I do still have a lot to learn about her), in which case can anyone think of a reason I shouldn't use the thruster battery to run the VHF ?

 

[Yngmar]

You're right, that's not the ideal spot, but moving it would involve moving all the cables as well - antenna, power, and both remote mic feeds. Often the remote mike ones are pre-made cables and you may find they're not long enough to be elsewhere.

Fire hazard wouldn't even be my biggest concern, engine bays are too hot and occasionally something sprays or flings water everywhere, which electronics don't much like, even if they're sealed units (the connectors will corrode and fail a while later).

Running it off the bow thruster battery will work, but it may lead to the radio resetting when you use the bow thruster as the big motor drops the voltage down below the threshold of the VHF's internal regulator (9-10V - should be in the manual). It'll come back on right afterwards, but may then have to go through its startup routine and often changes to default channel 16 instead of the one you were on.

One guy we met who was very paranoid about his VHF as emergency aid fitted a small 12V battery high up with the VHF unit and fed it from the main bank with a B2B charger. That is a nice solution, but costs a bit of dough and precious space. If you do so, make sure the B2B charger is fitted high up too.