what VHF to buy /Do I need a radar?

DutchDan

DutchDan

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Hi, just bought a Beneteau 38.1 (Perfmance). What kind of VHF you would advice? Is it necessary to buy a radar of is there another way to have AIS in combination with a B & G gps? We will be saying around the Meds the coming years.

Thanks.

Dan
 
If you have a chartplotter, that will usually display your AIS.
 
I'd suggest you get a VHF radio with integral GPS receiver; this gives you an element of redundancy if your main GPS fails.

You don't need radar in order to have AIS. Most plotters can display AIS information. I'm assuming your "B&G gps" is a plotter?

You can get VHF radios which incorporate an AIS receiver (eg Standard Horizon GX2200E). You need to consider what inputs your B&G plotter has - whether it has NMEA0183 or NMEA2000. This will help decide which radio you choose, as the GX2200E only has NMEA0183 output.
 
Standard Horizon are a solid choice for VHF, and I recommend that you also buy a command mike to fit in the cockpit so that you do not have to go below to send or receive a message.
 
Norman_E said:
Standard Horizon are a solid choice for VHF, and I recommend that you also buy a command mike to fit in the cockpit so that you do not have to go below to send or receive a message.
Click to expand...

Agree about the cockpit mic. I think we need to know which B&G plotter he has. If it will only accept NMEA2000, it would be easier for him to get a compatible B&G VHF (eg the V60) which will be simply plug'n'play.
 
Unless you want to or need to save money, it will be a great advantage to integrate as many functions as possible. There are those who prefer a separate radar and plotter/AIS screen on the grounds of clutter, but I prefer a single screen. Depending on the size of the screen, radar and chart can be divided, switched or overlaid with ease. You don't need radar but once every two or three years you will be very grateful indeed that you have one.
 
May seem a daft question ... but what is on the boat now ? Name and model if possible ...

VHF
Plotter

Its unusual unless boat is totally new out of factory to not have these already ...

Once we know exactly what is on there ... then a better suggestion can be made
 
I would venture to suggest that for 99.5% of mediterranean yachting activity radar is utterly superfluous. Radar is only of real use in poor vis (fog) which seldom occurs in the med, and anyway few would venture out in it if it were present and in making landfalls on an unfamiliar coast with poor position information. The GPS/Plotter eliminates that need unless you are ging to be doing significant amounts of passagemaking as opposed to coast-hopping.
In any case radar is pretty useless in the hands of the untrained amateur, and few ever bother to do any training to make real use of it.

AIS is nice but in the Med one's sailing is almost all done in daylight and the vessels you're going to bump into at night are mainly small unlit fishing boats that don't use AIS. So why bother?

Get a decent chartplotter and VHF radio, plus possibly a recieve only AIS if you feel that keen, but more than that is just not going to be used.
 
My only use of radar was to observe the US navy on exercise At night encountering a local fishing boat - buy an AIS and a chart plotter to pair with your pad or other tablet below. Radar is useful for spotting oncoming bad weather as well as those Italian fishing boats but it’s not essential however does relieve the boredom of night watches once the vhf chatter finishes driving you mad as there is no radio discipline .
 
With how little price differential there is between an AIS receiver and an entry level transceiver, fitting a receiver is a waste of money. Just think how blank the screen would be if everyone only fitted receivers!
 
I'd go for the AIS receiver feeding the chart plotter - that should work.
Chart plotter display at the helm is very useful when you really need to see a developing situation.
For the VHF one with an integral GPS, gives some redundnacy, especially if things go wrong and you have to push the red button.
Do get one with a command mike that can be used from the helm.

Once again means you can talk, steer and manage the situation.
 
For VHF get the Simrad/B&G. It’s the only one with a Bluetooth cordless handset. Take it with you when you make a brew, or are sat in the cockpit. If you have a PC you can display AIS without a plotter. Best still a plotter with AIS at the helm. Even better with radar.
 
Refueler said:
May seem a daft question ... but what is on the boat now ? Name and model if possible ...

VHF
Plotter

Its unusual unless boat is totally new out of factory to not have these already ...

Once we know exactly what is on there ... then a better suggestion can be made
Click to expand...

Very sensible questions. To the OP, please tell us more about your purchase? How old is the boat and what equipment does it have currently?

The 38.1 is a current production offering from Beneteau so perhaps you are buying new?

Like others have suggested, I’d stick to B&G throughout.

I have a 41 and it has Simrad (Navico, B&G family). It has AIS, radar and the wireless remote VHF already referred to above. It all integrates seamlessly (now) but almost all of it had to replaced under warranty. A good reason in itself to stick to one brand.

Don’t forget the sound system, either. Make sure that it, too, is fully integrated within the plotter control.

Hope you enjoy your new boat, fair winds ?
 
Radar: if you’re heading to the Med, it’s not worth it. I’ve used ours once in ten years in a fog off the south of France. Otherwise it gets turned on occasionally to see if it still works.....

AIS: much more useful. Easy to see if that ferry heading towards you is going to get close enough to require avoiding action. As others have said, best to pay the small amount extra and have transmit as well as receive.

VHF: command mic in the cockpit is a nice to have not a must have. For the most part in the Med, you’re going to be using the radio to talk to marinas as you enter. I use a handheld for that function.

As others have said, easiest to stick with one maker of kit, as that’ll mean connections between the various instruments is simple. I use Raymarine but you’ve already got B&G, so go with that.
 
A couple of brands have been mentioned already.

VHF not sure of choice in Europe. Here in VHF is available with or without GMDSS, with or without AIS receiver.
Get a GMDSS radio, which includes DSC, it’s a bit of a PIA getting certified, licensed, and registered with an MMSI no. Why if you are going to by new you might as well. JIK you ever need it. The red button sends a automated distress message.

Boat flag? UK or Local? MMSI goes with flag. By in UK and register if boat is UK flag. Or Locally.
A hand held comes in handy, some float JIK, some have DSC.

AIS best a transceiver. Not required or Needed. But why not if you are going to get AIS. You might as well get the full benefit and show up on other vessels receiver.
I have only seen the Radios with built in AIS as receive only.

I’m not an electronics guy so this Nema stuff is all Greek to me.
My opinion stick with one brand if you want integrated electronics to work well without glitches.

A single multi display unit good for space, lacks redundancy, personal choice, I do have an old GPS and a paper chart. Works fine for my purpose. I don’t have a plotter. I am considering acquiring one, if and when it fits my budget. Do I need. No. would it be nice to have? Yes.
if I was buying new I would get separate. plotter radar.

Do you need Radar, No.
is It nice to have? yes. I have one. I don’t need it, I am glad I have it.
Radar is not all that expensive. A basic one is quite reasonable.
if you decide to get one, fit so you can see from the cockpit. Mines on the chart table and as a result not very useful.
same with plotter.

A plotter is nice. It ain’t no radar. Most posters recommend all you need is a plotter. Their opinion.

I have a radar. no plotter, Radar is more important to me, if choosing, why?
Radar gives me an observation of the real world. Those unlit fishing vessels with no AIS will show up on radar.
Maybe nobody sails at night in the Med.
I sail at night.

Most of the experts on most of these forums will disagree. which is fine they can put what they want on their boat.

My boat pretty much has just the old stuff it came with. It’s old, dated, It’s good quality, it works,
My opinion, if it works why replace it?

My priorities for what gets upgraded first. GMDSS radio. I have a good radio but it’s not a GMDSS with The little Red Button. I hope I will never need it.
 
I only ever wanted paper charts and a basic GPS, but I fitted a stand-alone monochrome Furuno radar after crewing cross channel on another yacht and encountering fog right in the shipping lanes - its not a nice feeling being unable to see your own bow but hearing the heavy thrum of ship's engines!

I later only fitted a DSC VHF and plotter because I was single-handing with my son who was seven at the time and wanted him to have a red button to push if something bad happened to me. The Standard Horizon VHF came with AIS receive which fed into the SH plotter, which has helped me in busy shipping areas (i.e. cross-channel) but is utterly feckin pointless the rest of the time.

The DSC VHF is always exploding with alarms, else I'm hearing French Jobourg transmissions up a quiet creek in the Solent.
 
Uricanejack said:
VHF not sure of choice in Europe. Here in VHF is available with or without GMDSS, with or without AIS receiver.
Get a GMDSS radio, which includes DSC, it’s a bit of a PIA getting certified, licensed, and registered with an MMSI no. Why if you are going to by new you might as well. JIK you ever need it. The red button sends a automated distress message.
Click to expand...

You don't say where you are located, but in Europe all current fixed VHF radios on sale are GMDSS.
 
I love all the detailed posts - but we still don't know what the guy has or not ...

No info other than Nederlands and Bene 38 ... and a B&G ...

Once we know cruising expectations ... whats on the boat ... etc. etc. - then better more constructive suggestions can be made.
 
With boats like the Ben 38.1 (and my 331) the nav station is a long way from the helm. Fitting from scratch on a normal cruising boat, I would consider putting the VHF in the cockpit rather than adding a separate command mike. The VHF down below seems to be a throwback that yacht builders have not moved on from (as opposed to power boats where the VHF is always at the helm) . Alternativly Navicom do an interesting "black box" VHF where the handset is separate from the control unit.

You probably do not need a radar in the med as already stated, but be aware that the choice of your navigation display will pre-determine any future integrated option. I would suggest an AIS transmitter though. On such a new boat I would suggest making sure everything is NMEA2000 compatable (or SeatalkNG for any Raymarine gear).
 
johnalison said:
Unless you want to or need to save money, it will be a great advantage to integrate as many functions as possible. There are those who prefer a separate radar and plotter/AIS screen on the grounds of clutter, but I prefer a single screen. Depending on the size of the screen, radar and chart can be divided, switched or overlaid with ease. You don't need radar but once every two or three years you will be very grateful indeed that you have one.
Click to expand...
Yeah Fine....... Integrate everything so that if one thing fails everything else goes down! Seriously though. It is a great idea to integrate certain things for simplicity. Having a good quality large screen chartplotter showing AIS is great. I think its also good to think that if you have a backup GPS positioning device (possibly on your VHF?) its good to avoid integrating that and even have a seperate antenna so that if everything else fails you can navigate easily using your up to date paper charts which of course you have on board don't you.......? Also frankly I like my RADAR to stand alone on a separate screen too as it performs a completely different function. I like to have radar on "heads up" or "course up" with the plotter remaining "north up" But I concur that for Med use it is probably of limited use. In the English channel in fog crossing traffic lanes its invaluable especially in MARPA mode, but beware, you need a very high quality stabilised compass for this to be accurate. Cheap end kit can be misleading, especially if the operator is not very experienced. There is something known in the commercial world as a "RADAR assisted collision"!
 
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