FullCircle
Well-known member
The best advice I read was to get a handheld VHF, send the crew off in the tender into the wide blue yonder, transmitting and receiving to you, on the boat, at regular intervals. When the quality of the transmissions diminishes to an unacceptable level they can then return. You can judge the performance of your radio based on the distance they cover.
It would be safe to assume that would be the minimum range as most boat radios and definitely shore based radios would have antenae higher and with better performance than a handheld.
Handheld has a very limited range, and only 5w of power. Therefore your test is limited by the range of the handlheld braodacasting returns back to the boat.