CB Radio vs Marine Radio

Status
Not open for further replies.

jocholik

Cadet
Joined
Aug 30, 2009
Messages
16
Can you put a regular CB radio in your boat or does a marine radio work on a different frequency???
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

marine are different frequencies, but you need to check for your local area. some places CB's are more active.
 

Phantom_II

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 24, 2008
Messages
157
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

Yes and yes.

You can put a CB radio in your boat, and a marine radio works on a different frequency.

However, Big Rig Joe probably won't be much help when your engine quits 5 miles from shore.
 

belairbrian

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
360
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

CB radios operate in the 27 mhz range. Marine radios operate in the 156 and 157 mhz range. There are alo 2 channels in the 162 mhz band. Each frequency has an assigned purpose. Unlike CB's you can't just pick a channel to chat with your buddy. Read more here. Also I haven't seen many CB radios that could handle the marine environment.

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/marcomms/vhf.htm
 

Bondo

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
70,458
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

Ayuh,.... CB radios are AM,+ Marine radios are FM...

I know a Cheapazzed Moron I used to do work for,...
He put a CB in his 25+' Bilgeliner thinking he was covered...
1 night out the the St Lawrence going home drunk with his buddies, they ran aground on a shoal,...
The boat was floating, but without propulsion,...
JR says No problem, he'll call the Marina...
That's when he Finally figured out the Only people on the other end of his Emergency Radio were the Truckers driving over the 1000 Islands Bridge...
And,.. Other than the Good Laugh had by the Truckers,...
Help came only after 1 of the morons jumped in,+ swam to shore,+ found a telephone...

Moral of the story is,....
CB radios have absolutely No place on a Boat...
 

BLU LUNCH

Lieutenant
Joined
Aug 8, 2003
Messages
1,316
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

Ayuh,.... CB radios are AM,+ Marine radios are FM...

I know a Cheapazzed Moron I used to do work for,...
He put a CB in his 25+' Bilgeliner thinking he was covered...
1 night out the the St Lawrence going home drunk with his buddies, they ran aground on a shoal,...
The boat was floating, but without propulsion,...
JR says No problem, he'll call the Marina...
That's when he Finally figured out the Only people on the other end of his Emergency Radio were the Truckers driving over the 1000 Islands Bridge...
And,.. Other than the Good Laugh had by the Truckers,...
Help came only after 1 of the morons jumped in,+ swam to shore,+ found a telephone...

Moral of the story is,....
CB radios have absolutely No place on a Boat...
Those solid core wire marine ignition wires must have been great for am reception...
 
Last edited:

Bob_VT

Moderator & Unofficial iBoats Historian
Staff member
Joined
May 19, 2001
Messages
26,018
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

One of my hobbies is amateur radio (Ham) radio. The cb can not compete with marine band.

If a person stays close enough to shore a good cell phone with 3g access will also stomp a cb radio.
 

justchange

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
206
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

Ayuh,.... CB radios are AM,+ Marine radios are FM...

I know a Cheapazzed Moron I used to do work for,...
He put a CB in his 25+' Bilgeliner thinking he was covered...
1 night out the the St Lawrence going home drunk with his buddies, they ran aground on a shoal,...
The boat was floating, but without propulsion,...
JR says No problem, he'll call the Marina...
That's when he Finally figured out the Only people on the other end of his Emergency Radio were the Truckers driving over the 1000 Islands Bridge...
And,.. Other than the Good Laugh had by the Truckers,...
Help came only after 1 of the morons jumped in,+ swam to shore,+ found a telephone...

Moral of the story is,....
CB radios have absolutely No place on a Boat...




They couldn't get out and push? :D
 

MRS

Commander
Joined
Jul 10, 2005
Messages
2,555
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

Last time we were out at lake Mohave big wind rain storm came in we were hot footing it back to marina 6 miles out. We were flagged down by a rental boat that was not running and stuck against the shore from wind and waves he only had a cell phone no service in that area. I could not get in close enough to throw a line but we did have a handhelded marine radio radioed the ranger station and they radioed the marina to pick them and boat up. The handheld just had a enough power to contact the ranger station but it did work I am going to hard wire a more powerfull permenent unit in the boat after that for sure. If you have to use it just once it paid for it self......
 

BLU LUNCH

Lieutenant
Joined
Aug 8, 2003
Messages
1,316
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

One of my hobbies is amateur radio (Ham) radio. The cb can not compete with marine band.

If a person stays close enough to shore a good cell phone with 3g access will also stomp a cb radio.
Cell phone ha! A pair of tin cans with string will do better. Leave that AM stuff for 80 meters, I'm also a ham.....& 73's de KE1**
 

burp

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 3, 2002
Messages
363
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

If a person stays close enough to shore a good cell phone with 3g access will also stomp a cb radio.


I would not place any trust or faith in using a cellphone either.

A couple of years ago, a good friend was anchored in a cove on the Chesapeake Bay with his wife when a boat with 2 men aboard went by. The boat circled around and stopped, with only 1 person visible onboard. That person was leaning over the side of the boat.

My friend and his wife felt something wasn't right so they pulled up anchor and motored over toward the stopped boat and asked if they needed help. The guy that was onboard replied "Yes". When my friend got closer and to the far side of the stopped boat, they could see the 2nd guy was face down in the water and the guy onboard was trying to keep the guys face up out of the water.

My friend dove in and swam over to assist. His wife thought using the cellphone and calling 911 would result in a faster response from rescue personnel. They were only yards from the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Her 911 call was picked up by a 911 call center on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. She gave them the name of the cove they were in and the GPS coordinates. They couldn't help and transferred her to a 911 call center on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. The 911 call center could NOT use GPS coordinates and required a street name which they didn't know.

About that time a lady in one of the nearby houses saw what was going on and went down to her dock to see if help was needed. Of course she knew the street address and rescue personnel arrived soon on site.

My friend had gotten the guy that was in the water turned over, on board one of the boats and started CPR. By the time rescue personnel had arrived, they had docked at the lady's dock and the guy was sitting up.

My friend was recognized in a county awards ceremony as saving the life of the boater.

So DON'T RELY on a cellphone when out on the water!
 

rolmops

Vice Admiral
Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Messages
5,299
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

The one thing missing in this thread is called MMSI number
If you have a good VHF radio, have it wired up to your GPS.Good VHF(marine) radios have an emergency button.pull this button and your position will be broadcasted on ALL frequencies until you get in touch with somebody.The mmsi number is an additional beautiful idea.If you have a MMSI number, then the moment you send an emergency signal, somebody will call your home and inform the people there about what is going on.Every boat on open water should have a GPS hooked up to a VHF radio and have a an assigned MMSI number(it is free).
No cb or cell phone has these possibilities.
 

WAVENBYE2

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Apr 28, 2007
Messages
1,636
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

I use CB for truck and home, Marine for the waters here.
 

redfury

Commander
Joined
Jul 16, 2006
Messages
2,655
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

The one thing missing in this thread is called MMSI number
If you have a good VHF radio, have it wired up to your GPS.Good VHF(marine) radios have an emergency button.pull this button and your position will be broadcasted on ALL frequencies until you get in touch with somebody.The mmsi number is an additional beautiful idea.If you have a MMSI number, then the moment you send an emergency signal, somebody will call your home and inform the people there about what is going on.Every boat on open water should have a GPS hooked up to a VHF radio and have a an assigned MMSI number(it is free).
No cb or cell phone has these possibilities.

I can see the value in a marine radio equipped like this. However, if I'm out on some podunk lake of about 700 acres, is this going to do much good if I get into trouble? I can see this working out on Lake Mille Lacs and Red Lake, Superior ( the big bodies of water in MN ), but is anyone going to be monitoring near the smaller bodies of water on the Marine band, such as the police Dept? I ask because I do not know, and if the answer is yes, then I wholeheartedly put my stamp of approval on this and will seriously consider it for my boat when I get it completed.
 

180shabah

Rear Admiral
Joined
Mar 26, 2005
Messages
4,995
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

All but the very cheapest marine VHF's are DSC capable. MMSI costs nothing, so wouldn't you do it????
 

JSGOLD

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 22, 2009
Messages
609
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

Glad I saw this disussion....we were looking for a radio for our "new" boat (76 Starcraft) and was looking at CB radios....so that was wrong. What kind of antenna do the marine radios take? FM or CB ? Not familiar at all with marine radios. Is there such a thing as a marine radio with regular radio (music ?) or do we just add two radios??
 

180shabah

Rear Admiral
Joined
Mar 26, 2005
Messages
4,995
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

A marine VHF needs a dedicated antenna (it will be sold as a marine VHF antenna). This radio will be completely seperate from any stereo you install. Although, you can get a splitter, that will allow you to use the VHF antenna on the stereo also and avoid having two sticking up in the air.
 

belairbrian

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
360
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

Now one of my pet peaves has been brought up. I'm all for DSC. But go to a website and look at a marine radio and odds are you will find comments like "with compatible GPS" then no info on what that means.
 

180shabah

Rear Admiral
Joined
Mar 26, 2005
Messages
4,995
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

with compatible GPS

Just means that it is up to you to determine if your GPS is capable of outputing data in the proper format. And for that, they will refer you the the GPS manufacturer.
 

rolmops

Vice Admiral
Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Messages
5,299
Re: CB Radio vs Marine Radio

Now one of my pet peaves has been brought up. I'm all for DSC. But go to a website and look at a marine radio and odds are you will find comments like "with compatible GPS" then no info on what that means.

Almost every marine GPS/chartplotter is compatible just look at the specs chart of your gps and it will tell you.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top