At what point do you decide to add a VHF radio to your boat.

[JOLLYTOON]

I wonder what makes a boater decide it's time to add A VHF to their boat of if v the need one if the boat is to small?
lately I have seem some very expensive, fish finder, audio systems and led light systems but no vhf radios.
I guess the question is..
Do river and lake boaters need a vhf.
If your boat is under 20 feet do you need a vhf.
I just got a pontoon boat and one of my first purchases was a fix mounted vhf radio.
I learned the value of the vhf when I had a 20 foot mako and broke down on the river. A quick call over the vhf and a buddy pulled up and helped me restart

 

[H20Rat]

Depends on your location... If you are in a location where people use VHF, even a small handheld would be well worth it. Inland, vhf might be completely useless...

 

[Teamster]

On the inland waters in northern WI a vhf is useless, nobody uses them,....A cell phone makes more sense.

However, The day I decided to start fishing on the Great Lakes I bought one for the boat,...And also make sure the cell phone is with,...

My next vhf will have internal gps and digital selective calling,...........

I like knowing I can get the Coast Guard if I ever have too,........

 

[southkogs]

I've been boating inland waters for ages and never until this year did I have a VHF on board. Up until a few years ago I was mostly on small lakes that I could pretty easily swim across and the cell phone was more than practical. Now, the much larger lakes I'm on have excellent cell coverage and are probably still more practical than the VHF.

I got the VHF recently (small handheld) mainly for weather alerts and because I intend to go on some waterways that have more commercial traffic and locks. I can also easily contact TWRA, local Sheriff or my tow service directly if I want to.

 

[kjsAZ]

More and more lakes get VHF "coverage" if they have a ranger/sheriff/whatever station. The lakes I boat on have close to zero cell coverage and the only way to contact someone is via VHF. In my opinion there's no "boat is to small" argument for having a VHF or not. It's mainly a question of whether others use it in that area. If there's any commercial traffic in your waterways you need one.

You also have to see a different aspect. It is easy for me to tell people to push the red button in case something happens to me instead of telling them what the phone number is for the ranger station on each lake they may not reach because of no cell coverage. The DSC in the VHF will reach ALL boaters around me which may be a lot closer than those you would call via cellphone (911???). To me a cellphone is a decent back-up for lake use only. On the ocean and large lakes: fix mount VHF and a hand-held, watertight, floating VHF hooked into my PFD.....

 

[soggy_feet]

Lake Champlain, between Plattsburgh NY and Burlington Vermont is a pretty busy run with boats crossing the lake going to between beaches and bars. If not for a couple little islands, you'd be able to see across, yet, in the middle of that run, up until recently, your cell service would drop to zero.

Now factor in some weather, and right in the middle of the lake in a drizzle, you can't actually see land in front or behind.

Now factor in the breakwaters, shoals, reefs, cribs, and maybe you could use some help no matter what size boat you're on.

I've been right in the middle of that crossing on a bright sunny day and had an alert come over the radio that someone had gone overboard and they couldn't locate the guy. CG gave some points to triangulate the search area and it turned out that I was dead-nuts in the middle of it.
Didn't find the guy for another 2 days if I remember correctly, but I appreciated the heads up to slow down and keep a lookout. I'm not sure I'd have slept well that night if obliviously mulched up someones family member, be he alive or dead at the time. Had he been found in time, I'm sure that same family would really appreciate the responsiveness of anyone who was able to get that message which you never would have received on your cell phone.

 

[Outsider]

The DSC in the VHF will reach ALL boaters around me which may be a lot closer than those you would call via cellphone (911???)

Well, your DSC will only reach those boaters with a DSC-capable radio, are within range, and have their VHF ON. And they will only know where you are IF you're feeding position to your VHF, and THEY have done the same. If there are no shore stations around to receive VHF, options become very limited.

To answer the OP question, size has little to do with. I installed a VHF when I started boating in places that weren't well populated ( well before the proliferation of cell phones') because I wasn't gonna paddle home in a canoe or cruiser. Haven't boated in other places in many decades. If you boat within cell range, 9-1-1 is a good place to start seeking emergency assistance. Running out if gas doesn't, in and of itself, create an emergency, so alternate numbers are pretty handy ...

 

[kjsAZ]

Well, your DSC will only reach those boaters with a DSC-capable radio, are within range, and have their VHF ON. And they will only know where you are IF you're feeding position to your VHF, and THEY have done the same. If there are no shore stations around to receive VHF, options become very limited.

It will reach all boaters with a turned on VHF which is DSC capable no matter whether they have a GPS attached or not and it doesn't even need an MMSI number to be entered to receive a DSC alarm.
Fortunately it is meanwhile illegal to install a non-DSC radio in any boat. The older and installed ones are grandfathered but hopefully die out soon.
If someone buys a new VHF and doesn't get an MMSI and doesn't connect a GPS he/she deserves to be a Darwin award candidate.

Running out of gas justifies a PAN-PAN call as you are adrift without any means of control.

 

[H20Rat]

Fortunately it is meanwhile illegal to install a non-DSC radio in any boat.

Although it is a nitpicky point, I believe it is not illegal to install a non-dsc in a non commercial boat that doesn't otherwise require a radio. It is illegal for any new production of a non-dsc radio. They can still sell existing stock, and the end user can still install it. (or install one that you already have)

 

[smokeonthewater]

a fellow in a canoe who broke or lost his paddle would LOVE to have a VHF when he sees the tug and string of barges coming at him.... jus sayin.....

 

[kjsAZ]

Although it is a nitpicky point, I believe it is not illegal to install a non-dsc in a non commercial boat that doesn't otherwise require a radio. It is illegal for any new production of a non-dsc radio. They can still sell existing stock, and the end user can still install it. (or install one that you already have)

no, that time has passed already. Each and every new installation and radio sale (fix mount) has to be DSC capable and the real one not only the SC101 or how it was called.
If you install an old one you still have it will be difficult to prove but no installer will touch it.

 

[dingbat]

no, that time has passed already. Each and every new installation and radio sale (fix mount) has to be DSC capable and the real one not only the SC101 or how it was called. If you install an old one you still have it will be difficult to prove but no installer will touch it.

The ban on the sale on non- compliant radios does not go into affect until 2015. It is not, nor will it be, illegal to own or operate the old technology now or in the future.

 

[kjsAZ]

The ban on the sale on non- compliant radios does not go into affect until 2015. It is not, nor will it be, illegal to own or operate the old technology now or in the future.

After March 25th, 2011, the FCC is making it illegal to buy, sell, or install some DSC capable VHF radios. After this date, all VHF radios must not only be DSC capable, but must also be Class D compliant.

This is a quote from the US Coast Guard website:
Beginning on March 25th, 2011, the Federal Communications Commission will prohibit the manufacture, importation, sale and installation of fixed mounted (non-portable) digital selective calling (DSC) equipped marine radios that do not meet the requirements of International Telecommunications Union (ITU-R) Recommendation M.493-11 or higher, and in the case of Class D VHF DSC equipment only, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) International Standard 62238. Therefore, after March 25, 2011, radios built to RTCM Standard SC-101 can no longer be manufactured, imported, sold or installed; however, previously-installed radios meeting the older standard may continue to be used.

This, and more information can be found at the USCG website; here: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=mtDsc

 

[soggy_feet]

To the comment about "IF someone has their radio on", is it not law that if you're under way, you HAVE to be monitoring 16?

 

[kjsAZ]

If you have a VHF installed whether mandatory or voluntarily you have to monitor channel 16 when under way.
Also makes perfect sense to do so as you want others to reach you in case of potential trouble (for you).

 

[cjjjdeck]

In my local lake get cell service all over the lake, so I don't use my handheld VHF radio there. I bought my handheld VHF and have a removable antenna I attach to my bimini top support to use on the Hudson River and larger Upstate NY lakes. These bodies of water have cell service signal drop-outs and experience commercial traffic. and give me extra confidence in having a back-up communication.

 

[sam60]

Without my radio I would have never heard the response to my S.O.S. from the marina after my call to the NPS....

"I ain't sending my guys out in this crap"

:joyous:

 

[dingbat]

This is a quote from the US Coast Guard website:
Beginning on March 25th, 2011, the Federal Communications Commission will prohibit the manufacture, importation, sale and installation of fixed mounted (non-portable) digital selective calling (DSC) equipped marine radios that do not meet the requirements of International Telecommunications Union (ITU-R) Recommendation M.493-11 or higher, and in the case of Class D VHF DSC equipment only, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) International Standard 62238. Therefore, after March 25, 2011, radios built to RTCM Standard SC-101 can no longer be manufactured, imported, sold or installed; however, previously-installed radios meeting the older standard may continue to be used.

From the same USCG website
The Federal Communications Commission has prohibited the manufacturer, importation, sale or installation of non-portable DSC-equipped radios that do not meet either ITU-R Rec. M.493-11 or IEC 62238 Class D standards effective March 25, 2011. This regulation effectively bans the sale of radios built to the RTCM SC101 standard on that date. A similar prohibition will apply to portable radios effective March 25, 2015. See 47 CFR 80.225(a)(4)

 

[kjsAZ]

But that got as astray of the original question...... I would say it's time to have at least a portable VHF but always better a fix mount if there's a station in the area you boat in or if there are many boats equipped with a VHF radio around. If there is commercial traffic it's a must.
To me it was simply because the only reliable service I can get at the lakes were ham radio and marine radio.

 

[Outsider]

It will reach all boaters with a turned on VHF which is DSC capable no matter whether they have a GPS attached or not and it doesn't even need an MMSI number to be entered to receive a DSC alarm.

Uhh, I believe what I said was "Well, your DSC will only reach those boaters with a DSC-capable radio, are within range, and have their VHF ON." The following sentance was, "And they will only know where you are IF you're feeding position to your VHF, and THEY have done the same." Since I didn't address MMSI, I would add authorities will only know 'who' you are if you have a properly issued MMSI. Yes, yes, and MMSI allows the DSC radio to do so much more, but that's another discussion.

Lots of non-DSC radios around, and way to many DSCs that have no position information available for transmit or receive. Not everyone jumps on the latest and greatest, even when maybe they should, but that's the boating world we inhabit ...