Range of a good VHF handheld radio.

[Thales14]

I live on the Gulf Coast and would like to take my boat out the the barrier islands, which are about 8-10 miles off shore.
There is good commercial traffic and Coast Guard at Gulfport, and I suspect my cell will still work that far out anyway, but am thinking of getting a good handheld as a backup.
I know handhelds have shorter range than a fixed mounted but I've read several comments from people who regularly seem to get 10-15 miles range on their handheld, which would be well suffficent for me.
Any suggestions or experience with range is appreciated.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Range of a good VHF handheld radio.

I seriously doubt your cell phone will work at that distance. VHF radios may work, if the antenna is tall enough. You must be higher than the curve of the earth as radio is line of sight. I had thought VHF range was abut 5 miles, give or take. If there are enough vessels to relay your signal to Coast Guard in an emergency, that will help with safety.

 

[dingdongs]

Re: Range of a good VHF handheld radio.

i very much doubt a 5w handheld will be of any use when venturing offshore.line of site is all there good for and a dsc vhf is normally a safer option when all goes wrong.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Range of a good VHF handheld radio.

Here's a good Q&D calculator to determine transmit/receive ranges based on antenna height above water.

http://www.qsl.net/kd4sai/distance.html

If you're standing in the boat with a handheld and the total antenna height is 6 feet above water, your transmit range is 3 miles. Total range (transmit and receive) will depend on the height of the receiving antenna above the surface.