Marine radio

Looking at getting a radio and on the fence of handheld or permanent. Are there a lot of guys using them on Mille and how bout winter? I see lots of boats have them but who actually uses theirs

I spent over $300. on a hand held a few years back.
The radio wasn’t that much but by the time I had 2 sets of rechargeable batterys, the 12v charger and 110v charger, it was just over.

Mille Lacs isn’t that big, but you’ll be able to hear more than you’ll be able to talk to.

I had some awesome out of warrenty service from Standard Horizion (3 years old and they replaced the mic and cord at N/C) and can’t speak enough good about them.

My 02 cents.

Cobra 425 vp was the one I was looking at, had good reviews and includes chargers.

I use mine all the time if there are others I know fishing. We use DSC if we are on fish, that way the people who have the scan on looking for information won’t hear what we are saying. You may be surprised how many guys do that. On a busy weekend go to a spot that no one is on, and radio to someone saying how you are doing really well on the blue jug. You can sit back and over the next half hour you would see boat after boat show up. This will happen if the bite is slow for most people. I remember back before cell phones or DSC having to speak in code so you wouldn’t have 50 boats show up on your spot while cluing a friend to the fish.

washburn
i’d say permanent, there are on most radios, 10 weather preset channels for NOAA, nice to have when you have approaching weather.
don’t get an antenna under 4ft long, mine is 4′, and works fine on the bigger water like mille lacs and vermilion.
good luck
Jack

Permanent w/o question. I leave mine on or scan and find good conversation on michigan and millelacs. not so much on P4, but that could be because of the limited line of sight. I like a longer antenna, but it can be a pain while casting. Worth it on big water. the extra height does give better reception.

If you plan to got to Rainy or LOW I would go for the permanent. Much better range if you need it. My handheld was virtually worthless up there. I would assume you would get better reception on Mile than Rainy because there are no islands blocking the signal, but you may as well do it right the first time in my opinion

I have a permanent in my boat with an 8′ antenna. I don’t use it too often unless I know people that are also fishing. On a big body of water it comes in very handy if you have friends out there to help each other get on fish.

Also nice in case of emergency to have the longer antenna. I can get good reception and pretty good distance without even putting the antenna up.

Pros and cons to both.

I’ve got a Uniden Atlantis hand-held. The advantages are that I can take it from boat to boat and there were no hassles with installation. I also like the ability to remove the unit over the winter so it’s not exposed to freezing temps as my big boat is in unheated storage all winter.

I also like the ability to take the radio with us if we get off on shore. I’m always worried about having my boat break loose from a dock or having something else happen, and with the radio on me I could radio both other boats and law enforcement.

Disadvantage is that on max power, hand helds are only 5 watts, so obviously far less powerful than the 25 watt fixed mount units. Most experienced people will tell you that anntennea matters more than power, but still this is significantly less in handhelds.

Grouse

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I also like the ability to remove the unit over the winter so it’s not exposed to freezing temps as my big boat is in unheated storage all winter.

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Good points Grouse!

I never gave it a thought to take my radio out of my boat in the winter. I store in without heat as well. I can’t say all radios come like this, but my Standard Horizon has two knobs, one antenna connection and a quick disconnect for the power and it’s out.