VHF hand held advice

Can anyone recommend a quality portable hand held VHF radio? I am thinking of getting one vs permanently mounting a VHF radio/antenna to the boat.

The portables will not give you anywhere near the range of the mounted.

Even the antennas the on mounted are electrically the same, but the physical height will out perform the shorter heights as well.

Handheld VHF and 2 way radios are also in different leagues.

A friend of mine has a hand held vhf radio. The range for us to hear him with boat mounted radios is about 1.5 miles with open water between us. He can hear us from much further, but transmitting is less than impressive on a larger lake.

I have a Standard/Horizion hand held and a boat mounted S/H.

The hand held is in my camper on the river and seldom is taken outside although I though at one time that was the way to go for the boat. I think you’ll be disappointed in the talking range of a hand held depending on the area you plan on using it in.

I chose Standard/Horizion because of it’s warranty and the company fixed a broken mic wire at no charge a year after it was out of warranty. But there are other good brands out there too. Your call.

Check with Ben at http://www.jollyannsales.com/vhf_radios.htm

You’ll need to email him for the best prices though. No sales tax and free shipping. Plus he’s a good guy and wears a white hat.

It’s really an apples and oranges comparison. The handheld is generally going to run less power because of the smaller battery. And the biggest difference is the antenna. That rubber duck on a hand held is designed to withstand rough handling, and they do hold up really well. However they aren’t very good as far as being an antenna goes. The taller mounted antennas work much, much better than the antennas found on the hand held.

SR

Im looking for something portable. I do understand the capibilities are reduced compaired to a mounted system. I just do not use the VHF enough to justify drilling holes in the boat, lol. Really the only time I need a VHF is for tournament take offs. Your phones pretty much takeS care of everything else as far as communicating and such. Just looking for a good reputable brand. Thanks!