Clipped to PFD Belt
That’s how we carry our Horizon HX-270S. I also attach it it to the PDF strap witha lanyard - it may be waterproof, but sure doesn’t float!!!
Small Icom M88
If fits in my pfd pocket with the antenna out. It has never gotten in the way with countless rescues and re-entries. The wrist strap is binered to the D-ring inside the pocket with plenty of room to operate it tethered. Always tether it as, when needed, your hands will be cold and the likelyhood of dropping it increases beyond likely.
Likelihood of dropping it…
… can also aggravated by the short and fat shape of M88! L
Agree that tethered use is wise for kayak use for any of these (I wear a MsFit and pocket is perfect for most handhelds and has internal D-ring to simplify tethering).
Have you held and M72? Not all that much longer (just enough to add some hand control) and thinner shape fits hand and most pockets better. More like a compact tool, less like a rock.
M88 is no doubt a great VHF, but shape is not optimal. I’d keep one over anything else if that’s what I already had, but if shopping I’d go M72 (or M36 - or whatever the cheapest Horizon/West Marine submersible unit was with decent battery life if budget was tight).
Mount in on the shoulder of your PFD
When you REALLY need a radio, you may not have the luxury of screwing around with retrieving from a pocket or trying to re-stow it in one (or worse, retrieving it from the cockpit or a hatch). You also need to be able to use it with one hand, as you may need to keep the other one on your paddle for stability. You need to have the radio close to your ear so you can easily hear it above the noise of wind and waves. Shoulder mounting meets all of these criteria and it keeps the radio out of your way.
There are pics of shoulder mounting in my “Kayak Gear” album on Webshots at:
http://community.webshots.com/user/brian_nystrom-reg
shoulder is great
Bnystrom is onto something here. The best mentoring I have had were coaches who instead of telling me where and how I should do things led by example and had me try using equipment to see how it would or would not work for me.
And when you go to teach others you really have to learn what works for you before giving advice or even better having them experience it.
So try what Bnystrom is saying it just might be what you need. At least this way you will KNOW in conditions that you will be able to call out.
Question about mic for VHF
Some makes have a remote mic option that allows for handsfree operation and voice control. Do any of you have experience with this. I have wondered if this is a viable option or just clutter.
Borrowed Brian’s idea over
six years years ago. I have been wearing my ICOM M88, on my shoulder ever since. I have the M88’s ICOM belt clip zip-tied (2) to my left Lotus PFD should strap. This set-up also works on my new Astral pfd. The belt clip is further backed-up by having the radio’s wrist strap tethered to a small carabiner above the clip. I recently replaced the M88 with ICOM’s M72 and it attaches just fine to the original belt clip.
Microphone…
My Cobra submersible has a jack for one, but without the ability to see first hand how that connection is waterproofed, I hesitate to order one…what good is a submersible VHF if you crack the barrier with a leaky plug in?
over-thinking it
Retrievable with one hand. Pocket on PFD works just fine.
I need that part of my shoulder free for full range of movement with head.
handheld mic
makes sense on a powerboat or a sailboat
no sense at all on a kayak (a new object to keep track of, a cord to deal with, etc.)
your head is probably
symmetrically located between your shoulders or have a big head. For those of us with small heads or off the centerline there’s room on one side.
Shoulder placement of my VHF unit
has never interfered with my head, vision, mobility or bracing/rolling to either side. On top of that I don’t have to fish out of a pocket and I have storage space for the additional safety items on my pfd 
Of course ymmv.
long antenna
Long antenna on a handheld VHF used on a kayak doesn’t accomplish much, it’s line of sight communications (mostly) anyway and from the kayak that’s not real far, maybe 5 or 6 miles until the curvature of the earth puts the recieving antenna below the horizon.
Bill H.
Here is a Hands Free VOX VHF ???
– Last Updated: Jul-08-09 9:36 AM EST –
Here is a hands free VHF by Horizon. Do any of you have it? Is it a worthwhile function to have the ability to use it without holding the unit to hear and speak???
Thanks!!
link
http://www.standardhorizon.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=100013
CG receivers are quite high though.
– Last Updated: Jul-08-09 12:41 PM EST –
You probably can't reach a powerboat with a handheld in the water further than a few miles away, but a sailboat, ferry, trawler, etc with a 50' mast height will "see" an antenna 1' above the water from nearly 10 miles away. And a CG reciever on a 200' tower will "see" your 1' handheld almost 20 miles away. That's probably a little beyond the 5 w transmit power of your handheld anyways, so in an emergency, your antenna height is likely not a limiting factor.
I wear my VHF in my PFD pocket, with a short tether to my shoulder strap. I can remove and operate it with one hand. I can see the advantages of having it shoulder-mounted, but I can't see having it there all the time, when it is virtually never used. I use a VHF more regularly on larger boats, but on a kayak I have never used it. Perhaps in higher traffic areas it would see more use. Getting run over up here is less likely than say Boston, and if you do get run over it's probably going to be by a lobster boat - which rarely monitor 16 in my experience. They seem to always be on a chat channel like 71.
Having it always on my shoulder strikes me similar to storing a flare gun on my wrist - sure it would be quicker to use, but the intrusiveness of having it there would outweigh the potential advantage, in my personal opinion anyways.
Paddlers should consider getting
a Ham Technician License. It would give you the option of having 5 watts for transmit with a handheld and more when mobile using a car battery or at a home base station . Also, especially when paddling off the coast, you probably could hit repeaters or talk to other Hams located along the coast. Now with the Internet, you can talk to Australia on VHF. The Hams have tied the repeaters into the Web and are doing all types of things using it.
The license is easy to get with study guides on the Web and practice tests. They use a pool of questions so you actual know what questions will be asked. The local Hams administer the tests so you don’t have to drive far and you only pay a nominal fee allowing them to recoup what the test costs them to administer ($15). The thirty-five question test is on basic radio procedures, e.g. you can’t say the seven deadly words on the air, don’t transmit out of your allowed band, etc and very fundamental radio theory: what converts an electrical signal into something you can hear - duh, a speaker. I guess the hardest thing is getting use to is learning about the the different bands allowed, e.g. the 2 meter band is 144-148 MHZ (300/freq in MHz). You can really get into the theory if you like later with the advanced licenses, but a Technician license would only take a few weeks of study and is on very basic radio theory and procedures.
Check out the Yaesu VX line of handhelds: bluetooth capable, GPS/APRS, barometric and temperature sensors, waterproof to 3 feet for 30 minutes, and more.
Longer than you might think
"And a CG reciever on a 200’ tower will “see” your 1’ handheld almost 20 miles away. That’s probably a little beyond the 5 w transmit power of your handheld anyways, so in an emergency, your antenna height is likely not a limiting factor."
The new CG system is designed to communicate with a 5W handheld VHF at a minimum range of 20 NM. Any rubber duck antenna on a VHF handheld is a joke in terms of being an efficient radiator, but they do surprising well at times. I can communicate via VHF and UHF with a repeater around 50 miles away with my ham radio handheld at 5W when I am in position to see the top of the mountain it is on. VHF is not actually line of sight limited, but it doesn’t take much to block a signal either.
Point is well take that for talking to other vessels the range is far more limited.
about ham
I don’t know much at all about ham, but for a paddler within 20 miles of the US coastline, does a 5w ham handheld have any advantage over a 5w marine VHF handheld? I would think that if your reason for carrying a radio was emergency communications you’d be a lot better off with the marine radio.
I have to fish mine out of a pocket
– Last Updated: Jul-08-09 9:08 PM EST –
so far it hasn't caused much hardship
Well, the difference is that if you have
a marine radio, you just have a marine radio. If you also have a ham license you can use all repeaters up the coast/country/world and talk to other hams to get weather info or whatever. You can use the radio anytime: backpacking, driving, etc. Chances are off the coast you’ll be able to communicate with someone most of the time. Also, you can use the GPS/APRS (Automated Position Reporting System) ability to send position reports via the Internet to your house. It’s not a big investment of time or money to get a Technician license. With the license you discover a whole new world of communication. When paddling you’d give your call sign with the addition maritime mobile. Anyhow, it’s a fun hobby also and you’ll get to meet a lot of new people from all over the world. The license is free and good for ten years. It can be easily renewed and will never have to take another exam unless you want an advanced license.