"Clive Heath" wrote in message
...
Hi all, I'm looking for a bit of advice about radios for use on a
sportsboat. I'm considering buying a couple of radios that I can
effectively
(but maybe not quite legally) use whilst travelling in convoy through
France
in a couple of cars. Then, once at our destination, I intend to use the
radios for communication between boat and shore. The range needs to be
something in the region of 5 to 10 miles, which will rule out the PMR type
of walkie talkie. A marine band setup would be ghood so that I can use it
officially whilst on the boat for coastguard etc. I don't mind doiung a
VHF
course so that I can get the necessary licence etc. I'd value comments and
advice as to what might be a good solution. I've looked on e Bay and seen
a
few Uniden Atlantis VHF handhelds for about the £95 mark. Would these be a
suitable solution, and what would their range likely to be. Sorry for so
many questions, but I'm new to choosing radios, despite having used them
professionally for 22 years ! Thanks in advance.

Clive,

First thing you will learn when you do a course is that it is highly illegal
to use a marine radio
from land. The only one allowed to do so is the coastguard. It is s rule
that is strictly adhered to
by all marine radio users. I'm not being a stick in the mud.

To answer your second question, the range depends on (a) type and (b)
whether you transmit at
low power or full 25Watts. Every radio will offer a choice. Since marine
radios are not to be used for general chit chat in a group, and certainly
not at 25Watts. Range form a fixed radio (line of sight at 25W) is approx
15 miles and handheld is five miles, both examples assuming it is boat to
boat. The coastguard will receive you from a much longer distance, hence
the very reason you should not use it from land.

Hope this helps,

Tom

If you are going to go to the trouble of doing a course I suggest that you
do the DSC course as standard VHF are on the way out. Buy a DSC radio which
won't be obsolete in a years time and use it only on your boat.