In article ,
says...
I looked this one up before. It's surprising how short the effective
distance of VHF is before the horizon is a factor. Your 200' antenna
will reach only 17 miles. Two eight-foot antennae will only transmit
about miles.

http://www.ringbell.co.uk/info/hdist.htm


You first problem is you are using British electronics

On 2/14/11 9:46 PM, Gene wrote:
On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 20:29:46 -0500, L wrote:

Gene wrote:
On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:42:13 -0500, L wrote:


Gene wrote:

On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:37:04 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:



http://enews.earthlink.net/article/u...5-ef95f7b033c7
A sad fishing accident.
Hey, at least it is boating so lets discuss it instead of spoofing.


"...their twin-engine boat's motor went out an hour later..."

Huh?







They took on water. Both were probably submerged.

That is kinda, my point.... It appears that they were as little as
three miles off shore and that the waves and wind were negligible.
Losing multiple engines usually means fuel, but in this case, since
they took on water and sank without appreciable wave action.... I
don't think they lost engines then took on water, I think just the
opposite occurred...


Perfect reason to have an EPIRB (if you can afford one) or at least a
submersible VHF handheld.

I was surprised by the water temperature... looks to be no better than
the mid 40's. Personally, I'd like to have some sort of clothing to
fight the cold (water) in that case...

Personal EPIRBs are, now, under $200..... you almost can't afford to
be without one....

I would never discourage anyone from carrying a VHS radio... but due
to their line-of-sight method of communication, if you are in the
water you have a VERY limited transmission radio. There are
exceptions. I am lucky enough to have a USCG station radio antenna at
about 200' height in the sand over the river, AICW, and ocean...
exactly where I boat. If you have a similar circumstance, it makes the
VHS a lot more reliable...






I looked this one up before. It's surprising how short the effective
distance of VHF is before the horizon is a factor. Your 200' antenna
will reach only 17 miles. Two eight-foot antennae will only transmit
about miles.

http://www.ringbell.co.uk/info/hdist.htm

Hmmmm.... depends.

Assuming I haven't sunk, I should be able to get out about 25
miles.... to the local USCG station.

Two 8' antennae will transmit about 8 miles.

One sea level antenna transmitting to my boat would reach about 5
miles...

None of those are particularly inspiring with respect to a solid sense
of safety....


Here is a better calculator...

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






I occasionally was able to listen to and transmit across Chesapeake Bay
with my handheld VHF to a head boat captain I know. I was just outside
Breezy Point Marina and he was about 10-12 miles away. I guess his VHF
antenna was about 12-14 feet or so above the waterline.

On a clear day, it was line of sight. I could see the opposite shoreline
but certainly not the head boat.

Wayne.B wrote:
On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 20:24:16 -0500, L wrote:


EPIRBs are good but have several issues. Cost is coming down but
still in the $600 range. They also require federal registration and
periodic renewal/update. The big issue however is response time. It
will take at least an hour or two before search assets are deployed,
probably longer. That is too long if you're in cold water offshore.

Last but not least are sea conditions and boat handling. Were they
out in unsuitable conditions for the boat? Given the outcome, almost
certainly. There was no mention of boat size so we can only guess.



Good points but an EPIRB can be rented from Boat US, and others I'm sure.

How many of your fishing buddies will go down to Boat US and rent an
EPIRB everytime they want to go fishing a few miles out?

An even bigger issue is response time. There is a whole chain of
procedures that are followed when an EPIRB alert is received. This
is done to verify ownership and registration of the unit, and attempt
to ascertain if the alert is likely to be genuine. If you are lucky,
the unit is properly registered, and if a USCG rescue asset is nearby,
they might get to you in an hour or two. That's OK if you're sitting
in a life raft or dressed in an immersion suit but not if you are in
cold water with no protection.

The real problem is that guys get in over their head with conditions
not suitable for the boat, or in a boat that is not well
prepared/operated.


Around here, many people who frequently travel offshore own their own
EPIRBs and the USCG has a station at the inlet I use. Water temp is
rarely in the low 70's.

BAR wrote:
In articleAYKdnceH8ZeSSsTQnZ2dnUVZ_tCdnZ2d@giganews. com,
says...

I looked this one up before. It's surprising how short the effective
distance of VHF is before the horizon is a factor. Your 200' antenna
will reach only 17 miles. Two eight-foot antennae will only transmit
about miles.

http://www.ringbell.co.uk/info/hdist.htm


You first problem is you are using British electronics


No, just a British website.

Harryk wrote:
On 2/14/11 9:46 PM, Gene wrote:
On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 20:29:46 -0500, L wrote:

Gene wrote:
On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:42:13 -0500, L wrote:


Gene wrote:

On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:37:04 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:



http://enews.earthlink.net/article/u...5-ef95f7b033c7

A sad fishing accident.
Hey, at least it is boating so lets discuss it instead of spoofing.


"...their twin-engine boat's motor went out an hour later..."

Huh?







They took on water. Both were probably submerged.

That is kinda, my point.... It appears that they were as little as
three miles off shore and that the waves and wind were negligible.
Losing multiple engines usually means fuel, but in this case, since
they took on water and sank without appreciable wave action.... I
don't think they lost engines then took on water, I think just the
opposite occurred...


Perfect reason to have an EPIRB (if you can afford one) or at least a
submersible VHF handheld.

I was surprised by the water temperature... looks to be no better than
the mid 40's. Personally, I'd like to have some sort of clothing to
fight the cold (water) in that case...

Personal EPIRBs are, now, under $200..... you almost can't afford to
be without one....

I would never discourage anyone from carrying a VHS radio... but due
to their line-of-sight method of communication, if you are in the
water you have a VERY limited transmission radio. There are
exceptions. I am lucky enough to have a USCG station radio antenna at
about 200' height in the sand over the river, AICW, and ocean...
exactly where I boat. If you have a similar circumstance, it makes the
VHS a lot more reliable...






I looked this one up before. It's surprising how short the effective
distance of VHF is before the horizon is a factor. Your 200' antenna
will reach only 17 miles. Two eight-foot antennae will only transmit
about miles.

http://www.ringbell.co.uk/info/hdist.htm

Hmmmm.... depends.

Assuming I haven't sunk, I should be able to get out about 25
miles.... to the local USCG station.

Two 8' antennae will transmit about 8 miles.

One sea level antenna transmitting to my boat would reach about 5
miles...

None of those are particularly inspiring with respect to a solid sense
of safety....


Here is a better calculator...

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






I occasionally was able to listen to and transmit across Chesapeake
Bay with my handheld VHF to a head boat captain I know. I was just
outside Breezy Point Marina and he was about 10-12 miles away. I guess
his VHF antenna was about 12-14 feet or so above the waterline.

On a clear day, it was line of sight. I could see the opposite
shoreline but certainly not the head boat.
Line of sight doesn't mean you have to see it. Are you serious?

In article ,
says...

Harryk wrote:
On 2/14/11 9:46 PM, Gene wrote:
On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 20:29:46 -0500, L wrote:

Gene wrote:
On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:42:13 -0500, L wrote:


Gene wrote:

On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:37:04 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:



http://enews.earthlink.net/article/u...5-ef95f7b033c7

A sad fishing accident.
Hey, at least it is boating so lets discuss it instead of spoofing.


"...their twin-engine boat's motor went out an hour later..."

Huh?







They took on water. Both were probably submerged.

That is kinda, my point.... It appears that they were as little as
three miles off shore and that the waves and wind were negligible.
Losing multiple engines usually means fuel, but in this case, since
they took on water and sank without appreciable wave action.... I
don't think they lost engines then took on water, I think just the
opposite occurred...


Perfect reason to have an EPIRB (if you can afford one) or at least a
submersible VHF handheld.

I was surprised by the water temperature... looks to be no better than
the mid 40's. Personally, I'd like to have some sort of clothing to
fight the cold (water) in that case...

Personal EPIRBs are, now, under $200..... you almost can't afford to
be without one....

I would never discourage anyone from carrying a VHS radio... but due
to their line-of-sight method of communication, if you are in the
water you have a VERY limited transmission radio. There are
exceptions. I am lucky enough to have a USCG station radio antenna at
about 200' height in the sand over the river, AICW, and ocean...
exactly where I boat. If you have a similar circumstance, it makes the
VHS a lot more reliable...






I looked this one up before. It's surprising how short the effective
distance of VHF is before the horizon is a factor. Your 200' antenna
will reach only 17 miles. Two eight-foot antennae will only transmit
about miles.

http://www.ringbell.co.uk/info/hdist.htm

Hmmmm.... depends.

Assuming I haven't sunk, I should be able to get out about 25
miles.... to the local USCG station.

Two 8' antennae will transmit about 8 miles.

One sea level antenna transmitting to my boat would reach about 5
miles...

None of those are particularly inspiring with respect to a solid sense
of safety....


Here is a better calculator...

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






I occasionally was able to listen to and transmit across Chesapeake
Bay with my handheld VHF to a head boat captain I know. I was just
outside Breezy Point Marina and he was about 10-12 miles away. I guess
his VHF antenna was about 12-14 feet or so above the waterline.

On a clear day, it was line of sight. I could see the opposite
shoreline but certainly not the head boat.
Line of sight doesn't mean you have to see it. Are you serious?

WAFM!