The recreational boaters guide (and maritime safety authority, MSA) recommends VHF as the number one communication tool when at sea. Range can be very good thanks to repeater stations. Distress calls are most likely to be picked up, either by coast guard, commercial ships, aircraft or other boats. Rescue response is also likely to be sure, swift and professional. A base station unit is also likely to be connected to a good battery power source that will last for days. Hand held VHF units work but the battery life is short, power and range is low and they can be lost overboard easily.
The other option for a small recreational boat is a 27 Mhz marine radio base-station. It's cheaper to buy, doesn't need a licence but has limited power, range is only about 5 miles or less and the users are limited in numbers and may not have advanced rescue skills. I had a 27 mhz on the Endeavor 24, it seemed to work only as you get within a few km of a port. Most of the time it seemed to be out of range of anyone.
A third option is a mobile phone. Its a very limited solution as it can only call one other phone and you need to know that number. Conversely, only people with your phone number can hail you. Battery life is short and it can be lost overboard, as i found out the hard way on sail #3 when my Samsung Galaxy mini fell out of a top pocket and sank slowly out of sight forever.
Re-installation
Once the 12 volt power was restored, i plugged the VHF unit back in and all the display lights, power lights channel numbers etc seemed to be working. The squelch worked too. The power fuse was already in the cable.
The original antenna was unfit for service, so bought a GME 1.8m fiberglass whip antenna from Bias boating for $70. This included the adjustable deck/transom mount, 5 m long coaxial cable and end plug.
In theory an antenna should be as high as practical or possible to increase the radios effective range. A mast head mount on a yacht gets the maximum range but it would be harder to fit up and need a long cable etc. For practical fitting reasons i wanted the antenna on the hull. To avoid fouling main sheet and jibsheets sails etc it had to be down aft. Not enough deck or coaming width for the base so looked at the transom. A small stainless plate was glued on port side transom, on removal it revealed old antenna mount holes.
So redrilled some holes and bedded the antenna mount down on silicone sealant. It is held on by 3 stainless through-hull nuts and bolts. The coaxial cable was lead through the starboard locker, through a hole already in the cabin bulkhead. The whip can be removed and adjusted with a simple thumb screw.
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| VHF radio antenna base - transom mounted |
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| VHF radio antenna |
I remounted the VHF radio in the cabin. This time it was mounted in the cabin corner under the deck-head near the main hatch. It is angled about 45 degrees to the boats center-line. This is so the readout is at a good working level and the unit can be operated from the helm when underway or from the cabin. It's also protected from salt water and weather by the deck and hatch cover.
The power cable was long enough to go back to the port side switch board box, it looks like an earlier owner had the radio somewhere on starboard as some radio stickers were also here.
The power and antenna cables were tidied up. I used plastic self-adhesive cable guides from the hardware to hold the cables in place and out of the way.
You are supposed to have a marine radios operators licence to use a VHF transceiver, mostly because commercial ships also use the system and operators need to know the correct protocols and procedures as used by professional seafarers. Being my first VHF radio ever, i made an inquiry phone call to the Townsville volunteer coast guard. It's possible to do the exam online through the Australian Maritime College (AMC) website based in Hobart, or do a course locally at the coast guard. After downloading the PDF radio operators manual and studying it, i opted for the course.
It's possible to own a VHF radio unit without a licence, just listen in and can respond to distress calls or call for help,, but to get full use of it a licence is needed.
So visited the Coast Guard Headquarters at Ross Creek. The first thing was to become an associate coast guard member or rescue member. Yourself and one boat now costs $80 per year. I filled out the form with car and boat registration and contact details etc. Received my membership card , number and sticker.
The Townsville volunteer coast guard covers an area from Palm Island to Cape Cleveland and seaward to the outer reef around 60 km offshore. It's affiliated with Ingham coastguard which covers Hinchinbrook Island and Orpheus Islands in the Palm group. It's a bit like rescue insurance, rescue by the coast guard's launch is covered for members. (It cost's about $160/hr to run the rescue launch). Also members get priority and discounts for courses run at the coast guard.
I signed up for the next 2 day VHF/ radio course and licence. They are run 4 times a year, once every 3 months, and take up to 20 students each time. Received my MROCP (Marine Radio Operators Certificate of Proficiency) card by mail from AMC (Australia Maritime College) issued March 2014. It covers VHF and HF radios.
The first tip i got was the repeater station on channel 22 is located on Mt Stuart which is about 1,800 ft above sea level. This gives the VHF a very good range and power for coastal and reef boats. So one evening while finishing the radio off at home, i switched it on to channel 22, the antenna was stowed below but it was raining so left it there. At 1900 hours out of the blue, i was surprised to receive my first message something like this "All Stations, All stations, All stations. This is Townsville coast guard...signing off, resuming operations at 0700 tomorrow, OUT".. Eureka, the VHF radio on Ch22 works even when antenna-less.
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