lol!

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lift me up!

I had a set of those "family channel" two-way radio's. (however, lost one) but decided that since I do like to fish by myself at times, it would be good to be able to reach someone in case of an emergency (USCG).

However, I have noticed on some of the FC radio's, they are now building GPS systems into them. These might solve couple of problems.

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Hobie Pro Angler 12

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Uniden MYSTIC Full VHF/GPS Mapping Marine Radio

Meet the Mystic: a full-featured DSC VHF marine radio and WAAS GPS navigation system all in one neat little package. It's perfect for any size boat, even personal watercraft. And with GPS accuracy down to 3 meters, so you'll always know right where you are. Mark your favorite fishing holes or other notable locations on the map, and then use the navigation system to plot your course. Or use the Mystic's built-in VHF radio, which has nearly all the features of a full-size deck unit, to send your coordinates to someone else.

JIS7 Submersible
Full Screen Mapping GPS
DSC (Digital Selective Calling)
Large Data Display Screens
Full Navigation Screens

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Be Happy , Don't worry

Chef, are you telling us that you bought this unit???? If so, I can now stay in touch with you when you take off paddling like a viking. When we fish, we usually see you at the put-in and then you are gone

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Hobie Pro Angler 12

hmm, may be

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Be Happy , Don't worry

Always have my Standard Horizon HX270S which is compact VHF & Weather channel unit. Fits nicely in my front PFD pocket. Waterproof up to 30' with 3 year warranty. Comes with rechargeable battery and charge lasts for quite some time. Think it was about $129 at West Marine.
As IslandSpeed says, cell phones are not dependable in the areas I fish. Although the places I fish aren't that remote, view it as a safety item in the event I encounter problems or come across someone else that does. Since I sometimes cross the Amelia River (ICW) with the large boat traffic, I like to have it in the event some boat is coming along and doesn't appear to be noticing me.

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Paddle faster, I think I hear banjos!!!

Dave
Red Perception Acadia II
Perception Search 13
Fernandina Beach, FL

Hey guys, was in West Marine this week and they had a pair of Cobra VHF Radios in a package for only $129 I believe. Don't know anything about the battery life of them or their performance, but for two of them...

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I have been banned from this site because I acted like a jerk too often and show a total lack of respect to others and the management of this site.

Jerry, I also have a Uniden Voyager, great lil unit. I also often fish alone and I agree it's a great thing to have along in case... those whistles can only be heard by someone within range and some of us fish outside of hearing range. Think more of us should have them and designate a channel for yakers.

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I Thought I Had Lobster, But Now I Have Flounder!

http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/arti ... _usage.php

"Basically the general boating public monitors and calls each other on
either Ch.9 or Ch.16. After you make contact with another vessel you move your conversation to one of the Non-Commercial (Recreational) channels.
When you need the Coast Guard, they monitor Ch.16.
Ch.13 is used by tall or constrained vessels to communicate with draw and swing bridge operators asking for bridges to be opened.
Ch.68, Ch.69, Ch.71 & Ch.78a are the Recreational channels that we use to carry on normal conversations with each other.
Ch.72 is a Recreational channel that is supposed to be used for inter-ship only but we use it as a regular Rec channel anyway.
Channels- 24,25,26,27,28,84,85,86,87,88 are all Marine Operator channels that we use to make "Ship-to-Shore" calls.
If you need to call someone on a landline, ask for the Marine Operator on one of those channels and they will dial the number for you and charge it to a phone number (Yours or theirs).

I have used CBs and the new FRS family radios with the kayaks. The VHF radios are vastly superior to both.
The two other advantages are the ability to call the Coast Guard and most of the new VHF radios have all the NOAA Weather Channels.

The current pair of VHFs that I have came with large 1200ma NiCad rechargeable batteries and a separate battery holder for AA batteries (if the nicad ran down). They can also be charged in the car from 12volt as well as the 110vAC charger.

I had Icom-s in the past but changed to the new Standard Horizon radios this year when they brought out the AA battery pack, car charger, and they are submersible-waterproof.

The following are the channel usages for channels in the US. I didn't list all the details but enough so you'll know what the channels are used for.


CH. US Channel Use
01A Port operations & Commercial VTS in selected areas.
03A US Government only- Coast Guard.
04A Pacific coast- Coast Guard; East coast- Comm. fishing.
05A Port operations; VTS in Seattle
06 Inter-ship safety.
07a Commercial
08 Commercial (inter-ship only)
09 Boater Calling Channel- Commercial & Recreational
10 Commercial
11 Commercial, VTS in selected areas
12 Port operations; VTS in selected areas
13 Inter-ship navigation safety (Bridge-to-Bridge).
14 Port operations; VTS in selected areas.
15 Environmental (Receive only).
16 International Distress, Safety & Calling.
17 State Controlled (1watt).
18A Commercial.
19A Commercial.
20A Port operations.
21A US Government Only.
22A US & Canadian Coast Guard Liaison.
23A US Government Only.
24 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator).
25 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator).
26 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator).
27 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator).
28 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator).
61A US Government Only.
63A Port operations; VTS in selected areas.
64A US Government Only.
65A Port operations.
66A Port operations.
67 Commercial; Bridge-to-Bridge Lower Mississippi.
68 Non-Commercial (Recreational).
69 Non-Commercial (Recreational).
70 Digital selective calling (no voice communication).
71 Non-Commercial (Recreational).
72 Non-Commercial (inter-ship only).
73 Port operations.
74 Port operations.
77 Port operations (inter-ship only).
78A Non-Commercial (Recreational).
79A Commercial; Non-Commercial Great Lakes only.
80A Commercial; Non-Commercial Great Lakes only.
81A US Government Only- EPA operations.
82A US Government Only.
83A US Government Only- Coast Guard.
84 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator).
85 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator).
86 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator).
87 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator).
88 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)Canadian border
88A Commercial, inter-ship only.
(VTS- US Coast Guard- Vessel Traffic System).

Those of you who have used radios from your kayaks understand the convenience.
Hopefully we will all eventually have VHFs and be able to swap info or just say Hi when we see another kayaker fishing.
The safety issue goes without saying.

When I'm fishing with friends in the kayaks we normally leave our radios on Ch.69. (Think of it as the kayaker's Ch.19). When my wife goes with me and sets up camp at the car I leave a VHF with her."

From TKFF

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Dave

Rockfish Dave, thanks for the post, very valuable info. I had most of it but am sure many don't.

I highly recommend more of our group invest in a vhf radio and I am going to start monitoring channel 69 unless someone else has another channel that for some reason makes sense locally. These lil units can be very valuable inshore and should be considered essential if you are going offshore. West Marine currently is running a special on the Uniden Voyager for $149, the smallest handheld, submersible on the market and it has all the features.

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I Thought I Had Lobster, But Now I Have Flounder!

I have a pair of VHFs although they aren't good submersibles which I'd really like to have. Particularly handy when fishing in the ocean for chatting with other yakkers and boats, or in a mothership scenario.

I like the VHF radios with the GPS in them, but they are not that small. May have to just buy them seperate

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Women, Harley Davidson, and Kayaks, . . . If I have to explain, you would not understand

FLDave and I both used ours today when fishing. Was very handy went out of voice range. You can also use them to cuss out a boater who blast by you with a large wake They are required to have onboard

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Hobie Pro Angler 12

Being new here and just looking around, I found this thread.

I just purchased the Herizon VX471S. Small and portable it has Marine VHF, FRS, Air bands and MURs bands as well as AM and FM radio. Now I can even have some tunes while on the river or inshore.

Standard Horizon, Standard Horizon, Standard Horizon! They have a great 3 yr warranty...

I have this model as a backup... only $85 Submersible, comes with charger, and backup battery pack.

http://planetgps.net/stdhx270s.html

Chris

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www.liquidfishing.com