Re: handheld vhf - Useable power and range

SolarFry@aol.com
Thu, 16 Dec 1999 15:43:45 EST


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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In a message dated 12/16/99 8:45:50 AM Pacific Standard Time,
kent@songbird.com writes:

<< what experience have people had with handhelds >>

My experience with a West Marine handheld VHF has been:

Range - optimal conditions 5 miles at max 5 Watt output channels. (It is
limited to 1 Watt power on certain channels. Battery life with Alkys
(1.369V) = 5 hours before range deteriorates (voltage after 5 hrs is 1.3V).
After 10 hours batts not usable for VHF. Remember that when you transmit,you
suck 6 to 8 Watts/hr. out of 4 batteries rated to put out 3 Watts/hr. (750
MAH each). With Rechargeable Alkalines (RA - 1.4V output) I get
approximately 10 hours of full time reception use. But only 7 hours if I use
transmit a lot. ON gps they seem to last forever. You must recharge after
every 10 hours of use if you want them to last forever.. I recharge after
each other use (2 uses)

My experiences with regular bulkhead mount large non portable vhf's has been:

Range is approximately line of sight or 12 miles (depending on battery juice
available). Will operate 24 hrs without recharging before killing battery
down to 2/3 voltage. Range in bad weather is reduced to 8 miles
approximately. Once you are more than 12 miles from receiver the reception
degrades rapidly until at 15 miles it is unintelligible. Outa sight iffy
reception/transmit.

Of course others may have different experiences. But mine are based on a
lifetime of use. Only 2 yrs of use on RA's. Somewhere on the web there was a
test of RA's and they achieved 4000 hrs life after repeated recharges. While
other batteries did not last more than 1000 hours.

SF