How to Build the Best VHF RADIO [Capable Cruising Guides] 

I am captain on a tug boat I use a vhf all day every day. My radios usually fail because either the microphone button wore out or the wires in the mic wire broke. I use both ICOM and Standard Horizon both function identical, I prefer the older ones with actual knobs instead of buttons. I swear by Morad antennas because they last. The fiberglass powerboat style ones break quickly. The vibration causes the wires inside to break. Plus the sun will delaminate them. I used a metal whip 3db sailboat style antenna for my ais which held up well. Also if you have a DSC equipped radio take the time to wire it to a GPS so it has time and position. I will stop beeping at you. That's about all I can pass on from my wheelhouse. Thanks for the video.

Really good information clearly told. In the late 70’s and early 80’s our fishing club used CB radios in addition to our VHF radios on our skiffs. One of my friends blew an outdrive about a mile east of Bimini. He tried to call for help on his CB and go a response from someone who said where’s Bimini. My friend said it’s 55 miles east of Miami. The other person said he was just outside of Knoxville, TN and could not help. My friend said his 21’ skiff back to Florida using his Bimini top as a sail.

Excellent coverage of a much misunderstood topic. Also coax looses more power if it gets deformed, pinched, flattened, bent too tight, looped excessively. Technical stuff: Some antennas work with a ground plane like the 3db quarter wave whip. Their pattern suffers without a good ground plane, which is another piece of the system not always addressed on boats. Some antennas work without a ground plane, like the 6db design you prefer. For people who want deeper understanding, buy the ARRL Antenna handbook as a place to start.

Nice one Clark! Very informative. Love you guys! One thing I would have touched on and is generally overlooked is the twisting/shielding and routing of the power wires. A large percentage of you will say it doesn't matter because its DC, however I would have to disagree based on experience. Remember that day when you were so proud of your new car stereo install and it sounded so good ….until you started your car. There was a terrible whine that was proportional to the rpm of the engine...You had to fix this using an EMI filter. I am a design engineer in aerospace and defense (specifically designing automated test systems for electronic..."things that are critical to your survival"). Collective data would support twisting of the power wires as the default go-to if cost and weight do not prohibit its use. When in doubt twist them and shield them. Two reasons....1. Reduced susceptibility to noise from other magnetic fields. 2. Reduced magnetic radiation from loads that are switching. Additionally, the routing of these wires is even more critical. Its generally a bad idea to run power wires to your radio in parallel with wires going to your bilge pumps, transducers, stereo speaker wires, shore power lines, etc. I'm guessing there is a filter circuit on the power input side of a quality radio, but to cut costs in a Chinese radio I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't exist at all. Scenario: Your sinking and the bilge pumps are now running full bore, and an inductive interference is now coupled to your radio when your calling for Mayday. All they hear at the other end is a whining bilge pump with some guy garbled underneath all the noise. Greetings from Clearwater!

I served in the australian navy as a comms operator and found this explanation and advice excellent for general sailors. by the way for cable connections we covered them in impregnated cotton wrap which would last for years preventing water penetration. very difficult to remove though.

Great video, I am a ham and the info in this video is spot on. Good equipment, good connections, water,proofing to keep corrosion down. Understanding db, antenna placement. Good stuff for the layman to adhere to.

Love the tech talk and story sandwich. The stories brought a lot of life to something that might have, otherwise, been a little more difficult to see the applicability behind.

Some pointers: I’d recommend going to 1/2” RF cable instead, it has lower loss, and has a solid corrugated copper shield, which means a hole in the outer sheath won’t wick water into the cable. You’ll need to add two more connectors and move to a thinner cable at both ends, but if you use N-type connectors the loss in the connectors will be less than the loss of the RG-213. There’s also other options that are a bit more flexible, but they are a lot more expensive. For connectors, I recommend first taping the joint with self-vulcanizing tape (silicone if you can find it), and then taping over it with 3M Super 88 electrical tape (this is the stuff you want, there’s nothing like it), this is how we do radio systems for critical infrastructure.

I LOVE THE STORIES!!! Also great info on the inner workings of the radio system, much appreciated!!

VHF theoretical range. 1.23 x the square root of your mast height above the water's surface in feet. Versus 1.18 for line of sight. So, yup, up the mast she goes! Also, some thought given for grounding of some sort for lightning strike:) ie the outside of the pl-259 to the mast. Great video!

You guys are amazing! I appreciate and value the info you guys contribute to the cruising life. This was a great episode and the stories were the icing!

Clark, you and Emily are both good teachers and I love hearing your stories. 😇🤩

Good job. One thing when running coax is to avoid very sharp bends. If your bend is too sharp the inner wire can migrate through the insulation and touch the outer wire over time causing a dead short. Also worth mentioning that super cheap tv coax is 75 ohm and should be avoided. SWR meters really come into their own when tuning an antenna.

The stories take time ...and while initially seem like unnecessary, are in fact reminders that some items on the boat are critical for survival, if not your own, someone else...there is nothing more depressing than to be aware of a distress situation and the feeling of helplessness if you are not able to help...while being able to help makes for a better life and my belief that good Karma will be returned many times more than expected, so thank you Clark for the stories, they fill out the purpose of a life well lived...congrats!

Thanks! I will be checking out the radio installation after I buy our first sailboat in the coming year, and now I know what to plan for!

Love this Clark! Full on geek out and brilliant stories too. Thanks for sharing. Good reminder that sometimes having the best gear is about being able to help in general, not just whatever your own use case might be.

I shared this in an online discussion, I can't remember where, but it was appreciated.

Good explanation and story telling. I really like your channel. Keep up the good work. Thanks and fair winds.

Your help is saving lives. You are amazing. You helped me. Thank you.

Always nuggets of great information with you two. Thank you for sharing.

Excellent advice Clark. The last boat that owned me was a 34' Tolly. Icom VHF, 10 gage power wire, with 6 4700 mfd 35 volt caps parallel at the entry point. Shakespeare 1/2 wave 17' antenna, RG8X coax, soldered PL239's, fold down mount like yours. 60 mile range most days.

Love the practical advice. Youve been along side me on my journey ...thanks clarke.

Great video Clark. I always enjoy the technical part of the videos, but I think we all learn so much from your stories and even (if any) mistakes, so please continue to give us stories. One thing, on checking for voltage drop on the circuit feeding the radio while it's on and transmitting, if the spade connectors are aren't easy to access with the voltmeter, for some it might be helpful to make a temporary "T" splice to plug in and allow access with the meter leads. Cheers

❣️ Love your stories ❣️ and a huge thanks for your expertise on that topic again 😊 Perfect add on to Emily‘s great vid 😍

Love your stories! As a beginner sailor, I started to get some nice stories to tell too, until now, mainly what goes wrong. I'll check my VHF cables and antenna, thanx so much for sharing your expertise.

EXCELLENT job done on the topic . As a technician in the Royal Australian Navy and now as a Ham radio trainer I fully agree with everything covered here. Cheers

This is awesome information. Thank you!

You both are just a wealth of knowledge thank you again for sharing with us

Thank you for all this good information. We bought a new (to us) boat that the radio appeared to work to the surveyor when the mast was down and in a barn. But in sailing her, we could hear on the radio but not transmit. I thought I would have to replace the radio, but after listening to this I will now first check the antenna wire. Thank you!

Hey Clark, thanks for this info. I’m not a boater (yet), but I’m finding our all I can before we take the leap into boating. You and Emily are interesting and fun, but mostly informative. So thanks from Southern UK in 2022.

Great information as always. Amazing stories! Thank you

Excellent video and well explained. Keep up the great work!

Good to hear your (to me) sound reasoning and such, Gr8 Video!!!

Great video! I've been refitting an old Hughes 38 and the radios were installed with soldered alligator clips! So I've been trying to figure how to install a good radio set up. This really helped!

Great video, thanks for informing

You guys simply rock! I love all the actual break down of the how tos. Whether it’s Clark doing a vid like this, or Emily doing the cooking and canning food prep, this is an absolute gem of a channel!

Awesome video, Clark! I for one would like to put my vote in for the video to track down where the power drains are!

Love the stories! They are great teaching tools. Thanks!

Good video. I listened because I'm installing a radio for the first time. But, I have to say... The stories were my favorite part! Thank you for the video.

GREAT ADVICE, thank you! I just found your channel because RU-vid recommended your boat electrics playlist when I ordered a new set of buses on Amazon (my $200 eBay sailboat has a short somewhere). Weird times we live in, but anyway, it was really helpful and I shared it with my brother, who lives in the Keys, and is always helping friends troubleshoot their 12v systems. He said it’s an awesome playlist and has favorited your channel to pass on to others. THANK YOU!

Very imformative and precise. Thank you very much. Safe voyage :)

First , people try to power too many things straight to the battery, go from battery to a fuse box, with the right size wire, , then power the radio , with the right size wire , this also provides power for more accessories. thanks for the vid

This is one of the best, most informative, and well presented videos I’ve ever seen! Many thanks for sharing your experience, knowledge, and wisdom!

Thank you, Clark that really helped

Very informative, thank you Clark.

Valuable content. Thanks for sharing. You’re one of the first engineers I heard that doesn’t talk like an engineer.

Hi Clark ,great vid on explaining how to get the best out of a marine vhf ,thank you..to answer your request ..often on FB discussions lead to refrigeration problems, battery ,aircon etc and when i decide to comment and add my 10 cents worth ,I often refer people to your channel because of your interesting detailed way of explaining the how too and why it works on your subjects you discussed . .thanks again to you and Emily for a great channel

Really good video on radio kit for a newbie (me) to watch. Thank you fellah! :)

I like your tech wisdom! Thank you for sharing

Wonderful video Clark!

Another great video - thanks Clark! Being a retired commo guy in the military I appreciated your simple explanations

great information ℹ️ , love 💕 the story. Watching your videos from Kentucky “The Bluegrass State “. USA 🇺🇸

EXCELLENT video! I've been a Ham radio operator since 1978 or so (and have been using radio even longer), and I used to sail quite a bit, plus I spent six years in the US Navy working on RDF systems at sea. You covered all the good points in a way that anybody should be able to understand, whether they had any experience or training in the field or not. Your stories are on point and not too long; vital to the topic! The only triviality I can think of is the 3dB vs 6dB graphics: I know this is anal and probably more trouble than it's really worth, but I've tried to train people in a variety of situations...I think many people would be caught by the 2D illustration. I'm sure a 3D toroid image, especially if it moved with the boat, would have gone into people's brains like gangbusters. Perhaps pointing out that the illustrations represented a "doughnut shape" would have helped. Perhaps a bit more on weatherproofing those cables? I used ScotchKote, I think it was called, after packing the fittings with silicon grease (that's what dielectric grease normally is; other greases--even petroleum jelly--will degrade insulation materials), and then wrapping the whole fitting in self-vulcanized tape (several types available at hardware stores, in the electrical or even plumbing sections), and finally covering with a good abrasion-resistant tape and smearing the whole mess with goo such as EPDM or even outdoor silicon window caulk. Yes, it's money, but after spending so much on a cable, I want that cable to last. I'm glad I stumbled onto this video, even though you're not actually "building" a radio itself, but rather building a radio system. Liked and subscribed!

Great video, well explained, very useful.

Excellent video. I learned a lot. Thank you!

Great Video. Thanks

Having SWR properly adjusted reduce the heat on your power transistors in your radio. SWR is really important. Regarding coaxial cables, you also get them UV treated (and people need to know to NOT get the non UV protected ones). Personally I like to use High gain metal antennas, they've lasted a long time for me. Also a shorter whip (black thin ones) are good as a backup mounted away from the mast in case of demasting. Obviously not as good as an antenna in the mast, but in an emergency you would like to have all the bells and whistles. Having satellite is of course a choice, but I am not doing a crossing without it. Thank you so much for the video and have a great day! 😊

I love this. Rocket surgery lol 😂 but covering why and how it works. Understanding makes all the difference in my opinion. Thanks Clark ☺️

Very good. Missing is at least a mention of installing a dedicated cheap GPS antenna powered by the same circuit, a $30 part, that when combined with obtaining and programming an MMSI number gives your vhf radio the ability in the USA to send your gps location to authorized after pressing distress button. So many people fail to set this up, mentioning the importance in your video would contribute to awareness. The coast guard can better respond when they are convinced you know exactly where you are, and it helps novice boaters better succeed with the radio when the skipper is incapacitated. In addition products like the MOB1 can be setup to work with your vhf radio to alert crew if you fall out of boat. See if you can edit and include early on when you describe the install process involves antenna and power wire. Dan, marine electronics writer, practical sailor magazine.

Great info about “how to” in this episode!

What an excellent video, just found your RU-vid videos, subscribed and will pass it on to friends.

Nice video. I used a really good cable to replace my coax up the mast and did all the right stuff. It was a new antenna too. Struggled with it all th way down to El Salvador. Range was like 3 miles. I had even replaced connectors and soldered them at the bottom of the mast, even used gold plated connectors. I used a swr meter on it and it always pointed me too the mast base connection. I finally stripped it back, cut off the connects, and soldered the core leads together. Liquid electrical taped it, electrical taped it, amalgamated taped it heat shrieked it, and took the shielding braid and soldered and sealed all that and sealed the whole thing. My tested range was 28 miles with the 3db antenna. We were good with that. 22 years later I added an AIS and auto splitter and our range went down considerably, and the AIS especially. Turns out AIS frequencies are just above marine VHF and we were getting a lot of reflection. I bought a 4db combo vhf AIS antenna and all my problems went away. Interestingly enough my range increased to about 60 miles now confirmed by San Diego Coast Guard. That higher db antenna helped and I think the antenna switch has a booster built in.

Great video

Seriously, this channel really differentiates. You really pack a punch by making really intrinsic knowledge easily understood and accessible. The two of you are amazing. Keep up the good work!!!

Another great video, thanks!

Love this. The little things make all the difference. Most people don't worry about the little things until it is too late. You want your safety equipment available and ready before the emergency happens!

Hello Emily & Clark.. Ive been watching since you 1st got together but I seldom comment. First, THANK YOU for the very interesting content and your knowledge. (I have to chuckle that Emily is filming and quiet behind the camera). Sure appreciate that you both keep life simple and explain clearly. (I built a dink too..thanks Emily) I'm refitting my Tartan 37 and your videos are my guiding light. Fair winds.

Fantastic presentation. Subscribed.

This is a great explanation and from my experience, accurate.

Once again the tutorials are great. I have some knowledge of this through HAM and CB radios on land but it's nice to know how to set up the VHF for offshore use! I just bought my first sailboat and am beginning the learning process in freshwater here in my home state of South Carolina. I dream of doing what you guys are doing when I retire. Keep the videos going, great job and I appreciate it.

Thank you, very informative, going to upgrade my coax cable and cut to length after seeing that chart with the gains. Yes, I installed the free cable wire (cheap stuff) that came with the antenna and wound all the extra cable up.

Thanks SO much to both of you for giving us all these great tips and info! We are gathering and keeping them all for future installations and ventures..We are Alberta ranchers with a dream..building our own blue water 32 foot sailboat, in our shop, alongside our farm equipment.. We spend all our "free time" LOL( . when the cow herds and crops don't need our imminent attention ..like between midnight and 5 AM!!) ..on our boat. SV FORTUNE FOUND...We love her already and hope to splash her on the west coast of Canada in 2023. And then join you cruisers in some warmer climes!! You two are helping us to do it RIGHT from the START!! SO PLEASE BE AS DETAILED AS YOU CAN.. NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR THAT! We gobble this stuff up.. Cheers from Mac and Maggie.

context is king. Great video and valuable information👍

Who knew? You don't know what you don't know. Thanks AGAIN for a very good presentation on some very important kit.

I live 300 miles from the nearest ocean and haven't been on a boat in probably 26 years, but I still found this interesting as a radio nerd.

I like ypur channel. Your videos are always so edifying.

Fantastic, especially the table of comparison of different wires and antennae, thanks!

Thank you for such a great lesson. Really appreciate it.

great information , thanks

Ham radio guy here. Great job and video. The one point I would also stress is that the loss in the coax and the gain of the antenna BOTH affect your ability to RECEIVE just as much as it does on transmitting. If your Effective Radiated Power is one fourth due to the small antenna and coax, you receive one fourth as much signal as well. I tell the new ham operators that want to get a 65 or 70 watt mobile (we are allowed RIDICULOUS power...) to put the extra dollars into the antenna. (We use dual band VHF/UHF antennas, there are many types from 17" to over 5', more IS MORE. Base dual band antennas go to 17')

This vid was just perfect and has helped me immensely. Big wip for the rib it is then with quality cable. Thank you. In cb terms we used to adjust swr by adjusting length of aerial I presume not needed with vhf. 👍👍👍

Congrats on the 50k subs!

This is amazing, thank you! Just bought a boat this summer and brought it home -- will have to install VHF this winter~ Thank you~

Thanks for the video, this knowledge is invaluable helping understanding is important.

Awesome as always Clark thanks, I love a story ;))

good explanation off yout old skool radio lessen over a marine VHF, like that .

Good video! I am a Ham and have been Radio enthusiast for decades, This was a great explanation of some of the finer points of a good install, and why things like a good power source are important as well as the basics of low loss coax and a good antenna are the true keys to a good install. The comment about not spending a lot on the radio itself was dead on. 25 watts is the Max any of them can illegal put out as mandated by the FCC, my advice would be, pick the radio with the best heat sink at the best price! and try to provide a place for radio that is protected from direct sunlight and rain. ... nice job!

Thanks Clark

Great stuff. Well done. First time viewer from BlackBeard Country,,Beaufort,N.C..Hurricane Alley.,,,TharShe Blows!! Yo hoho & Anutter Bottle of Rum.! Have same Uniden rig, plus Hf.ssb gear. DiPoles and Verticles. Great vid Cap'n. May Your Vessle Sail smoothly. 73's.

I do marine electronics work for a living. Everything you said was totally on point.

Full disclosure: I was trained in the Navy to repair comm equipment (though not to OPERATE it ;-) , I hold a Extra Class Amateur Radio license and have operated VHF for most of the time I’ve been a ham (since 1993). Kudos on a great video, especially for the less electronics-technically inclined sailor. Would really enjoy a video on your ham gear & setup, experiences with it, if you use Pactor for email while at sea (Winlink or Seamail?), etc. General and, hopefully, kibbitzing comments: 1. DC power connection to radio - clean, solid connections through properly sized wire is an absolute imperative. Recommend using a wire voltage drop table to properly size the wire between the battery and the radio to ensure that the radio gets 12 volts and above. Use the current that the radio is spec’d to draw on TRANSMIT. Radios tend to get very cranky when the supply voltage drops below 12Vdc. Note re supply power: As marine VHF radios us FM modulation, for a given power setting modulation (one’s voice into the microphone) has no effect on output RF power. Simply keying the radio is enough to measure the voltage at the radio dc power terminals/connections 2. Coax: Agree 100%: RG-58 SUCKS for VHF. Loss over a short length ( a few feet isn’t enough to lose any sleep over, but from the nav station to the antenna, LMR-400 ULTAFLX (Times Microwave) is an excellent choice. Recommend the ULTRAFLX over standard LMR-400 as the former has a stranded center conductor to give the cable flexibility vs, the solid center conductor of the latter that makes for some pretty stiff cable. For some reason, West Marine doesn’t offer LMR-400 ULTRAFLX but it is readily available from amateur radio equipment suppliers. 3. RF connections: ESPECIALLY in salt water environments, use self-fusing rubber electrical tape (e.g., Scotch Tape 70 or 3Mself-amalgamating tape) to wrap the connection from the connector toward and down the cable. Add a second wrap of electrical tape over the first to protect it from UV and salt-air. If wrapping a PL259-SO239 barrel-PL259, start several inches from one of the PL259. 4. RF cable water intrusion from experience (30 min point in the video): for my money where my life might depend on my radio, if any water invades coax, esp where one end of the cable is up in the air, I would not depend on it. I strongly recommend replacing the entire length. Compared to the cost of lots of boater stuff, at about $2.30/ft, replacing a length is cheap insurance. 5. Antenna height: height = range. Open air (no obstructions) NOMINAL range in miles can be calculated as 1.42 x square root H1 + H2 where H is the heights of the station antennas in feet. >However

Shared on patreon with The Prepared Mind. Shared because great info and stories of why you need to be prepared. If you think about a boat it's gotta have everything for life. So water, food, shelter, first aid/medications, means of defense, and a plan.

Good video ☺️

Great video with great info. I would like to see how to make the connections. Thanks.

As usual very informative. Now that you have covered VHF time to go over the marine SSB.

Another great video! Love the stories

First time view and just subscribed, plain speak to us new to boating!

Great video .. I would add good quality connectors.. with as you said taking care to attach the connectors right

Good video. I am right with you on power loss in DC supply lines. Also with radios. Yes RG213 is an excellent choice for cable, though I would argue crimp connectors, with the proper tooling, may have an advantage over solder/screw cinch types in that the solder creates a possible point where metal fatigue can occur where the solder and copper junction end. I personally use N type crimp whenever possible. They come in stainless and have o rings built in to inhibit moisture. I still wrap them though. I also have tried several methods to stabilize the cable inside the mast to eliminate wear and noise from the constant slapping against the inside of the mast. I would be hesitant with dielectric grease inside the connectors. It is lossy at higher frequencies, not so much at VHF though. I used to install microwave systems over coax. We found SELF FUSING SILICON RUBBER TAPE such as Rescue Tape to be very effective at sealing the connectors outdoors exposed to weather. I have had good experience with 5/8 wave antennas as they have a good horizontal pattern and are not excessively long and have about 4db of gain.

Fantastic advice. I wish I'd replaced my cable while my mast was down - live and learn. Thanks.