Hey I am thinking of getting a radio thing to use on my boat to communicate with some of you guys about fish and such when I am out fishing and I was wondering how much they cost and what one I should get?

I have a VHF Radio purchased from Boaters World...... ICOM # 31-631-1679 $169.00

Shakespeare 8' Antenna # 31-603-1657-5102 $76.99

Shakespeare Ratchet Antenna Mount
# 31-907-0017 $32.99

justlearning, how far away can you pick up signals from?

Well most the time I am out at night and if another boat is with me we are pretty close. I have been at the mouth of the rivers and picked up a friend at the dock of BIBT with is at buoy 20, so that was about 5 miles. At night I pick up the dispatcher for Clarksville police. If I fished more during the day I could probably give you a better idea how far, most of the chit-chat I here at night very seldom do I hear a location.

Same for us. VHF is line-of-site for the most part. The higher the antenna off the water, longer range.

Similar to CB in that the long whip antenna with no coil will outperform the shorter "coil" antennas a little, partly due to height and partly due to signal capability and losses.

You can only legally transmit on a handful of stations, which will be pointed-out in the owner's manual, but its enough to do the job. Being so far inland, practically speaking, protocols are pretty loose at Kerr, but in tidal waters there is a lot more structure in exactly how you need to operate.