Uhf radios are not certified as a marine radio and you will get pinged if they check your boat and expect a fine worth about the cost of a Vhf radio. This is because they are not monitored by the rescue groups and your distress signal will not be received if you send one out and again you won't be able to contact any other boats in your vicinity.

In time you will find that the sea rescue groups will not monitor 27 meg marine radios  and will mainly work on Vhf and Hf , Vhf for the better range and clarity and Hf as the boats get bigger and venture further to sea and out of Vhf range.

27mhz is basically UHF in its function, behaviour and range.

If you want a handheld for marine purposes get yourself a waterproof VHF. I would get one even going 500m offshore in the ocean. Even though mobile phones can work in some places withing 5 miles, they dont work if they get dunked.

Plus i dont know if there are handheld 27mhz radios and the Sea Rescue mobs i think dont  monitor CB UHF???

27mhz is nothing like UHF mate i don't know where you got that from especially in it's behaviour and range. 27MHz is a AM transmission due to the bandwidth of the channel, somewhere around 9khz total channel spacing and operates in the HF spectrum and can have very good range but poor quality (think about the difference in quality from listen to 6PR to say 96.1FM - this is the difference between 27Mhz and VHF). UHF in in the 300Mhz to 3Ghz but for the ease of it all we are talking 476MHz, it's a FM transmission that used to be a 25khz channel but now reduced to 12.5khz due to to needing more space in the RF spectrum but the older ones still use the 25khz spacing and has much clearer audio but 30km max range LOS.

Lets keep this simple and future proof. All boaties in a few eyars time will require a VHF radio to be carried in the parameters listed above. you technically need a radio operators proficiency licence to operate one but this is in the process of being scrapped. many companies do VHF handheld radios and is a worth while option but if you have a battery onboard for echo sounder etc then just mount a fixed unit and get better range due to the antenna you can mount and the fact you can switch to 25W

Cheers blokes.

Will look into getting the VHF... looking at this little unit:

http://www.gme.net.au/products/radio-communications/vhf-handhelds/GX620

Certainly don't mind paying a few $$$ extra to ensure safety...

Will also have a chat to a boat electrician as I currently have a small battery that powers my echo sounder and bilge pump. I have a handheld GPS unit so I would imagine the battery would have plenty of capacity to host a radio... just need to get it confirmed.

Forget handhelds then, the have small antennas :. smaller range

When you get the GME radio don't forget to check if you get the 240V charger with it as well, it doesn't come standard.

HF covers the band 3Mhz to 30Mhz and therefore includes 27meg

Can be both noisy and unreliable BUT and in remote Australia it remains a huge BUT - this band is capable and frequently does provide through tropospheric and ionospheric "skip" coverage meaning that the signals are capable of being picked up all over Australia depending upon sunspot activity which ionises the ionosphere causing the signals even at low power to literally travel around the world ..........as an ex-ham If I was boating in a remote area of Australia I would certainly carry 27Mhz radio on my boat           

VHF provides more reliable relatively short range communication and this is often enhanced with the use of repeater stations generally in Australia 156 and 157 Mhz  - great coverage in metro and regional centres sea rescue groups   

UHF is generally line of sight and provides crystal clear noise free communication short range 

Hope I have remembered all my radio theory - it was years and years ago   

Sunshine is pretty spot on.

I have a UHF and 27meg on my boat presently -  looking at also putting in a VHF.

I use the UHF as a backup as in an emergency it is possible I may be able to raise a local farmer or someone on land. Some of the places I fish are not monitered (VHF) and not always other boats around (and I'm not relying on them having thier radio switched on either). 

I also use the UHF to speak with another mate on his boat who also has UHF aboard (and other boats with 27meg/VHF can't hear us saying come here I'm on the mother load).  He also has a UHF in his 4WD and uses it when lauching/retreiving to speak to the driver in the car. as they're are backing down etc. 

UHF is capable of long distances under certain conditions but I wouldn't put my life on anything further than line of sight.   I remember coming across a remote car accident on one occasion - couldn't raise anyone (not even a truckie on 40) on the UHF we had in the car but two nights later was speaking to someone in the USA

Cheers

I would seriously consider a fullsize marine VHF tranciever, If you are venturing out to the FFB.

Handhelds are OK for short range comms, and if you look at the maufactures web site thats what this unit is recomended for.

Hand held cons

Poor antenna system.

3w output compared to 25w for a normal marine radio

Batteries tend to fail from being left in chargers for extended periods.

For about the same price you could purchace a full size radio and antenna that would have about 5 times the range.