Thanks John San Clemente island is about 60 nm from oceaside. About 20 hrs sail/power. So drawing (1) amp per hr for tiller pilot I should not need to charge the Jackery until I am at anchor. If I am wrong I will just take the helm as needed. Your suggestion of antenna at mast head is a great one and just connect it to hand held. Merry Christmas to all of you skippers -----Original Message----- From: John Schinnerer via montgomery_boats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Monday, December 6, 2021 10:36 AM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Cc: John Schinnerer <john@eco-living.net> Subject: M_Boats: Re: Handheld vhf - power sources The Jackery 300 looks like reasonable value for the money. A Li battery of similar capacity (~23AH) will cost $200+ by itself, so with the electronics bundled in the carry case (charge controller and small 300W inverter), it's a fair package. Their price for the 100W PV panel however is about 3x the cost of an equivalent 100W panel (<= $100) so that's not such a good deal...get the panel elsewhere, unless folding it in half is worth $200. cheers, John On 12/6/21 10:12 AM, Jim Sadler wrote:
Thanks Capt
For power I have a Jackery 300 "solar generator" battery and solar panels. It doesn’t live on the vessel and I can use it for " on the hard appropriations". It is very easy to transport, If I head offshore it powers my tiller pilot and running lights and vhf (if Santa Claus brings me one). I am not sure how far offshore (maybe San Clemente island) I can get before breaking out the solar panels. The tiller pilot and running lights draw about 3/4 amp each. When day sailing I don’t need to bring the Jackery aboard.
I like the idea of the separate gps and maybe (2) radios...Hand held with gps and 25 watt basic (no gps)
Thanks skippers.
-----Original Message----- From: John Schinnerer via montgomery_boats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Sunday, December 5, 2021 8:39 PM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Cc: John Schinnerer <john@eco-living.net> Subject: M_Boats: Re: Handheld vhf
If you think you might need a taller antenna for occasional or emergency use but don't want masthead mount and cable always present, a small auxiliary/emergency antenna raised on a pole only when needed would give extra range. Something like: https://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1%7c344%7c2028695%7c202906 0&id=70975
...forget the suction cup and strap it to a boathook and get it 6 or 8 ft. higher than a handheld...
cheers, John
On 12/5/21 1:11 PM, Paul Baker wrote:
Thank you very much John. The problem with a small boat like a Montgomery 15, is mounting an antenna on the mast, because the mast comes down to put the boat away. I'm not sure that is practical in my case. Paul
On Sun, Dec 5, 2021, 11:59 AM john kitchens <kazuetravel23@gmail.com> wrote:
As someone who had a two-way radio business and installed radio communication systems, some on boats, I would use any handheld radio with the ability to connect an external radio and alkaline or lithium batter packs. Receive is important. If they can hear you but you can’t them, there is no communication External antenna because the rubber duck antennas on handhelds do not work well. Antenna mounted on the mast with quality coax cable works best. With a “mobile” radio, dash mounted or? An external antenna is still needed, a battery supply is needed and the transmit power is greater, but not always needed. Radio needs depend a lot on your use. My old standard horizon handheld with a mast mounted antenna will easily communicate to the mainland from the close in Channel Islands off the Los Angeles coast - Catalina or anacapa.
John Kitchens from my phone
On Dec 3, 2021, at 23:40, Lawrence Winiarski via montgomery_boats < montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:
And in case it's not obvious, the higher power dash doesn't help you receiving just transmitting.
Don't underestimate the importance of the antenna for range. Sailboats are lucky for having the big mast!
On Friday, December 3, 2021, 10:58:42 PM PST, Lawrence Winiarski via montgomery_boats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:
I put an antenna on the mast and ran down a coax cable. I can plug in a hand held (with a bnc adapter) to thehigh antenna.
Dash mounted ones use more quiescent power than hand held ones in standby.
- On Friday, December 3, 2021, 10:42:36 PM PST, Paul Baker < avalonjazz@gmail.com> wrote:
I am planning on buying a marine radio for my Montgomery 15. I know dash mounted ones can be 25 watts, which a much further range than handheld, but require a marine battery which I don't have. If I install a battery, I have to have a way of charging it. Any information or suggestions on this decision I must make would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Paul Baker
On Fri, Dec 3, 2021, 9:51 PM John Schinnerer via montgomery_boats < montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:
I have a Standard Horizon HX280S.
https://www.standardhorizon.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&Prod C atID=85&encProdID=8A20187F57E11E685F4BEB4E09111DB3&DivisionID=3&isAr c hived=0
Got it used some years ago for $50 (including 120V AC and 12V DC chargers and Li-ion battery, but not the alkaline battery holder) from someone I knew in Hilo sailing club who was clearing out assorted used gear. Submersible, reasonably compact. Relatively large capacity battery. 5 watt max not 6, also has 1 watt setting for power saving when range is short. Similar stuff is on eBay in similar price range.
I just wanted to have a decent enough VHF in case I needed one, for sailing or paddling on ocean. Used very little so far as mostly I've been lake boating.
I did think about dropping ~$200 on a new one with GPS and DSC. But after thinking about the GPS part, I realized I'd rather have a separate GPS if I have one at all. Several reasons, including separate user interface for each, separate battery run time, display size & quality, and safety. If I have just the one VHF/GPS device and it breaks or goes overboard I have neither any more. If I need the GPS a bunch I'm also using up my VHF battery, and vice versa. VHF GPS displays are limited compared to dedicated handheld GPS. Seemed more versatile with separate devices. When I saw this one on my friend's list of used gear I looked it up and it looked good enough so that's what I have.
cheers, John
On 12/3/21 6:46 PM, Jim Sadler wrote: What are you skippers using for handheld vhf? Merry Christmas skippers ? Capt Jim SV Pelican M 15
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-- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com
-- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com
-- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com