Hey all,
I need to get a fixed mount VHF radio for my new 2022 Monterey 235 SS. These are the manufactures I can choice from. ICOM, Raymarine, Standard Horizon & Uniden.
I will be using the boat on a river and maybe a lake, no open ocean water.
Any thoughts on which one would be good?
Thanks,
Mitch

I have a Uniden, Standard Horizon and Icom on my current boat. Had a Raymarine on my last boat. All work great. Hard to pick a bad one...

What Dave said! You can't go wrong with any of them. Just make sure you put an antenna on that can reach out several miless.

Want to add, all but the Uniden are at least 15 years old, and still work flawlessly. The Uniden is 3 years old.

On a boat that size, you don't need or want a huge antenna. Aim for a 3 dB 36" and you will be well-served. A 8' 6 dB will probably work well too, but it will be a pain to deal with because it's so long.

Wow, not often that I disagree with Dave R!

We had a 8' VHF antenna on our 25' boat and I was quite happy with it. The mount allowed it to easily be lowered to where it was not in the way and the boat cover fit with no problems.

Since radio transmission is line of sight and we boated on large waters, I liked having the extra height.

Only reason I recommended the shorter antenna is the OP stated that the boat is used only on inland lakes and rivers, no open ocean. IMO, an 8 footer would be overkill for the extra mile of range it offers over the 3 footer on a typical 23 foot boat (3 feet of freeboard). I have a pair of 17.5 footers on my boat (that does go offshore) and they are a pain to take down for bridges and I hear every conversation for miles around me, so there's constant chatter. The three footer on my last boat never had to come down for anything.

I installed a 4' antenna when I added a VHF to my boat. I was able to get clear reception at about 8 miles to our local radio test station going over land/hills, no line of sight. Never tested it further to see when it would drop-off. While an 8' would be even better, it seemed like the 4' is meeting the needs for near shore boating.

If I was going to be off shore quite a ways . . . Ocean or crossing lake Michigan for example, then I'd be getting an 8' antenna.

I placed the folding mount outside the windshield right next to the helm. It only took a couple of seconds to lower the antenna, leaving it lying right on top of the hull with no exposure above or behind the boat. Best of both worlds -- great reception and easy to live with.

Hey,
Thanks for all the input. Still waiting for delivery on my 2022 Monterey 235SS.
It was suggested to me to not get a fixed VHF radio but a handheld one.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Mitch

They are handy, but not nearly as good as a fixed mount. My advice would be to try one and see if it works for your needs. If it proves adequate, great, if not, you have a backup radio. They are not very expensive.

The fixed mount VHFs can transmit at much higher power than a hand held, its actually nice to have both, to have a back up. Its a good idea to do a radio check every now and then to make sure you can be heard. I did this last summer and realized that my 15 year old Standard Horizon was recieving but not transmitting. I actually used my hand held to test it. So replaced it with another fixed mount Standard Horizon. You can also get both fixed mounts and hand helds with GPS that similifies sending a distress call. With the non GPS radios you have to connect them to a GPS unit to have that feature, which is well worth having.