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Being difficult to get a cell phone signal in some areas of Cumberland, just curious if a VHF radio would be a good investment. I fish alot in the winter months and sometimes do not see many boats on the water. Don`t want to get stranded. Just wondering how many people actually use them there besides the marinas. Any comments appreciated.
I use a little Uniden Atlantis 250 Handheld VHF Radio ($99)and it covers most of the lake if you are calling to one of the docks. Most docks operate on the same freqs, me thinks they are 16, 15, and 0r 13. A call to a dock if stranded can get you in touch, so they can call for help. And guides I'm sure who hear a distress call would respond with some time of help, or relay a message. Cheap way to go, and nice thing is if the boat were to be seperated from you (fire, sunk, etc) ya still got the handheld. Fixed mounts will have longer range, they got max 25 watts, handheld is max 5 watts. Roughtly, a watt gets you a mile in good conditions.
I bought a fixed mount yesterday. I didn`t think about being seperated from the boat (fire, sunk, etc.), that is a very good point. Maybe I can talk my wife into buying me a handheld for Christmas and then I will have 2.
You won't regret the fixed mount. It has much greater range. Another nice thing about the handhelds is the Noaa weather channels. So while in the motel room, as the sun is lifting, you can get a REAL accurate weather report, before decide to untie the dock lines and fire up the big motor. Has saved me a wet butt more than once. So maybe momma will note, the second handheld radio is a "safety feature", and the fixed an absolute must as distance to the dock can get extreme at Cumberland. To do less, she may conclude, would be just to not do enough. Good luck. Worst case, tell her its my fault!
[QUOTE=Fishwright;275379]Being difficult to get a cell phone signal in some areas of Cumberland, just curious if a VHF radio would be a good investment. I fish alot in the winter months and sometimes do not see many boats on the water. Don`t want to get stranded. Just wondering how many people actually use them there besides the marinas. Any comments appreciated.[/QUOTE]
I ran across this old thread on radio usage on Lake Cumberland and thought I would give you all some information.
I run the marine towing and salvage business on Cumberland. I have a VHF high site in the Jamestown area and I monitor channel 16 (the emergency and hailing channel) 24 hours a day for distress calls from boaters. We have tow vessels in Jamestown Marina and Lee's Ford Marina. We also sell towing packages similar to AAA but on your boat.
My radio base station can "hear" most of the lake. There are some coves where you are just not going to get any signal out due to the topography.
The marinas on Cumberland all listen to their own working channel and not the emergency channle 16. It pays to know which marina listens to which channel because if you can't reach me on the radio for help, you may be able to get the nearest marina to your position and they can relay for you.
The KDFWR does not have the ability to monitor the marine radio. The Coast Guard is also not close enough to monitor the radio either and they do not have a boat on the lake. I sometimes dispatch the KDFWR on disress calls I receive on the marine radio.
Posted here are the channels each marina listens to and uses as their working channel. You may want to print them out and laminate them for your wallet, should you ever need to use it.
My business is 24/7/365, should you ever need my services on Lake Cumberland.
Grider Hill......68
Beaver Creek.....78
State Dock........18 and 24
Jamestown........14
Alligator I..........09
Alligator II.........06
Conley Bottom...68
Lee's Ford.........16
Burnside Marina..78
Marine Assist......16 or call
877-662-2555 24 hours
KDFWR 800-25-ALERT
Hope this helps.
Don
I also fish all winter on Cumberland. My Girlfriend does not like cold weather and doesn't like me to go alone in winter, so she bought me a handheld motorola. It gives me a little more piece of mind when the cell phone won't work.