What VHF radio do I need for my boat?

That means a VHF marine radio can become a viable alternative to having flares on a boat, particularly if you don’t need to head offshore.

For anyone using inland or enclosed waters, adding a VHF radio to your boat is now a smart option. In the long run, it could also save you a lot of money and effort replacing expired flares every three years.

It’s also a handy way to log on or off with rescue authorities so they know if you’re not back and signing off by a particular time, you’re in trouble.

But how do you replace flares with a marine radio? While it’s fairly straightforward, it’s not quite as easy as you think.

Boat electronics have made huge advances in the last decade or so with a number of options around VHF radios now available to skippers.

Even handheld VHF radios now have features such as noise cancelling so you can transmit or hear a conversation more clearly or a Bluetooth connection so that you can hook them up to a wireless speaker or even make calls on your smartphone via the handset.

Some are even smart enough to vibrate the speaker and clear the membrane of water before broadcasting a message.

A handheld VHF radio is a good option for skippers who own, say, a tinnie and a small trailer boat and want to cut down on the expense of fitting a radio to each boat.

Look for features such as the ability to float, and bright colours so that if you do end up in the water unexpectedly, the radio handset is easy to see.

A handheld radio will cost you from around $200 for a basic one anywhere up to 

If you’re looking at a fixed radio, you’re probably going to want to shop for the same brand as your chartplotter. This is because the radio and chartplotter will speak the same language once they’re connected to the same network.

Why is this handy? You’ll see the benefit if your radio ever receives a DTS distress call, and the radio automatically sends the location of the boat making the call to your chartplotter.

One of the big advances in marine radios has been the introduction of a small red button tucked behind a protective cover to stop it being accidentally pushed and marked with the word “DISTRESS”.

It’s a button that taps into a service called “digital selective calling”, a system designed to send data over the voice channel so that all you need to do is hold down the distress button and the radio grabs your location and your unique MMSI number – more on that later – and sends it as a distress signal to every single land- or water-based VHF radio in listening range.

You will still need to make a physical distress call over the radio, as all the boats receiving the distress call will know is that someone is in trouble, and where they are.

The trick is to buy a DSC-enabled VHF radio that suits your set-up. If you’re tying it in with a chartplotter that can send a GPS location to the radio, you won’t need to buy a VHF radio with in-built GPS.

You can still use a DSC-equipped radio without a GPS system, but you will have to use some other device to find your GPS location and then enter it manually into the radio – not a good thing if time is tight.

A DSC-equipped radio uses something called a Maritime Mobile Service Identity to let rescue services identify exactly who the radio making the distress call belongs to.

The MMSI is a nine-digit number that’s unique to the radio. To get the number, you need to make an application to the Australian Marine Safety Authority, the government agency that also runs the Canberra-based rescue coordination centre that is tasked with managing all marine rescues in our waters.

You can get an MMSI by filling out an application on the AMSA website. You’ll need your details, those of someone you’d want rescue services to contact in an emergency, details of your boat, and details about your marine radio such as whether it is fixed or handheld, the make and model, and the product’s serial number.

The MMSI is free and usually approved in a few weeks and you’ll receive notification via the mail. Once the letter arrives, enter the MMSI into your VHF radio, and everything is set up.

To get an MMSI, you’ll also need to show that you have completed a certificate of proficiency to operate a VHF radio via an approved training group. 

You will need to sit a pre-approved course to operate a VHF radio in Australia before you become eligible to apply for an MMSI.

These courses usually take a few hours to complete and cost around $130.

Requiring people to be certified to use a VHF radio has two purposes. First, it shows that you know how to operate a VHF radio including the distress function, and how to make any one of the three types of radio calls – mayday, pan pan and securite. 

But, importantly, it also makes it more difficult for rogue operators – the people who like to interrupt important transmissions or blast music over the channel – to stir up trouble.

If you don’t have a certificate of proficiency and use a VHF radio, you could be hit with an on-the-spot fine for using it.

Need a new VHF radio? Shop online for one at the caravancampingsales.com.au store.