Archive for November, 2011
Good speakers make listening great!
You may have a great radio receiver, but still don’t enjoy listening to music. Could the problem be that you just have poor quality speakers?? Believe me, there is a span of light years in technology out there in this arena. I can remember those old style speakers – you couldn’t get them wet or they wouldn’t work (they’d actually mold!!) When you hit the right series of bumps, they’d vibrate. When you turned them up too loud, they’d vibrate and distort the sound. They were anything but weatherproof!! That is no longer the situation we have to live with. The marine speakers available today are weatherproof – that is, rain will not bother them! They can handle digitally produced sound from your best receiver/amplifier – all you have to do is to be sure to select the right size for your system. I think that today is the day to upgrade those old speakers with new, marine speakers and begin enjoying your favorite tunes as they play clearly through your updated system! Why wait? Happy Boater.
Oh to live in an area where you never have to put away your summer toys…
I became keenly aware of just how many folks don’t have to put away their boats or water toys when winter comes this weekend as I was in Oklahoma. I saw many, many boats and pontoons being towed behind vehicles and I know they weren’t putting them away – they seemed to be just simply towing them as anyone would do up north in the summertime. I also saw a lot of them without visible marine radios on them which concerned me a bit – especially if they planned to be out on a larger body of water. These little VHF marine radios have saved lives time and time again and they have earned their place of importance when talking about “necessities” when on the water. Now, maybe these folks that I saw without a marine radio installed, have a hand held VHF marine radio that they just carry with in their vest pocket!. Who knows, but I would like to think that was the case. Even a little hand held VHF radio will give you about 5+ nautical miles of communication range – plenty of distance for the average boater. If you are one of those down south that plan on using their boat all winter, why not make it point to have a VHF radio on board with you. Happy Boater.
Snowbirds are heading south…
This past weekend, my wife and I took a drive (a long one) to Oklahoma City to visit my daughter and her family for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed great roads as well as terrific food!! (way too much of it, I’m afraid). One thing I noted on the way back is that the caravan of 5th wheeler RV’s was beginning…and beginning with gusto!! I counted as many as 10 RVers in the time span of about 5 minutes. Now, it wasn’t like that for the entire way, but many times it was that thick. …and then there were several heading north – for what reason, I can’t even imagine…maybe those folks lost their compass and sense of direction. There aren’t too may folks that would consider going north to camp in the wintertime…
Anyway, I thought that this would be a good time to bring up the fun you could have talking to some of the other folks traveling south if you had a CB Radio on board. I know a lot of these vehicles have them installed right on the dash of their vehicles so your chances of reaching someone while you’re traveling is quite good. This year, why not install a CB radio into your RV! They are very inexpensive and can save you a lot of frustration if you tap into road conditions from other travelers – or maybe traffic jams you could avoid if you knew about them. Have fun. Happy Boater.
Think CB…
With the winter season upon us, there will be a lot of ”snowbirds” heading south. Every year they pack up their belongings and head south to avoid shoveling that white stuff. There are thousands of them…all with one thing in mind – to get there before the snow flies. What you may not know is that a lot of them get to know each other over the years and many of them actually travel together and are able to communicate with each other via their CB Radios they have installed on their trucks or RV motor homes. This is definitely a security blanket for a lot of these folks. They can avoid heavy traffic by communicating with someone ahead of them, or maybe find cheaper fuel as they talk back and forth. Either way they have a lot of fun and it extends their vacation to include their travel time because they can talk to friends. These radios are vary affordable and easy to install so why not take the bull by the horns and get one on board today? Happy Boater.
You can’t get quality sound of less than quality speakers…
If you’re trying to impress your guests on board your boat with some of your favorite tunes you pre-recorded and plugged into your marine radio, and you have some of those “old generation” speakers the sound is trying to play through, you have a problem. There’s no way you can force that quality sound through those speakers and expect to have a quality outcome. It’s like going from a freeway to a logging trail with the same volume of traffic – it just doesn’t work. If you want quality sound, the speakers have to be able to handle the output of your radio. Always match them to be sure when installation takes place. Most of the old radios didn’t have very high watts of output power, therefore you could get by with the “low grade” speakers that just about everyone had. They weren’t waterproof (like they are today) and they just didn’t have the ability to support the sound (especially the bass notes) when you played a song through them. You know the sound – kind of a vibrating sound – UGH! Simply upgrading your speakers to a pair of marine speakers goes a long way to solving this problem for you and your friends. Happy Boater.
Those riding 4-wheelers need to talk too…
I’ve recently become aware of how many folks I know get together with their friends and take a ride on their 4-wheelers – and I really mean a RIDE! They don’t think anything of covering 75 to 100 miles in an afternoon just riding through trails in the woods. I have to admit, that sounds like fun. The only problem is that I don’t own one so I can’t join in on the fun. What I can’t imagine is that sometime during that trip, wouldn’t it be nice to have some kind of communication with the others in the group? What if one had trouble?? How would the “leader of the pack” know to stop? A small hand held CB Radio would be just the clear ticket item for solving this dilemma. We have the same kind of problem when out on a snowmobile trip. If you have a dozen or so sleds in your group, the amount of trail you get spread out on is immense! Granted, you DO stop occasionally and let everyone catch up and then we usually count and make sure that everyone is still with us. Several times, we’ve had to back track to find a missing sledder. How much easier would it have been if they had been able to radio the lead sled and advise of his/her situation. Always be safe, but have fun! Happy Boater.
Marine radios provide multiple uses…
Just because the word “marine” appears in the description of these neat radios, doesn’t mean that they can only be used on board a boat, pontoon, or some other watercraft. Nope – many folks have purchased one of these marine radios and mounted it somewhere in their back yard so they could plug in their MP3 memory card and instantly have their favorite tunes playing through waterproof marine speakers for the listening pleasure of both themselves and their guests. I can’t imagine a place where you couldn’t enjoy one of these radios – just about anywhere where you have power to plug it in. These radios produce digital sound enhancement and many of them can be controlled remotely also so you could have your player inside and just carry the remote around with you. I know it’s a bit cold in the northern part of the United States this time of year, but I have a sneaking hunch that there’s still a lot of folks out enjoying their patios and back yards in the southern part of the U.S. and will continue to do so all winter! Happy Boater.
Hunting season’s here – got your CB or VHF Radio yet?
We all hope we never have to call for help sometime – even if it’s not for ourselves, but for someone else. Fact is, every year during hunting season someone needs help and wouldn’t you feel bad if you came upon someone in need and you needed to contact someone fast in an area where there is no cell service and you couldn’t help? If even for your own peace of mind and comfort (that warm fuzzy feeling), every hunter should either have a hand held CB Radio or a hand held VHF marine radio in his pocket. That is really not far fetched – these little radios (the VHF radios) will send signal up to 5 nautical miles. Ideally, someone else in your hunting party should be carrying a radio so you could relay for help and assistance if needed. These little radios (the VHF radios) are even weather proof – that is, even if they were to drop into a river or lake, they will float and they will remain waterproof for up to a meter under the water for about a half hour. So, if you’re planning to be out in the woods hunting, don’t forget to cover the basic bases of safety before you leave. Happy Boater.
Can’t think of a gift idea???
Sometimes we all get stumped as to what we should be getting that special someone for a gift – be it a birthday, Christmas, or whatever! What better gift could you give than one that can improve safety when on the water as well as provide entertainment! I’d like to suggest that it’s real easy to wrap up a hand held VHF marine radio and you’ll surely see a great big smile when it is opened up! It comes packaged in a box and what could be easier to wrap? If not a hand held VHF Radio, how about a set of marine speakers or a hand held CB Radio? All of these are sure to get a smile from that special person! Start thinking today of gifts for those on your list that are just plain hard to buy for. I can assure you, that any of these items will always be received with a smile!! Enjoy. Happy Boater.
How about a marine radio that you can control with a remote!
Yes, it’s true, you can actually control your fixed mount marine radio with a remote control now. Now, is that the peak of laziness or the ultimate in greatness! You can be reeling in a fish and control the music volume at the same time! These marine radio receivers – besides offering a remote control, can provide boaters with the latest in weather information via the NOAA frequency, which can be received over these radios. Another really nice feature of these radios is the ease with which one can access the plug-ins for MP3 players and IPods. Imagine – all your favorite tunes (50′s – 60′s music for me, thank you) right at your fingertips. Life is good. When installing one of these radios, however, make sure that your old speakers have the ability to make use of the output from these receivers. If you overpower your old speakers with your new receiver, they may give you a distorted sound and you don’t want that! Make sure that the impedance levels match for output limits and you’ll be fine! Happy Boater.