About This Radio; About The Vhf Marine Band - Standard Horizon HX280S Owner's Manual

3. ABOUT THIS RADIO

3.1 ABOUT THE VHF MARINE BAND

The radio frequencies used in the VHF marine band lie between 156
and 158 MHz with NOAA Weather stations available between 161 and
163 MHz. The marine VHF band provides communications over dis-
tances that are essentially "Line of sight" Actual transmission range de-
pends much more on antenna type, gain and height than on the power
output of the transmitter. On a fixed mount 25 W radio transmission
expected distances can be greater than 15 miles, for a portable 5 W
radio transmission the expected distance can be greater than 5 miles in
"Line of sight".
The user of a Marine VHF radio is subject to severe fines if the radio is
used on land. The reasoning for this is you may be near an inland water-
way, or propagation anomalies may cause your transmission to be heard
in a waterway. If this occurs, depending upon the marine VHF channel
on which you are transmitting, you could interfere with a search and
rescue case, or contribute to a collision between passing ships. For
VHF Marine channel assignments refer to page 32 section 9.
HX280S
WARNING
Page 9