Depends on how you use it. DSC is an integral part of our safety plan so we have a fixed mount. Dinghy use requires (for us) a convenient and necessary means of communication with the mother ship and as a backup to the fixed mount, so we have both.
fixed are not expensive and give much better range.
How much is your life worth?
If your antenna is anywhere near as old as the radio, I'd replace both at the same time.
Bill: If all indications are the antenna is working fine, why replace it?
Because if it's anywhere as old as the radio it could crap out the day after he installs the radio.
Mine could sit in a charger on the dash....A hand held will be battery operated you probably be tempted to turn it off at times to "save battery" you may miss some important calls. I'd say both is the best option.
Can we get by safely with hand held radios or do we need to have a fixed mount one and thus probably a new antenna too? We are on Lake Michigan.
Thanks for all the input. We have purchased a new fixed mount for upper and lower as of today. Hand held will be in near future.
Fixed mounts typically perform better than handhelds. Handhelds bring mobility to VHFs.
What's more important, mobility or performance? I prefer both and redundancy so I have 2 fixed mounts and one handheld for the dink or cockpit use.