 RE: fixed mount vhf radio
The best buy on the market right now is just a little more than you want to spend. Standard Horizon discontinued their intrepid + radio and it's selling at West/Boat US for $139 after the garmin rebate....probably less elsewhere. The reason this is such a good deal is that a) it's a standard horizon radio; b) it has full DSC..that is it can not only send out DSC alerts, but it can connect to your GPS and show you the position of another boat that needs help (or a where a friend is); c) the speaker is loud and you can actually hear this radio over the noise of your engine.
You really don't want to skimp on a very important safety item...so I recommend that you buy either an icom or standard radio. You also want to buy a radio that has DSC capability so that, when hooked to your GPS, you can push a button and your position is automatically sent to other boats and the CG. That could save your life.
Finally, get a shakespeare or digital antenna. Most will tell you to get an 8' mast. If you don't go out more than 10 miles, you could get away with a 36" whip mounted as high as you can. That's actually what I use on my hardtop and I easily reach 10-12 miles. | 
