VHF Antenna Suggestions?

[MarshMarlowe196]

I need a new VHF Antenna.  The one I had has fallen apart.  

I think I've decided against a T-Top on my boat, but I do have a bimini top, so I'll probably have to mount it to the console, which means the antenna can only be about 3' so it will not interfere with the top when it's up.  I'm entertaining the idea of mounting it to my bimini top (the top is always up - sits up on metal brackets @ the stern).  Any other ideas?

There's all different kinds out there, with different amplifications and what-not.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  I don't need the best antenna because I fish almost primarily inshore, but I'd like one that will last.

My new Radio:

Uniden UM425


Thanks guys  

[seabob4]

Jesse,
8 footer, mount it on the gunwale...Shakespeare Galaxy...

[gran398]

SB your opinion is gospel here....everyone has their own ideas, and mine is I don't like gunnel-mounted tall anything. Never in a good spot. Fight a fish, gaff a fish, itsa mess...anchor ropes, sight-casting, another mess...Then a greenhorn grabs it for support in a seaway...you get the idea.

We've talked this over before, JJ is also a believer. That little 3' Shakespeare base-loaded sailboat antenna is a talker. 6db gain per spec. Have run them on 3 different rides. The performance (range) per report is superb.

Jesse, having been on your boat, would mount it with a ratchet on the top of the console grab-rail, port side. Keeps it in-board, out of the way. The helmsman most of the time will exit the helm going to the bow from the starboard side...you're not encumbered going forward.

Just my halfa cent worth.

[John Jones]

Wow.  Two consecutive threads I opened and someone is valuing my advice.  Y'all are gonna give me a big(er) head.  ;)

I don't remember what Jesse's boat looks like but here is what I did on the Key West I had.  Rail mount ratchet.  I kept the antenna pointed straight down unless I was intending to use the radio.  Pointed up I got 15 miles easy.  Never in the way of anything.

One issue with the beer can antennas.  The plastic will crumble after 2-3 years in the sun.  Go ahead and put a couple of coats of quality paint on the can before you mount it and it will last forever.

[John Jones]

The 8 footer will have negligible improvement.

Using a line of sight calculator  (I'm sure it rounds off to the nearest whole mile.)


-assuming a shore radio with a 100' antenna.  (Port Richey TowBoat antenna is 1000' high)
-assuming from my photo 3' boat antenna maybe 8' off the water.

Line of sight distance = 18 miles.

-assuming an 8' antenna on the gunnel = 10' off the water

Line of sight distance = 18 miles.

You have to put in a 12' height to get the calculator to change to 19 miles.

http://www.qsl.net/kd4sai/distance.html

[Skoot]

This is awesome, completely agree Scott,
and JJ...
                      .... E X C E L L E N T info my man. Im gonna mount mine (when i get one) just like that pic.  Its perfect. There when you need it, out of the way when you dont. And hell, great range as well.

Thanks guys for the info

[seabob4]

JMO...

And, no, my word is NOT gospel around here.  I try to help, give my opinion, and whatever.  There are others here far more knowledgeable than I...

[wingtime]

If your leaning towards the shortie Shakespear I'd go for the Gam electronics SS-2   It has a stainless steel body so you don't have to paint the reviews of it are great.  Here is just one such link:  http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... tenna.html

[gran398]

SB, nothing wrong with a compliment. I'd take it as just that. And more knowledgeable?  Don't think so. So thanks bro.

Have always been a fan of the Shakespeare squatty-mount.

Posted this before, but worth posting again.

In 1995, bought a G3 14' aluminum doublewide jon. (G3's first year in business). In 1998, fitted it with a flush-mount Uniden M45 waterproof VHF, Shakespeare 6b gain 3' base-loaded antenna.

The whole mess works tonight as it did the first night in 1998. Should have been toast years ago.

Range: another anomaly. For some reason, this radio will talk with CG station Fort Macon, NC....a solid 55 miles as the crow flies. Know they have a high tower but....every time call in...its "loud and clear, captain."

Wow. Weird. But for a jon boat....am all about it.

JJ mentioned a few coats of good paint on the base, and agree. But my jon was set-up as a duck hunting rig....so in '98, wrapped the base of the "can" with four turns of "Realtree" camo tape. Back then, not a reason for preservation, but camo.

Guess got lucky and preserved the base with the tape...not realizing it. So to me an easy temporary preservation would be to tape it.

Bottom line....she's a talker.

[seabob4]

Galaxy 5225XT...

[gran398]

http://www.shakespeare-marine.com/anten ... na=5225-xt

Must be a length thing...

 

[MarshMarlowe196]

Thanks for all the replies guys  

Jesse,
8 footer, mount it on the gunwale...Shakespeare Galaxy...

Thanks Bob, but HotDamn, that Antenna is expensive  

Scott- I tend to agree with you.  I wouldn't want anything mounted to the gunwale for your reasoning, though I've seen a lot boats with this setup.

I don't remember what Jesse's boat looks like but here is what I did on the Key West I had.  Rail mount ratchet.  I kept the antenna pointed straight down unless I was intending to use the radio.  Pointed up I got 15 miles easy.  Never in the way of anything.

That's a cool idea John.  Me personally, I wouldn't want anything mounted to grab rail for a few reasons:

- As the beer consumption progresses, the grab rail on the console becomes more and more attractive to both me and my lush passengers.  I wouldn't want anything there to interfere, and inevitably become broken.  
- Mounting a 3' Antenna there will interfere with my bimini top when it's up.  I barely had clearance when a 3' was mounted on the console.
- Leaving it down when not in use would be ok, but I generally leave my VHF on at all times.  The chatter is entertaining, my buddies know to get in contact with me through the radio (I've dropped more phones overboard than I'd like to admit, and destroyed even more with saltwater spray, so I just leave the phone packed up in dry storage), and I like to know when the foul weather is coming so the radio needs to be on, Antenna up.

I've done some research on the gain of an Antenna.  Seems that the higher the gain, the more focused the transmit beam will be.  I'm thinking 3db-6db would be good for my boat.

http://reviews.ebay.com/VHF-Marine-Radi ... 0000015940

If your leaning towards the shortie Shakespear I'd go for the Gam electronics SS-2   It has a stainless steel body so you don't have to paint the reviews of it are great.  Here is just one such link:  http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... tenna.html

That one seems bout' right.  Would you know of a price?

Thread Derail:  JJ- do you still have that boat (Key West)?  If you do, Scott might be interested in the dimensions of that console.     That particular model (1900 CC) is the oldest model in the Key West lineup that's still in production.  Seems like I still see those 1900's everywhere.  Their first model was a wood-riddled 1700 CC.  I had one, and I loved it.  Beat you to hell, but planed out with 50HP and never cavitated, and drafted 7".  Replaced by the heavier, cavitating, sharper deadrise, more drafting, more horsepower requiring 1720 CC.  But anyway.

[John Jones]

It received just fine with the antenna down but I would not transmit unless it was up.  I had a bimini and it just pushed the antenna forward a little when up.




Higher gain does concentrate the radiation pattern for slightly more range but the tighter radiation pattern makes the radio fade in and out when the boat rolls.  Think of a donut laying on the ground and that's what the radiation pattern looks like from a vertically polarized antenna.  Now mash the donut flat.  Yes it spreads out in area covered but now the vertical coverage is concentrated in a flatter pattern.  Tilt it a little like the boat rolling and you overshoot or undershoot your target.  Like everything else one has to pick the least of the evils for their own purpose.  (antennas and radio communications were my first career choice many moons ago)

I bought that KW new in '02 and sold it a couple of years later with 300 hours on it.  It had some quality problems that really irritated me and I got rid of it before they turned into major issues.  The main issue was that after the maiden voyage it had water in the hull and transom core.  When I drilled holes to install a transom mount transducer water drained from the holes then dripped for 3 days after one trip on the water.  I finally figured out that the drain plug fitting was installed at the factory with no sealant and the bilge pump was kicking on every 5 minutes on the first trip.  The battery tray, bilge pump, and live well pumps were screwed to the inner hull with no sealant and some of the screws were over torqued and stripped out the fiberglass.  All of that allowed water in the core.  I could not get the KW factory to return my calls.   :x   The way the dash is made spray and rain runs in behind the smoked Plexiglas panel onto the backside of all the switches and gauges.  If I had ever named the boat it would have been "Hard and Wet" because that's how it rode.

[Capt. Bob]

It received just fine with the antenna down but I would not transmit unless it was up.  
Higher gain does concentrate the radiation pattern

JJ,
You don't think that antenna had anything to do with your hair, do ya

Played hell with mine, though I was only on the receiving end  

[John Jones]

Bob, I think it was Air Force radars...  ;)