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.
The oldest boat in our line up, the 1900CC just keeps going. Maybe it's the wide open floor space, or the fact that it runs well on only 115hp, or maybe because it is so versatile; who knows, but for over twenty years it's made boaters happy all over the country, so we'll keep building them as long as you like.
I used an 8 footer on mine with the bimini before I got the t-top. I think the difference between a 3 foot an 8 foot is enough to warrant the longer antenna. I had the antenna mounted on the side of the console toward the front, so it came up just in front of the bimini. One thing to consider - get those bimini slide tracks that let you move your bimini back and forth and you can adjust the bimini much better, both when it's up and and when folded down. I could slide the bimini back enough to get rods and the radio antenna ahead of it, or slide it up if I did not have rods in the console rod holders. The slide tracks also allowed me to push the bimini back when folded down so it was out of the way, or I could slide it up and fold it forward over the coffin if I did not want he folded bimini around the stern/transom area. Here are some pics to give you the idea:
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.
3dB is doubling the output power though.
That's looks like it would work well, but my bimini goes much further forward than yours. I'm guessing John's (JJ's) was set up like yours and that's why it didn't interfere with the grabrail mounted antenna. Either my top is big, or it's just far forward. It covers about a foot behind my cooler seat (behind the console) to about a foot in front of my console, and it really works well... which is why I'm battling the idea of a T-Top. Thanks Guys
Quote from: "MarshMarlowe196"That's looks like it would work well, but my bimini goes much further forward than yours. I'm guessing John's (JJ's) was set up like yours and that's why it didn't interfere with the grabrail mounted antenna. Either my top is big, or it's just far forward. It covers about a foot behind my cooler seat (behind the console) to about a foot in front of my console, and it really works well... which is why I'm battling the idea of a T-Top. Thanks Guys If you do the bimini sliders, you can slide the top back 2 feet or so when you want to. Or fold the antenna down and move up up for forward shade - not bad for $35:http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... sNum=10840
If you really want versatility this is the shorty I have now and the whip will fold 90 degrees.http://www.saltysmarine.com/index.php?m ... ucts_id=85
shakespear 5225XT is an 8' antenna, 6dB gainI have been in this business for over 20 years and i recommend this antenna without reservation.You are better off with a cheap radio and a good antenna than a great radio and a crappy antenna.
