VHF Antennas

[mjk1040]

Looking to replace my 8' fiberglass antenna with a loaded base type antenna or a shorter fiberglass. We boat mainly on the Finger lakes in NY and maybe lake Ontario. Tired of having to put the antenna up and down all the time when traveling. Anyone been there and done this and have any input? Mike

[AaHubb]

Sorry, no experience with a loaded base antenna and don't mean to side track your post but what do you mean by "traveling"?
..Aaron

[Viper]

Without getting into a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo about signal strengths and loses, db gains, etc., the single most important factor is antenna height not length, though that makes a difference in other aspects of signal radiation (the way the signal radiates/travels from the antenna). VHF operation relies on line of sight so the higher the antenna, the further you can communicate. This goes for the receiving end as well. If two vessels trying to communicate with each other have short antennas that are about 10' off the water, they may be able to communicate with each other up to about 10 miles if memory serves me. As usual, it comes down to your boating area, habits, destinations, who you're trying to contact and their distance from you plus their setup, etc.

I have an 8 foot unit but it is mount high on my arch. I'm in a covered slip but no worries about clearance. The 8 footer doesn't compare with the 14ft I had on my old boat though. That was a nice antenna but they cost a fortune now.

[mjk1040]

Aaron; Traveling, well my 8' antenna is mounted high on the radar arch, with it all the way up it won't go under the bridges on the canals in our area, so every time we travel the canals we have to put the antenna down because its about 24'-25' off the water level. Just a pain and its down most of the time all season. I really was looking to see if anybody was using a 3' loaded base antenna and if they were happy with it. The old antenna is 19 years old and starting to deteriorate so was planning on replacing it in the future. Viper I understand all the technical info, and the limitations. I'll keep shopping I guess. Mike

[Viper]

There are a few 3' base loaded units on this page Mike:
http://www.westmarine.com/search?Ntt=vhf+antenna

[tomschauer]

I have a Shakespeare loaded 3' on my little center console. It seems to work well (for my needs) with about 10 miles boat to boat. Also no problem receiving USCG land based broadcasts from about 35 miles.

[mjk1040]

Thanks all, I'll keep looking and researching, kind of limited if I want to use the existing mount I have it appears. Mike