Antenna Question

[steeler]

I'm trying to reduce the clutter in the cuddy of my Sea Hunter.
If I shorten the cable from my antenna to the radio by several feet will that affect the performace of the radio?

[woody]

Double check with manufactor's site.  There is a minimum length, can't remember? 3'?

Woody

[steeler]

Thanks Woody
Will do
Barry

[fishorcrab]

Woody is correct, of course.  However, if the antenna is resonant on the marine frequencies as I suspect it is, the length should not matter much.  I have not cut mine because I hate breaking a perfectly working antenna. 

An alternative is to coil the excess into a 6 or 8 inch circle and use electrical tape, velcro, or wire-ties to hold the loops together. If using wire-ties, don't tighten enough to distort the cables as that could alter its characteristics.  We commonly do this in amateur radio antenna systems.  Mine is coiled to get it out of the way.

Paul

[croaker stroker]

Use to be the antenna cable needed to be cut in multiples of the wavelength of the radio.  Not sure anymore. I think maybe the newer radios have a circuit to account for that.

[StreamFixer]

I have been around Marine radios with differing antenna cable length and have noticed little difference.  I can't understand any of them   :nono:

StreamFixer

[Markshoreline]

Pardon?

[allpauwork]

I have been around Marine radios with differing antenna cable length and have noticed little difference.  I can't understand any of them   :nono:

StreamFixer

You have to practice more at the drive thru.   

[Threeweight]

In all fairness, Russ could be standing next to someone with a bull horn and not understand them without his hearing aids. 

If you cut it, I would use solder and the best quality connector you can find.  I don't think the shorter cable is going to hurt anything, but getting the same quality in the new connector installation that it had from the factory, and sealing it, could be a problem.  Personally, I'd just wrap the cable into a few figure 8's and zip tie it up under the gunnel and out of the way.  :twocents:

[allpauwork]

I just bought a new antenna a couple of months ago from West Marine.  It was packed with out the coax connector on the end of the wire.  In my case, the hole through the fiberglass was just big enough for the coax to go through without the connector on the end.  West Marine carries a crimp on connector that requires no soldering.  When I was a worker bee, we installed coax connectors for DS3 speeds with special manually crimping tools.  The connector I bought at West Marine was easy enough to install with regular tools.  As others have stated, I just coil the excess.

[Markshoreline]

I purchased one of the 3 foot stainless steel whips for the same reason- I broke my 8 footer because I laid in down on the gunwale.  The new one came with a good length of coax, but I had to solder the fittings once it passed through the glass.  I just coiled up the excess.

I understand that the higher your antenna tip the longer the radios range will be, so higher is better.

[croaker stroker]

The shorter antenna is good in some cases. Although it doesn't extend out as far as the longer antenna, the beam is wider.  In rough conditions, or on a sailboat, the shorter 3db antenna might be a better choice.

[Threeweight]

Given the curvature of the earth, a taller antenna will always have greater range than a short one... shape of the beam can't overcome the horizon being closer to a short antenna.

[StreamFixer]

In all fairness, Russ could be standing next to someone with a bull horn and not understand them without his hearing aids. 

Hey, let's get all the facts on the table here....  The only time you have observed me having hearing problems is when I am fishing with you, Danno or Woody.  You must admit I never failed to respond to 'fish-on' for my rod.  The rest of the time, what do the three of you have to say that is important enough to pay attention to   :hoboy:

You must also admit I seldom miss what Katherine, Debra, or Jean have to say.....   

StreamFixer