I am looking to install a vhf and antenna in my boat. We have a good discussion about vhf's going in another thread, but I thought we could get some antenna recommendations here.
Is there anything good available in the $100 range? I have had Shakespeare antenna's on previous boats, but they don't seem to last long.
Johan
May I be the first to recomend "Digital":biggrin: http://www.digitalantenna.com/vhfantennas.html (http://www.digitalantenna.com/vhfantennas.html)
they make a quality antena at a good price
I love my digital 8' black and it preforms well. :applause:
Gary
Gary, I was wondering if Digital was good, I had never heard of them until yesterday. I think it is pretty cool that you can get them in black too.
Where did you get yours?
Yeah I think off Amazion.. best price search..
well worth it... :twocents:
Quite a bit of antenna talk on bloodydecks.com. Seems like Digital is thought to be good. Generally most of our stuff is Morad or that is what the electronic outfits supplies us with. The antenna is Allen screwed on an aluminum extension tube. About the only time one will go bad on us is when a bird kamikazes into one. A good antenna is probably more important than the radio.
I have heard from numerous tuna boat fishermen in here in Oregon (the guys who go 50-60 miles offshore) that the Digital model 529 is the gold standard. It is also surprisingly cheap (like $130). I will never buy another Shakespear antenna if I can avoid it.
Morad is probably better still than the Digital, but costs more $$ as well.
I would second that the quality of the antenna is more important than the radio. I had this drilled into me in the Coast Guard Aux classes as well as the tuna captains.
Been following a few sites and usually the Digital antennas come out top rated. Will be my next one.
Gary, did you buy a mount from Digital with your antenna, or was the antenna mounted with something that was already there? I am wondering if a Shakespeare mount will be compatible.
Johan
yes it would.. but i got mine through Amazon it is stainless
i would recommend them as they don't cost that much more and won't break
by the way i made a steel backing plate and bolted it through the side cabin
shes on for life... :wink:
The stainless antenna mounts are nice looking and more costly than the nylon mounts and I have decided to stay with nylon mounts. Why nylon antenna mounts? Because they work great, they are less expensive and since the day I forgot to drop my antenna at a boat launch that has a low bridge on the roadway to the ramp.... Yes it was too late when I heard the snap. Believe it or not, I was doing maybe 5 mph when I went under a bridge with 7 foot clearance and the 8 foot VHF antenna did not break; but the nylon antenna mount snapped into two at the swivel mount. I only had to replace a nylon antenna mount at minimal cost and I consider myself lucky.
Now that tells me the nylon mount was the weakest point but what if I had a stainless mount? What would have been damaged, the antenna or maybe the boat its self? I will continue to use nylon mounts.
Got my Digital 529 installed today - looks good in black :party:
First time I have paid attention to getting a good VHF antenna, but obviously I will not know much about how it performs until I get the radio installed too :doh:
I need to move my antenna from the side of the boat to the top of my tower. Should I put another 8' on or can I get away with an 4'? Thanks
Grizzle, that depends on where you use your boat. VHF is line of site. The taller your antenna is and the higher it is mounted, the better.
What Dan said.
I am no expert on this, but I'd think that if you put a 4' up there, you are probably achieving what is pretty much a status quo vs. the 8' mounted where you have it now.
For fishing off shore, I would like to get my 8' mounted higher in order to achieve greater range.
As Danno noted, waves and the curvature of the earth block VHF signals. The higher you can mount your antenna, the more range you will have (especially in bad weather). Price difference between a 4' and an 8' isn't that big of a deal... I'd go 8'!
Grizz
Be sure to anchor that puppy well. The higher you go, the more the mounting base will be stressed. With that new frame, it should not be a problem, however, a cheap, plastic stock mounting will likely not hold up for long.
StreamFixer
Use one of these:
(http://www.google.com/url?source=imgres&ct=img&q=http://a1460.g.akamai.net/f/1460/1339/6h/www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/content/Item/01/05/35/i010535sq01.jpg&sa=X&ei=WdOITeDsD4-4sAOIq8z6Cw&ved=0CAQQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNGf9nKlAQvCWbrlu-6VU6DWQjyAdQ)
Or maybe have a stainless mounting plate added to your arch... good for mounting the antennas, radar, etc... down the road.
I think the shorter antennas are for sailboats. The 9db and 6db signal shape is different. The shorter antenna sends out a fatter signal so that when a sailboat is keeled over, the signal doesn't pass over the receiving station.
Mine is a shorter sailboat antenna because it was free. :redface:
Stay with your 8 ft antenna and get the best possibl signal!