VHF Antenna Location

[SYMandalay]

Put your antenna on the transom and don't worry about it. If you get in trouble, the Coast Guard and the towing companies have the ability to transmit and receive to and from boats that are on the far side of Nassau from their Florida bases so they will certainly be able to talk to you.

[sailaway21]

Originally Posted by Freesail99

That may be so, but I can clearly hear boaters on the Delaware river which is about 24 miles away as the crow flies. Oh, they also answered a radio check, I asked for.

I'd echo what SemiJim is saying. Periodically you can recieve from great distances, particularly at night when catching a skywave and you can sometimes transmit alot further than you'd think possible. But it's not reliable and those hand-helds are best used in port where you can actually see who you're talking to. I wouldn't rely on them to achieve any real distance on a regular basis. I'd put the VHF antenna atop the mast.

[e-27 sailor]

You might consider going with just a good handheld VHF. If you are primarly day sailing, and in protected waters, it's probably all you'll need. You can clip it to your PFD when you're solo, or stow it in dedicated radio pocket near the helm. The battery is good for 18 hrs, and you can always slap in a spare battery if you're concerned about battery life. But I don't even like turning the thing on if the bay is quiet. Kinda shatters the "peace & quiet" aspect of why we sail.

[btrayfors]

I can't believe that this thread is still running and attracting attention!

Simple question. Simple answer. VHF antennas work best when at the truck of the mast. This is practical for almost any sailboat of any size.

If you don't want to put an antenna atop the mast, then put it on the stern rail. Period. End of discussion.

Yes, it's good to have a handheld, too. We should all carry one. Or two. The new ones with built-in GPS and DSC which are waterproof and float are especially useful.

Bill

[JB2]

I have 2 on my Caliber 47LRC- the main on the masthead and a backup on top of my Questus radar mount on my backstay. The masthead one has much better range, but the one on the Questus, which is about 10' off the deck, seems to have pretty decent range, and has always worked well wehn needed. But as all the posters here have said, the higher the better.

[Iflyka200s]

Originally Posted by btrayfors

I can't believe that this thread is still running and attracting attention!

Simple question. Simple answer. VHF antennas work best when at the truck of the mast. This is practical for almost any sailboat of any size.

If you don't want to put an antenna atop the mast, then put it on the stern rail. Period. End of discussion.

Yes, it's good to have a handheld, too. We should all carry one. Or two. The new ones with built-in GPS and DSC which are waterproof and float are especially useful.

Bill

Thanks Bill,

My question is/was, as a trailer sailed boat, it would be a pain to:

A: Run the antenna cable.

B: Maintain the antenna when the mast is stepped.


I just wanted to make sure that I would be safe in Biscayne Bay, the boat is a Catalina 22 and as such is not (in my opinion) safe for offshore work (and will not be used as such)

Each and every point brought up has had considerable merit and I am thankful for the input and thoughtfulness of all who responded.

I last used a VHF 12 hours ago in the Hawker 800 that I fly for a living, we have one antenna mounted on the belly (supposedly for high altitude work) and one antenna mouted on the top of the fuselage for use on the ground.....

I have NEVER noticed a bit of difference in reception and transmission on either radio even while one antenna is 'shadowed' by the aircraft's tail (and should affect reception/transmission)....

Hence my question...

Again, thanks all for the generous help.

Tim

[btrayfors]

Tim,

Two big differences between your Hawker 800 VHF experience and that of a boat on Biscayne Bay:

1) the altitude is much greater in the plane; you could use a handheld and still experience a range you'll never experience with a boat of any type; and

2) commercial aircraft VHF communication is AM modulation; marine comms are FM modulation.

For the type of sailing you're contemplating, the VHF will work fine just about any place you put the antenna.

Bill

[thekeip]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned putting the handheld's antenna at the masthead. On Sea Quest I have both a 3db masthead and an 6db 8' antenna on my deck at the stern mounted on a fold-down mount...in case I want to report a dismasting. Anyway, when making provision for connection of either antenna, I thought it would be a hoot to deliberately cut and splice the coax to the masthead via PL259; there's really not much if any performance hit doing that, and a BNC to PL259 adapter figuratively makes the handheld think it's way up high.
Works as well as you'd expect.
Howard Keiper
Sea Quest
Berkeley

[thekeip]

In re-reading the previous post I realize that some may question what benefit there could be in doing this.
There isn't any. I did it on a lark and don't see a really practical use.
Howard Keiper
Sea Quest
Berkeley

[sailingdog]

Each connection induces a loss in the signal strength, as does length of cable... so any gain that you have from using the antenna may be more than offset by the loss caused by the distance of the cable run and the number of adapter connections you use.

Originally Posted by thekeip

I'm surprised no one has mentioned putting the handheld's antenna at the masthead. On Sea Quest I have both a 3db masthead and an 6db 8' antenna on my deck at the stern mounted on a fold-down mount...in case I want to report a dismasting. Anyway, when making provision for connection of either antenna, I thought it would be a hoot to deliberately cut and splice the coax to the masthead via PL259; there's really not much if any performance hit doing that, and a BNC to PL259 adapter figuratively makes the handheld think it's way up high.
Works as well as you'd expect.
Howard Keiper
Sea Quest
Berkeley