Fixed Mount VHF antenna recomendations

[Chinook]

I had an interesting VHF radio experience while in the Bahamas a few years ago. We were tied up at Old Bahama Bay Marina at West End, waiting several days for a norther to blow through, so we could cross back to Florida. The marina was full of boats, many waiting for a window to cross (and at $70/night for our little boat, motive to cross was high). Good weather info for the Gulf Stream was pretty hard to get. Somehow, I was able to pick up NOAA forecast on my fixed VHF, with antenna on top of my little mast. We were definitely the smallest and least costly boat in the marina. Some of the sport fishing boats there had tuna towers taller than our mast. Darned if I was the only one able to pick up NOAA weather on VHF. The transmission tower had to be at least 70 miles away, in Florida. Captains from all the big boats came around regularly, listening in to the weather coming out of my cockpit speaker.

[Matt19020]

Well there is certainly a lot to consider. I do like the idea of the range with the mast mount. However... the keep it simple argument and the fact that if there was a dismasting of some sort there would still be a antenna attached that should give adequet range based on my sailing area. I also am somewhat concerned about having faulty deck connections or too many connections with a possibility of loss at any or all of them.
I think the radio I am leaning towards is: http://www.lowrance.com/en/Products/Mar ... fications/
One reason I like this is because of the ease of the NMEA2000 connection to my existing GPS also a Lowrance

Ray what height Ant. did you use?

[Night Sailor]

Why not two antennas? Seperately wired. One mast truck mounted. One deck, stanchion or arch mounted. Many sailor's already have a backup emergency antenna of a few inches long, but that isn't what you want if range is needed as in a dismasting. It is safety equipment after all.
No one hs mentioned that terrain in the local sailing area affects distance capabilites also. Some lakes, rivers and bays surrounded by high cliffs or mountains prevent long range broadcasts. In that case the higher the mounting the better.

If you boat in areas where there is a lot boat traffic then perhaps a lower mounted antenna is okay because then you can not worry much about a dismasting.

Lower mounting allows you go to without mast as a power cruiser if you desire. Many of us do leave the mast at home occasionally for various reasons. Having a 5' fiberglas Shakespeare with a ratcheting pivot mount on my stern arch works just fine for me on local lakes, and low bridges and tucks neatly away for travel.

[tangentair]

Boy this seems to be a recurring theme, just a quick search listed far to many threads to bother reading. So the short answer for me is, if the mast stays up all season put it and a windex on the mast, if you trailer use a ratchet style that will let you lower the antenna and mount it on the mast holder. That is where mine is, and it is a 6 foot - 'cause I got a good deal on the package - otherwise a 3 footer is just about as good. Just realize that for real safety get a floating waterproof handheld (with DSC) cause if there is a problem in the cabin that limits your ability to get to the radio mounted there or the batteries somehow got drained and you can not get the engine started, you will not have any way to communicate, and it is also a nice way to comunicate with the mothership when you are in the dinghy (of course you can not use it when you are ashore ).

[baldbaby2000]

I like the mast mount for range but a backup is a real good idea in case you loose the mast. I try to use gold plated connectors for anything exposed to the weather.

[Hamin' X]

Gold plated or not, makes little difference. The standard connectors that are used (PL-259 & SO-239) are junk. They are not weatherproof, much less waterproof. This allows water and moisture to ingress into the foam dielectric (open cell)that most low loss coaxaial cable uses. This is then wicked down the cable by the shield braid and foam and destroys the dielectric constant properties of the cable. In a nut shell, it don't work well.

Extra care must be taken with these type of connectors when they are exposed to the elements. One layer of quality (3M 33, or 88) electrical tape needs to be wrapped around the coax and both connectors. Then, a layer of self vulcunizing, butyl rubber tape over that, extending past the electrical tape on both ends. Then, finish with two layers of electrical tape, starting at the top going down and back up. This allows any water to drain off the tape like water on shingles and provides UV protection.

These methods are used on mountain top radio installations, under severe weather conditions and are a commercial standard. Anything less is asking for failure.

~Rich