VHF Marine Radio Antenna Buying Guide

[JimMayor007]

The best marine radio will not perform well when connected to the wrong antenna.

The type of antenna you should get depends on the distance you expect to transmit, available space on your boat, whether you need to lower your antenna for bridges or transporting your boat, and amount of "gain" your antenna should have.

The two major decisions you'll have to make are regarding the length of the antenna and its gain.

...read the full guide here

[TerryKing]

The guide looks pretty good.

Bottom lines:

- Get the height. Typical foldover antenna mounts on a powerboat allow you to go as high as possible in open water. Just remember ! (I've smacked two in 20 years...)

- Use large diameter low-loss coaxial cable.

My Prejudice: ALWAYS have a smaller emergency antenna that can clamp on the rail, with a cable ready to plug into BOTH your main radio and your handheld radio. On a sailboat this can be a roll-up "J-Pole" that takes almost no storage space and can be hung from a shroud etc. in an emergency.

Another: Have all other regular crew members, including children, practice making a routine call, and setting the channel for emergency calls.

...It's a heck of a long way to shout if you have a problem.

[boatmarine]

Good info, thanks