VHF radio mounting

boatman37

Lieutenant
Joined
May 14, 2015
Messages
1,273
got my standard horizon GX1700 today and planning to install it this weekend. any tips? i plan to solder the connections and use shrink tube. the manual says the radio should be at least 3' from the antenna? might be difficult to accomplish that. is it crucial? my antenna is on the right side beside the helm. i plan to have the radio on the dash in front of me. part of the reason i bought this one was that it displays the speed since my speedometer doesn't work. should i wire it directly to 12V or to a keyed source?
 

DeepBlue2010

Lieutenant
Joined
Aug 19, 2010
Messages
1,304
If it can transmit distress signal, I would wire it to the battery directly. This is about the only feature I can think of that you might need to use while you battery switch is OFF.

What wire you are planning to solder? If it is the antenna wire, stop by West Marine or any other marine store and get the terminal for the wire. It require no soldering at all. If you are planning to splice the wire (maybe to add more wire or whatever) don't do that. It will attenuate your signal
 

GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
The 3 foot recommendation is so you don't microwave yourself during continuous transmission. Nobody transmits continuously.

I would wire the power to a switched source. That way the radio can't accidentally be left on to drain the battery.
 

boatman37

Lieutenant
Joined
May 14, 2015
Messages
1,273
i plan to solder the hot and ground wires to their fittings or splice in wire. the fitting i have for the antenna is solderless from shakespeare.
it can transmit distress signals along with the coordinates. it has a built in GPS. it also sends you the coordinates of another distress signal sent by another vessel. and it has an auto shutoff on the transmitter after 5 minutes in case the button somehow gets stuck so no continuous transmitting. now if i can get it to wash my truck...lol
 

NYBo

Admiral
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
7,107
The reason for the 3' recommendation is to prevent some sort of RF feedback while transmitting. People are supposed to be 6' away from the antenna while transmitting, IIRC, to reduce exposure to potentially harmful RF energy.

Don't wire the radio to the ignition switch. It is not designed to carry heavy loads, and gets a lot of use. The last thing you want if for that switch to fail while you are transmitting a distress call.
 

boatman37

Lieutenant
Joined
May 14, 2015
Messages
1,273
thanks. i will likely wire it to constant 12V power. that way if we are anchored up i can still have it on. not possible to be 6' from the antenna considering its about 2' from the helm...lol. but i could put the radio to the left side of the dash to try to get it 3' from the antenna
 

boatman37

Lieutenant
Joined
May 14, 2015
Messages
1,273
got it installed today. all i got so far was a little static from ch. 13 but i didn't expect to hear much anyway. only sat at the dock for about an hour after i installed it. but it turns on and lights up. might head back down later and hang out. still have to register my MMSI and whatever else i need to do

i used the solderless shakespeare antenna connector. worked very slick. reviews i read were good so we will see. i also connected the radio to constant 12V using the buss bars under my dash
 
Last edited:

waterinthefuel

Commander
Joined
Nov 15, 2003
Messages
2,726
Have you purchased an SWR meter? That's really the only way to ensure you have a good installation. Shakespere sells one for about 120 dollars. It basically checks the efficiency of your antenna installation if you transmit. Your connection might be fine on receive, but on transmit it could be horrible and could burn up the internals of your radio. Apparently the cheaper one I have is no longer in production, only the more expensive one which tests the receive end as well. You would need it and a 3 foot long piece of cable with a male on each end. You hook it up in line with your antenna.

There are a few morons on other forums who say "why bother with this, you can't adjust it anyway." No, you can't, it's not about that. The antenna was adjusted at the factory. IF YOU MAKE A GOOD CONNECTION AND HAVE GOOD WIRE AND A GOOD RADIO, your SWR will fall in the accepted range. If you do not check it, you're basically just hoping. Not only can a poor connection burn up the radio internally, but it can cause your range to suffer greatly. It's a one time expense, I bought mine 15 years ago and still use it to this day. Over time antennas can degrade and once the SWR falls outside the accepted range, it needs to be replaced, But you wouldn't know this unless you check it regularly. Also, if the antenna ever gets bent or damaged you would need to check it. Chances are it would need to be replaced. But maybe not. Without an SWR meter, who knows?

I'm a Ham radio operator and SWR is like our second bible. Oh one other thing, it is illegal to transmit on the marine frequencies when the boat is not in the water. This means on the trailer at the dock, in the driveway, etc are all no good. Does anyone care? Probably not, but if you get caught you can get a fine.

got it installed today. all i got so far was a little static from ch. 13 but i didn't expect to hear much anyway. only sat at the dock for about an hour after i installed it. but it turns on and lights up. might head back down later and hang out. still have to register my MMSI and whatever else i need to do

i used the solderless shakespeare antenna connector. worked very slick. reviews i read were good so we will see. i also connected the radio to constant 12V using the buss bars under my dash
 
Last edited:

boatman37

Lieutenant
Joined
May 14, 2015
Messages
1,273
thanks for that info. i did read about not using it on land. read the owners manual front to back...lol. but good advice on the SWR meter. i will see if anyone has one i can try before buying one. i may replace the antenna over the winter anyway. the cable has a couple of small cracks where it exits the antenna so may just replace it all
 

boatman37

Lieutenant
Joined
May 14, 2015
Messages
1,273
No Title

here are a few pics

 

Attachments

  • photo229682.jpg
    photo229682.jpg
    148.3 KB · Views: 0
  • photo229683.jpg
    photo229683.jpg
    189.5 KB · Views: 0
  • photo229684.jpg
    photo229684.jpg
    246.2 KB · Views: 0
  • photo229685.jpg
    photo229685.jpg
    192 KB · Views: 0
  • photo229686.jpg
    photo229686.jpg
    226.8 KB · Views: 0
  • photo229687.jpg
    photo229687.jpg
    174.6 KB · Views: 0
  • photo229688.jpg
    photo229688.jpg
    209.9 KB · Views: 0
Top