broken antenna

[boatman37]

well i managed to snap about 1 foot off the top of my VHF antenna tonight. how bad will it affect the quality (both transmitting and receiving)? and what if i inserted a dowel rod and taped the broken piece back on? i plan to replace it ASAP but it is going in the water in the morning and doubt i will be able to replace it this weekend. if it matters its about 6' long? maybe slightly longer

 

[alldodge]

The antenna has a wire inside it and is encased in a fiberglass shell. If you didn't damage the wire then you should be ok. Folks have broke them in half and just reglassed them together, didn't look great but did work. If it did cut the wire, then the antenna is not the same length. This changes the SWR of the antenna. The wrong SWR will not damage the radio in receiving, but it can damage the radio when transmitting

 

[Scott Danforth]

My father used epoxy putty he bought at an auto parts store and a branch from a tree when we were camping in the early 80's to field repair a broken antenna. Boat had that ugly mass of epoxy with his fingerprints for years until I bought him a new one in the mid 90's

As AD stated, if the wire is still good, a non-metalic stick to hold the wire to 6' is what makes the antenna work.

 

[boatman37]

thanks guys. put the boat in today and had the radio on. it picked up a few transmissions. i still plan to replace it but don't like going out with an inoperable radio

i didn't see any wire sticking out. just strings from the fiberglass? it was white and looked like string. as far as i know it wasn't the wire. i used a wooden dowel rod to piece it back together then duct taped it. looks like crap...lol

 

[alldodge]

thanks guys. put the boat in today and had the radio on. it picked up a few transmissions. i still plan to replace it but don't like going out with an inoperable radio

i didn't see any wire sticking out. just strings from the fiberglass? it was white and looked like string. as far as i know it wasn't the wire. i used a wooden dowel rod to piece it back together then duct taped it. looks like crap...lol

With no wire in it, you don't need to put it back on. They make them 6 foot but different wave lengths inside. The wire length provides increased performance. The standard 6 foot antenna is a 1/2 wave and the wire doesn't go all the way up, the 3/4 gets much closer but also cost more

 

[StingrayMike]

I agree with alldodge. If there is no wire in the top half, then the top half of the antenna is just for ascetics. You dont need it.
is the antenna 1 or 2 piece? If Iit is 1, then the wire more likely goes all the way up to the top.. if it is 2, then it may not.
just look real carefully, the wire will be embedded within the fiberglass.

 

[boatman37]

1 piece i guess. i just got home from the marina. i was picking up transmissions from the locks about 6 or 7 miles down river. i will be replacing it anyway, if even for aesthetics, just want to be sure if will work if i need it in the meantime