vhf antennae

[yfzjim]

Id like to see some pics of where everyone is mounting their VHF antennaes. The boat in question is my Wellcraft 200 classic. (20' bow rider) My antennae is a 8'

 

[reelfishin]

Re: vhf antennae

Your choices are pretty limited on that boat, its pretty much going to end up on the left or right gunwale next to the windshield somewhere. I'd use a fold down mount, through bolted with some reinforcement behind it, and mount a nylon clip or something to secure it in the down position for towing. On my boat, not a Welcraft, the antenna gets tied off to the rear Bimini top strap mount when in tow. On a small boat, where you mount the antenna is often a compromise. Ideally you want it a good distance from the radio but you may not have any choice.

 

[yfzjim]

Re: vhf antennae

i have a fold down mount but im not sure i can mount it near the window with out it interfering with the bimini. pics? anyone?

 

[ziggy]

Re: vhf antennae

Ideally you want it a good distance from the radio but you may not have any choice.

i think on mine the mfg. wanted it to be a min. of 3' away from the radio. i barely complied..

don't know if these will help yfz. but here ya go...

if ya look close, ya can see my antenne laying on the gunnel. i was lucky. i got flat top walk around gunnels. made for an easy mounting...

mounting point was just behind the windshield.

i used ss fender washers to back up the bolts... think i used 1/4-20 ss bolts.

i saw no other good options for install on my boat...

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: vhf antennae

agree with above.

 

[mtp9302]

Re: vhf antennae

I have a 1985 Wellcraft 190 American, open bow, and I am in the process of mounting mine the same way as Reelfishin described. My antenna is an 8' Shakespeare with a ratchet mount bolted through the gunwale about 1-2 feet forward of the driver's seat and under the windshield on the starboard side.

The previous owner had drilled a bunch of holes in that area, and a few of them lined up with my mount so I put it there to clean things up. It works out well; I can raise/lower it from both the driver's seat and the open bow. When it folds down it is about 1-2 ft from the stern, and I still have to figure out a tie down as reelfishin suggested.

I don't have any pictures of mine unfortunately, but I've attached a picture of a different Wellcraft 190 with the approximate location circled in red.

Ziggy, I really like how you set yours up a lot. I don't have any flat areas on my gunwales like you for that arrangement, and the OP likely doesn't either, but that looks sharp.

 

[skargo]

Re: vhf antennae

Mine is on the gunwale, outside of the windshield. My bimini is attached to the windshield frame, so no interference.

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: vhf antennae

Mine is on the gunwale, outside of the windshield. My bimini is attached to the windshield frame, so no interference.

Mine is the same way from looking at your photo, your radio is clearly within 3' of the antenna. (So is mine) BUT, I had the space in the gally to coil and hide the coax so that I maintained the original coax length. As I understand antennas, that's a big deal rather than the physical location of the radio in relation to the antenna. I may easily be wrong on this, but the coax is intended to be at least 3' long by my understanding. Mine works great, Icon with a premium Shakespeare antenna. The antenna quality from my research makes a huge difference in output. I spent about 100$ for a good one. Radios aren't worth much if they don't work IMHO.

 

[skargo]

Re: vhf antennae

Mine is the same way from looking at your photo, your radio is clearly within 3' of the antenna. (So is mine) BUT, I had the space in the gally to coil and hide the coax so that I maintained the original coax length. As I understand antennas, that's a big deal rather than the physical location of the radio in relation to the antenna. I may easily be wrong on this, but the coax is intended to be at least 3' long by my understanding. Mine works great, Icon with a premium Shakespeare antenna. The antenna quality from my research makes a huge difference in output. I spent about 100$ for a good one. Radios aren't worth much if they don't work IMHO.

Yep, my radio is under my helm, probably more like 18-24" from the antenna, but I too coiled up my coax in my cuddy, behind the bulkhead there. Mine is a low cost Standard Horizon Eclipse and a mid grade Shakespeare.

It transmits and receives quite nicely. I did solder my end on at first and the quality was iffy, hard to solder those buggers on correctly. I then bought one of those solderless ends, man, what a great invention!

I just noticed I am actually using the radio in that pic!

 

[lonesouth]

Re: vhf antennae

Curious why I see so many people mounting the antenna midship or near the windshield, as opposed to at the stern.

 

[ziggy]

Re: vhf antennae

imho, antenna height is everything when it comes to vhf radios.. an antenna mounted at the stern is one of the lower points of most boats.. the bow would be highest...

 

[bekosh]

Re: vhf antennae

Curious why I see so many people mounting the antenna midship or near the windshield, as opposed to at the stern.

imho, antenna height is everything when it comes to vhf radios.. an antenna mounted at the stern is one of the lower points of most boats.. the bow would be highest...

Height is part of it. Mounting it near the windshield gains you a little bit in height.

You also want it near the helm so that you can reach the antenna and fold it down when going under an obstacle.

Me? I'm still using a handheld. :redface:

 

[xeddog]

Re: vhf antennae

Another thing about mounting an antennae near the stern is that would put it in the way of all sorts of other activities like swimming (ingress and egress at the rear swim platform), fishing, tubing, etc. Mounting it up near the windshield also keeps it out of the way.

wayne

 

[dsiekman]

Re: vhf antennae

Off topic, but sweet boat Ziggy!!!

 

[GatorMike]

Re: vhf antennae

When I post like this everybodies blood pressure seems to go through the ceiling. I'm the guy who thinks we often try to over analize things around here. My first answer is more of a question, someone mentioned putting the antenna down when going under objects. My question would be why even have it up if you are going under objects, why not just use your cell phone? To me the radio is simply an offshore piece of equiptment.

I know this is going to drive some people nuts but here goes. For a long time every boat I ever owned had one of those 12ft fiberglass antennas. It seems like sooner or later every one of them got broken. I was constantly having to tell people not to step on the antenna while boarding. It seemed like the darned things were always in the way whether up or down. One day we were out with 3 boats and I was trying to call boat #3 to hook up with them, I couldn't get a good signal and my son who was just 50ft away picked up his hand held and got through loud and clear. I started paying attention to these things and I am telling you there is not that much difference between a 12 foot fiberglass antenna and one of the metal antennas that bolts to the top of your windshield or T-top.

Oh I can already hear it some will say it's a safety issue and you shouldn't play around with safety devices. I won't argue I am just saying a small antenna fixed to the Center Console works for me.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: vhf antennae

Curious why I see so many people mounting the antenna midship or near the windshield, as opposed to at the stern.

If its on the stern, you would have to fold it forward. At least for me, I often have it folded down when I am on lakes and having it forward means more likely to catch on things.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: vhf antennae

delete...duplicate post.

 

[slasmith1]

Re: vhf antennae

Mount it as high as possible and as far away from the radio as possible.

 

[skargo]

Re: vhf antennae

My 8' is too close to the radio, never gets in the way, hasn't been broken yet, and transmits and received perfectly. I am happy with it. Pretty sure that's what matters, that it functions properly and you are happy with it.

 

[DianneB]

Re: vhf antennae

This is where I mounted mine on my bow-rider