Antenna length for vhf radio

For the guys using vhf radio’s what length antenna are you running? I’m going to Voyageurs National park and I decided to get a radio. My boat is an Alumacraft 175 full windshield.

I use a 6 foot on my 1675 impact full windshield and the canvas up at voyageurs on Kab without problems
but I am only looking for weather when I am up there.

VHF is line of site reception so taller is better. I use an 8′.

Don’t forget that your antenna is only as good as the connection between the radio and antenna. Make sure to solder.

FDR

8 ft here as well and a big 10-4 on soldering the connection.

I have an 8′ Shakespeare on one boat and a 4′ on the other.
When they are side by side on land and the lock 2 air miles away talks using there hand held, I can’t hear them at all on the 4′.
The 8′ breaks the squelch but I can’t hear them either.

If you want the best, go with an 8′. Caution: Bridges and trees eat 8′ antennas all the time.

Have fun up there!

PS I have a ram mount for and antenna for sale cheap. It’s a great little device if it would hold my 4′ antenna without laying down in the wind. I’ve switched to the ratchet mount.

If your radio doesn’t seem to work right after install, 99.9 times out of 100 it’s your connector.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

I have an 8′ Shakespeare on one boat and a 4′ on the other.
When they are side by side on land and the lock 2 air miles away talks using there hand held, I can’t hear them at all on the 4′.
The 8′ breaks the squelch but I can’t hear them either.

If you want the best, go with an 8′. Caution: Bridges and trees eat 8′ antennas all the time.

Have fun up there!

PS I have a ram mount for and antenna for sale cheap. It’s a great little device if it would hold my 4′ antenna without laying down in the wind. I’ve switched to the ratchet mount.

My ram mount held up the old 4 foot antenna but certainly cannot handle 8 footer.

I’ve got the Shakespeare 4187 SS Ratchet Mount as well.
Roofed docks like the antenna as well,,,,,NOT!

Antenna range is 1.23 * square root of the antenna height. You add the height of your antenna to the height of the receiving antenna to get the total distance. I spend a lot of time on Rainy Lake fishing on my own. I have an 8′ Shakespeare 8900 on my boat and the same antenna on the cabin. The cabin antenna is about 24 feet above the water. The farthest I have been able to communicate with the boss (wife) is 8 miles. The calculated range is almost 9.5 miles, so not bad as there are many islands in the area that we area. The antenna’s will be in there third year of use.

Prior to installing the 8900’s I had the cheapest 8′ Shakespeare that you could buy and I could communicate 3 miles away.

My experiences. Let me know if you have any questions.

Joe

Brian Klawitter wrote:

If your radio doesn’t seem to work right after install, 99.9 times out of 100 it’s your connector.

<div class=”oembed-wrap”><div class=”fluid-width-video-wrapper” style=”padding-top: 56.2353%;”><iframe src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/InBNyWI1-Ys?feature=oembed&#8221; allowfullscreen=”” id=”fitvid116663″ frameborder=”0″></iframe></div></div>

The only thing I’ll quibble with on that video is the choice of a small soldering iron. I’ve soldered literally hundreds of PL-259’s in the last 50 years. I use a soldering gun. It produces a lot more heat right now and speeds up the process quite a bit.

One other comment….it sure would be nice to know exactly what the manufacturers put inside that fiberglass pole. I could fit a four foot long antenna into a 4 foot fiberglass pole that would smoke a 2 foot long antenna shoved inside of an 8 foot long pole….It’s like guns. Barrel length is important but so is caliber. The only reliable thing we have to go on is peoples experiences with different antennas, Like JMP1890’s report.

SR

My Shakespeare 5225 XT has been great for 14 years and I’ve communicated over 20 miles on open lakes.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I’m going with the 8 ft. I already have the ratchet mount so all I need is the antenna.

Brian, joking right? You can have 99.9 times out of a thousand not a hundred-I am 110% sure of this!