I managed to break the top of my 8 foot VHF and need to replace it! I am familuar with the performance of the 8 foot but how does anyone know how that compares to the 4 foot? I fish mostly on open water but I do spend some time on Rainy and Lake of the woods on the Canadian side!
I guess the question is how much range am I going to loose if I go to the small one or would you recommend staying long?
I have had both (Broke my share of 8 footers too!) and have found there is nothing that I could not do with a 4 footer that I could do with an 8 footer. 
Just make sure you solder your connections per the instructions.
Radio signals are all about line of sight. That extra 4′ could mean the difference between life and death. Of course I’m talking about being a long way off shore. I’d opt for the 8′ antenna. When your life is on the line take no chances.
http://reviews.ebay.com/VHF-Marine-Radio-Antenna-Buying-Guide_W0QQugidZ10000000000015940
Quote:
Length
When it comes to antennas, size matters. The higher your antenna is above the water, the greater the distance you’ll achieve. The VHF radio wave travels in a straight line. This is called line-of-sight. Your antenna has to be able to “see” the other antenna. Because of the curvature of the earth, as the distance between 2 antennas increases, they eventually fall below the horizon and can no longer communicate with each other. In most cases, communicating by way of VHF is limited to about 35-50 miles. Sailboats have a distinct advantage here. You can mount an antenna at the top of the sailboat mast and reach great distances with a short antenna. Your type of boat obviously determines the length of your antenna also. A 32 foot antenna on a bass boat is just not a good match.You will have to determine how much range you really need. A 3-foot antenna can usually get you about 5 miles of range. In case of an emergency, you will want to be heard. Don’t short change yourself with an antenna that is too short.
Here is the formula for calculating the range of an antenna:
Square Root of Height Above Water (in feet) times 1.42 equals Range in Miles
Example: Highest point of your boat is 6 feet above water. You attach your 3-foot antenna at that point. The antenna is now 9 feet above water. The square root of 9 (which is 3) times 1.42 equals 4.26 miles
So how can you receive that marine radio weather broadcast that is 75 miles away? You have to perform this calculation for the “other” antenna also and add the 2 distances together to get the maximum range between the antennas. The weather transmission may be from an antenna several hundred feet high and on top of a mountain giving it enough range to connect to your antenna’s 5 mile range. You would be able to communicate with a boat that was 10 miles away from you if it had an identical set up as you. Each of your antennas could “reach out” 5 miles.
8 foot hands down.
The Shaksphere Little Giant will perform as well or better than many of the cheaper 8 footers out there. This is a quality antenna. As Tuck mentioned, solder all connections!
-J.
Brand new 8Ft Shakespere in the classifieds for 30 bucks.Jack Naylor has it for sale.
Have had both and when on Winnie I couldnt reach the other side of the lake with the 4′. I thought about getting a 4′ on the new boat since we all use cell phones now, but stuck with the 8′. The radio is no good without a good antenna if you ask me.
Being you fish LOW it wouldn’t even be a question for me as to what I would get.
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