Folding antenna recommendations

[Yabadabadoo]

Morning all

Anyone got a good fold down 1m ish antenna option? VHF is fixed Icom 25w

Use for antenna is very very rarely up to 10 miles from shore, more typically in sight of land to about 2-7 miles in a busy area (Harwich ish)

Antenna is cuddy mounted approx 1.5m from waterline

Metz, Glomex and Procom seem to be front runners but quite punchy £ and are they overkill for my requirement.

I could go like for like - how good/bad are these?

Existing antenna
https://www.force4.co.uk/item/Pacifi...ntenna-10m/ATK

Existing mount
https://www.force4.co.uk/item/Pacifi...w-5m-Cable/ATL

The cable used on the Pacific antenna going by their website looks like RG58.

Some other posts here suggest a 50% loss or worse transmit power - worrying

I’ve got a tight run of approx 3m +/- 40cm which allows for cutting back as required for new plug.

Other question - does excess cable cause loss of output? I think answer must be yes, use what you need and allow for future trimming best way forward?

Cheers

[Yabadabadoo]

Gahh - spinning wheel on posting then ‘logged me out’ while in progress - apologies mods can you delete the other 3 posts

[Peter_C]

A taller antenna would be good to have. Being a small boat the antenna has no height. Going to a 2.5meter antenna would over double your range and help you get reception when in swells. Using google you can easily search for VHF distance vs height.

https://www.intercomsonline.com/2-wa...os-communicate

As to your mount plastic is not a material that can be counted on. I have seen to many plastic mounts break to trust them at all. Instead an nice stainless mount should serve you well.

In the USA Shakespeare is one of our primary antenna manufacturers, that are also sold under other brand name labels. No idea about what Europe offers.

[Iron Dials]

RG58 works fine and is the industry standard. Removing excess cable length will help reduce losses.

I’ve used a Rib Raider (not everyone’s favourite), a Shakespeare stainless whip and a Glomex RA106.
They all worked fine, I radio check to coastguard station 45 nms away. It is on a hill though!

Look for 3db gain.
The brands you mention are all well respected and known to work well. I suspect the higher price will give a longer interval to replacement.

I installed one of these:

https://www.force4.co.uk/item/Glomex...ntenna-Kit/ATA

This has everything in one purchase. The cable connection to base of antenna requires a knife, a ruler and some cutting but is fairly straightforward. You can cut cable to length and then solder on the plug to the other end in a nice warm workshop or kitchen.

Happy shopping.