VHF antenna location

[tpgil4]

Hello,
I have an 89 model CP-23 I have owned for about a year now in eastern Norht Carolina and have been lurking on the board for just as long but not been posting. The vhf antenna on my boat is mounted on the stern rail. The range for picking up other boats does not seem to be far at all. Wouldn't the range increase if it was moved to the top of the mast? Where do others have their antenna located?
Thanks!
Terry

[kchunk]

Mine is atop the mast.

[breeze]

Hi Terry, yes it should improve. VHF radios are line of site.
David

[Bob23]

Terry:
   Mine is also at the top of the mast. I made a bracket out of some aluminum purchased at Home Depot and while the rig was down during the winter, installed it. Instead of rivets or sheet metal screws, I felt it a better job to drill and tap out the holes. Use a bit of Never-Seeze grease or similiar between the ss screws and aluminu mast.
   Running the wire proved a bit of a challenge but finally, got it through. I ran the cable through the deck using a Cable Clam (West Marine) and it worked fine- no leaks! This allows me to remove the cable when I drop the mast for the winter. Yeah, up here in NJ we gotta do that. I guess you North Caroliners can still sail!
   Best- Bob23 on the hard in NJ

[tpgil4]

Thanks for the responses. I did not realize the radios are line of site. I will be moving it to the mast.

[Gil Weiss]

Both VHF and UHF radios are line of site as mentioned. Typically this works well over water as there are no obstructions. Higher is always better.

The other consideration is keeping the antenna in the clear. If you mount at the top of your mast you will be in the optimum spot. When mounted on the stern rail, etc. you can get signal deflection off nearby metal objects creating a non omni directional radiation pattern. In most situations this is not a major problem.

Another consideration to increase range is using a gain antenna. The normal VHF marine antenna for a mast top is the 1/4 wave length piece of wire - about 19 inches long. You can get slightly longer antennas with a loading coil that act as a 5/8 wave length and increase signal strength both on receive and transmit.

Everything here is a compromise between size, ease of mounting, etc.

Enjoy your radio, K3GIL

[Craig Weis]

I have the antenna atop my C-P 19 mast. A device from the antenna mfg allows this one atenna to pick-up VHF-UHF, Am-Fm too without a switch. I have a post about this in my past efforts. Click 'skip' in upper left, then under 'summery' click on 'show posts'. skip.