Antennas, Marine
pdon...@excel.net
and others for $150.00 Also does the nylon ratchet mounts work,
compared to the stainless mounts? Any one have luck with the cheapies?
I see they have mabe 1 db gain, but is it worth it?
WA9FWT
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Marty Gras
pdon...@excel.net wrote in message <845fi1$k99$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...
I have the nylon ratchet mount and it works fine and its 10 years old.
Gary
Another member of the Loyal Order Of Bayliner Owners
hkr...@capuantispam.net
> >Why the big difference in price on 8' antennas, some you see for $29.00
> >and others for $150.00 Also does the nylon ratchet mounts work,
> >compared to the stainless mounts? Any one have luck with the cheapies?
> >
> >I see they have mabe 1 db gain, but is it worth it?
> >
> >WA9FWT
Boating Magazine, Trailer Boats Magazine and others have run tests on
various VHF antennae and have found differences. Generally, the cheap
models are built flimsier. There were some "electronics" differences,
too, but I don't recall what they were, but the higher-priced antennae
performed better, or at least closed to claimed specs.
Some of the better antennae are quite a bit heavier than the cheap ones.
A stainless mount would be stronger than a nylon one and less likely to
break under severe conditions. If you are an inshore or lake fisherman,
it probably doesn't matter much. (Gotta leave an opening for those Great
Lakes boaters to split hairs and tell us all how rough the conditions
are there...)
If you buy a cheaper nylon mount, don't buy the cheapest one.
Larry KN4IM
end of the coax. There must be a lot of damned fools going to boating
stores. How else would they get some fool to pay $800 for a 25W FM
radio that does EXACTLY the same thing as one selling for
$149?.....talk to the other boat on the horizon....
Status, man, Status!
Larry.
On Sun, 26 Dec 1999 16:33:06 GMT, pdon...@excel.net wrote:
>Why the big difference in price on 8' antennas, some you see for $29.00
>and others for $150.00 Also does the nylon ratchet mounts work,
>compared to the stainless mounts? Any one have luck with the cheapies?
>
>I see they have mabe 1 db gain, but is it worth it?
>
>WA9FWT
>
>
fishwisher
type mount several months ago just so I could give good advise here. I
cruised under a bridge with both antenni up at about 20 mph. I busted up one
antennae in this consumer test, but both cheapo ratchet mounts held up fine.
That was my last consumer testing project in recent months. Hopefully my
testing programs are over.
--
Dale Gillespie
Boating and fishing the Californiadelta(.org)
Larry KN4IM <kayenfo...@cablemodem.net> wrote in message
news:38665111...@corp.supernews.com...
pdon...@excel.net
that the nylon mounts must work, and are worth there money. As for
cheap radios I purchased two SI-TEX's for $99.00 ea They seem to work
well so far just in my room hooked up to a indoor C.B. Ant.
And yes, I do port out of Sheboygan, WI on Lake Mich. And it doe's get
ruff out there. WA9FWT
pdon...@excel.net
leave the plug out of the back of the boat.....can you guess "WHAT"
Bill
radios. The circuits and parts used in both cost more money.
A $100 Shakespeare Galaxy will out perform a $20 cheapie. I did a side by
side test, the better antennae put out a stronger signal and easily heard a
weaker one.
The better radio made weak signals understandable. Icom's more
expensive rigs get the job done when others don't.
Might mean a lot if you go offshore like I do. Won't mean much if you
don't ... as most of them work fine close in.
I use a SST HD ratchet because the Galaxy is a double 5/8 wave and is
heavier on the top. At 40 mph offshore it might mean the difference between
having a radio with an antennae and having a handheld.
Safety is something to consider when venturing out of sight of land.
Bill
Raymond T. Lowe
says...
I put out the extra coin to get an 8' Digital Ae as it was explained
thats its radiated lobe (footprint) was far superior to the cheaper
antennas. The closer you are to the water, the more important this
factor is. If you were 70 feet above the water, a 3' coat hanger wire
would probably work. Another factor is the "ground plane" your antenna
has to work with. It needs one to develope the lobe and if your boat
is made with fibreglass and wood, this is another factor that has to
be considered in its design. I was Communications technician in the
Navy so I knew he wasn't dealing out the bull.
I also bought an ICOM M59 VHF but so far am not happy with the audio
quality. A larger external speaker should fix this as a 2" speaker
just doesn't cut it no matter the quality of the unit. Another spring
project :).
My Ae was $185 Cdn which is around the $120 mark U.S.. Anybody in the
Vancouver/Lower mainland area of B.C. should talk to Steve @ Rauer
Electronics who specialize in Marine electronics. He is an electronics
technician with a good reputation and will steer you right. At the
other end of the scale is a store clerk at your local Walmart or
Boaters World. Nice people who will sell you something real cheap. Just
be sure to add your savings to your Life insurance policy.
RT
--
*Remove "bogus" when replying by e-mail*
Ron Leigh
at some guys on shore that were whistling and waving to me. In my own Blond
moment of being the center of attention (thinking they were waving at me
because of my sharp Salmon outfited boat) I proceeded under a bridge and
broke both the Antennae and the ratcheted stainless mount. As they laughed
and whistled and shouted proclamations about my IQ, I at least had the sense
to bow and wave back in recognition for their applause. That hit me in the
wallet for about $180.00 mount and antennae. I have'nt done any research
lately.. it's winterized and shrink wrapped for the season. :)
fishwisher wrote in message ...
bmc...@ti.com
model for communication. The difference is the cheap one is bigger in
diameter and thinner walls, so when was down and stepped on, the antenna
crushed. The more expensive is smaller diameter (lower wind resistance) has
not collapsed from people getting aboard the boat with the antenna down.
Bill
<pdon...@excel.net> wrote in message news:846a25$52l$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> In article <OVEg34#T$GA.279@cpmsnbbsa02>,
> "fishwisher" <fishw...@email.msn.com> wrote:
> > >Hay fishwisher.....I also tested as to what would happen when you
> leave the plug out of the back of the boat.....can you guess "WHAT"
hkr...@capuantispam.net
>
> Regarding cheap antennae and radios:
>
> Don't you consider this equipment part of your safety equipment? Would you
> buy bargain-basement flares, or life jackets?
>
> I say spend the money.
Actually, I suspect that many of the guys who buy cheap antennae also
buy $8.00 life vests.
--
Harry Krause
------------
NAK NAK Who's there? #E) NO CARRIER
David S. Pendleton
Chuck Tribolet
is the length of the coax: 15' vs 20', if I remember correctly.
That's one more connection to get saltwater in it IF 15' isn't
enough and 20' is (which is the case on my whaler). I've got the
$35, I'll get a Galaxy next time.
--
Chuck Tribolet
Internet: tri...@garlic.com
http://www.almaden.ibm.com/cs/people/triblet
Silicon Valley: Best day job in the world.
Larry KN4IM
USED to be true. But, alas, today's radios are so integrated with new
technology that is very cheap to produce (the various IF and RF
filters comes to mind), unlike radios of the past, it is no longer
true. The RF power amplifier in ALL of them is a standardized RF
"brick" IC bolted to that heat sink in the back. Even the cheapest
radios have them. Most radios, expensive or not, are merely the
circuitry, sometimes the very circuit board, of a walkie talkie
mounted in a cute enclosure and the output amplified by this brick to
25W when the button is pushed in. This is not to say they are
inferior. The walkie talkies have the same technology as the $2000
SuperDooper-I'm-from-a-major-marine-company-that-makes-stuff-for-Hatteras
units do. I bought a new Garmin walkie the VHF725. It has a BETTER
receiver in it than MOST boats on the dock! While they are listening
to the local paging company's 600W paging transmitter 1/2 mile from
the docks, I'm listening to the boats...no paging tones! We even
tried to hook it to a sailboat 6DB antenna on top of a mast and
couldn't hear paging tones! Now if it only put out 25W....bummer.
Hmm....I DO have a 180W 2meter amp that's broadbanded...(c; Naw, I
wouldn't do that!
Larry.
On Tue, 28 Dec 1999 20:22:55 -0500, hkr...@capuantispam.net wrote: