In article ,
"Steve" wrote:

I think his problem is going to be the lead from the tuner
to the insulated backstay (6ft above the deck).

One of the things that most folks just don't get, is the "Classic"
RF Thru Bulkhead Insulator. For Metal hulled vessels and houses
these are one of the most forgotten items of the installation.
On Military Vessels, MF and HF Antenna Feedlines are routed thru
no less that 6" Ceramic ThruHouse fittings. On most Commercial
SOLAS Vessels, they use the same standard size ThruHouse fittings.
If it were me designing for this vessel, I would look at using
a vertical wire seperate from any backstay or shroud, and a 28 Ft
unloaded vertical whip mounted on the front of the MizzenMast.
Since the hull is metal the Autotuner can be mounted anywhere
inside the hull, so the vertcal wire can be placed just about anywhere,
where it will have a straight shot to the bottom of the whip.
This would give you around 24ft of wire under a 28Ft whip for
52ft of total antenna length. That is very respectable in any
installation senerio. If you really want to do this right and have
GREAT MF capability, move the unloaded whip up to the MainMast and
Feed it with a wire that comes from the tuner to an insulator on the top
of MizzenMast, than on to another spring dampened insulator on the
MainMast just below where the whip is mounted. That will give you,
24Ft Mizzen wire, plus say 30ft between Masts and then 28ft whip, for a
total of 82 plus any jumpers or around 85ft. Now your talking with
significant MF Antenna radiation effecincy. By doing it this way you are
not comprimising any of your Mast Supports, and will have a very
effective MF/HF Antenna System.


Bruce in alaska
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