I replaced the old antenna, which when looked at up the mast appeared to be
a quire weathered, and had some corrosion. The connector appeared very good
though still, so I reckoned the cable would be OK still.

The new antenna works much better and I even picked up Guernsey radio from
Plymouth sound Breakwater, which has to be about 80 Miles! Not sure I would
have been able to call them back mind!!
Comms to friends this weekend has been what I would expect from a standard
25W VHF, so looks like it was the Antenna.

Thanks for everyones help in this matter.

John

"MazingTree" wrote in message
.uk...
Many thanks for the comprehensive replies here,
Checking them out now!

I have also spotted something called and AV-40 Avair, which also looks
like
it might do the trick, and seems available over here.

John



"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
"MazingTree" wrote in
.uk:

Would have the URL for Waste Marine, I can't see this listed in
Google?
I wonder if you have a typo, it seems an odd name for a company
selling
marine equipment :-)



Shakespeare manufactures marine antennas in the US. Go to Google and
search for:

Shakespeare ART-2 Antenna Radio Tester

There are lots of dealers. I looked at Shakespeare's website and see
they
have a new model out, the ART-3, but have never seen one. The ART-2 has
been out for many years. It's all you need.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Shakespeare+ART-
2+Antenna+Radio+Tester&btnG=Google+Search

The PDF catalog is at:
http://www.shakespeare-marine.com/catalog/fullline.pdf
Click on "Radio Accessories" in the control panel of the Adobe Acrobat
Reader. It's the 2nd unit down on the left.