Roger,

We have the 23' whip and it works great. Also have a split
backstay, but since the whip was on the boat when we bought
it, I decided to stick with it. I'm not familiar with the 17' whip
you mention. It would appear to me that you may not be
abot to get good tuning acrosss the bands. The specs for the
tuner say that a 23' minimum length is required if I recall
correctly.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

"Roger" wrote in message
om...
I am installing an Icom 802 ssb with a 140 tuner. I am looking for
advice/experience on the difference in performance between
Shakespeare's 17'6" whip vs. the 23' whip.

I have a sloop with a split backstay and probably will go with a
whip.I only have about 3' between the antenna base and the mounting
clamp on the transom. Insulating the backstay and running the feed
wire along the split (through the bimini) is my second choice.