J. Slater wrote:

The third unit sounds great (voice quality and volume are terrific on all
radios) except that it appears that I can't reach anybody past 5 miles out,
line of sight on the water! Batteries showing 13.6 volts snipI'm also having
trouble picking up transmissions outside of 5 miles as well. Seems to point
towards the antenna again, doesn't it? Antenna height is 58 feet from the
water and it is a 3db model if my memory serves me right.


If the antenna is fiberglass and over about 3-5 years old, it may be
trashed. Ours looked fine, but when I replaced it with a stainless steel
3db with epoxied coil, recommended by Practical Sailor at the time, our
range improved considerably: spotty 2-mile range to a fairly consistant
25nm on a quiet channel.

Also, if you're using standard "CB" coax, switching to RG-8X (I believe)
cuts down loss.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/