Yo! Harry! (or anyone else) Antenna question
 

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:53:20 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:37:27 +0000, Larry wrote:

It's not on larger boats, either. At 55' atop the mainmast of an Amel
Sharki 40 ketch, the Metz easily outperforms the 8' monsters, which must
be mounted lower.

What - you work for them or something?

Metz antennas are crap - always have been, always will be.

Junk.

Tom, according to the Metz website, they are used by the Coast Guard. This
is also said on other sites I've visited. See: http://tinyurl.com/22m7sy

Is there a specific reason you don't like them, the Metz Manta 6
specifically?

Yo! Harry! (or anyone else) Antenna question
 

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:52:37 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:


"John H." wrote in message
.. .


Well, it's not beat to death yet. I'm getting conflicting views on this
antenna cable length. I really don't like having 20' of cable coiled up in
the console. There's not much space there already.

But, I'll do what I have to do.


Don't worry about it. Cut it, but leave about 12 feet total.

Eisboch


Hey, almost half the problem is gone! Let's continue please...

Yo! Harry! (or anyone else) Antenna question
 

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:58:49 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:36:58 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:53:20 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:37:27 +0000, Larry wrote:

It's not on larger boats, either. At 55' atop the mainmast of an Amel
Sharki 40 ketch, the Metz easily outperforms the 8' monsters, which must
be mounted lower.

What - you work for them or something?

Metz antennas are crap - always have been, always will be.

Junk.

Tom, according to the Metz website, they are used by the Coast Guard. This
is also said on other sites I've visited. See: http://tinyurl.com/22m7sy

Is there a specific reason you don't like them, the Metz Manta 6
specifically?

Yes - they are junk.

End of story.

And their warranty sucks.

Oh - did I mention they are junk?

So Shakespeare is the way to go? I had to replace two of those on the
Proline. They just quit working! I could transmit maybe a quarter mile
away.

Yo! Harry! (or anyone else) Antenna question
 

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:09:13 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
.. .

Sometimes people with some knowledge can confuse the issue for those
with less than perfect knowledge.

I'm as guilty of that as anybody.

Me too, plus my memory is getting bad. Some folks focus on politics. I
am more of a technology nerd, but with a fading level of competence.

Heh - I'm right with you on that one.

I used to be able to rattle stuff off as quick as I could talk - after
a few, well more than a 'few", years away from the radio and building
"stuff", the more I seem to need refresher on.

For example, I fired up the Collins S-line the other night just to
hand out some Qs for a state CW contest that was going on and I had to
look up how to load the transmitter properly.

Used to do that in my sleep. :)

Yo! Harry! (or anyone else) Antenna question
 

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote in
:

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:12:48 +0000, Larry wrote:

John H. wrote in
m:

Another question: Most antennae seem to come with about 20 feet of
wire. Mounted on a console with the radio right there, I could get
by with about 3 feet of wire. Is all the extra wire necessary?

No, it's not. If you're not a solderer, find someone who can put a
new connector on the radio end of your cable or make up a new cable.
The Metz does NOT have a cable attached to it....one of its great
features. YOU put the cable on it so the cable can be replaced....not
hard wired into the plastic, like the little whips from Shakespeare
come.

The farce of "tuning" the antenna with cable length is nonsense....

Really.

Tell me why.


No problem.....

Anywhere along the length of a transmission line terminated in its
characteristic impedance (the antennas and cable are 52 ohms), the
voltage and current are constant and there are no standing waves. In
reality, this is not possible, but it is very close.

The old CB nonsense was to use the transmission line's standing waves to
find a place where the impedance is close to 52 ohms. Unfortunately,
this changes with frequency and whatever is wrong with the antenna on the
other end. We hams have used tuned open wire feeders for 90 years or so.
But, none of these antenna systems and transmitters are designed to be
used with tuned feeders, which present the transmitter with a very odd
voltage to current phase relationship that may cause destruction of the
output amp stage.

If the VHF power amp brick detects the wrong impedance or phase, it turns
the power down to protect the brick....never a good thing.

So, in a tuned antenna system, it matters not where you place the
transmitter because the impedance load at any point on the transmission
line is very close to constant.

Larry
--
Search youtube for "Depleted Uranium"
The ultimate dirty bomb......

Yo! Harry! (or anyone else) Antenna question
 

"Eisboch" wrote in
:

True, you don't "tune" the antenna with cable length, but you need a
certain amount of it to properly tune the antenna. My memory is
rusty and I'd have to go dig out the books, but I think you should
have a 1/2 wavelength or so in cable length. Maybe it's a 1/4 ....
can't remember. Too short will cause the antenna not to load
properly (assuming it is the correct length) and result in an
excessive SWR value that reduces effective transmitted power and, in
the worst situation, cause damage to the output stage of the radio.

Eisboch



Nope. All wrong. You don't need any cable at all. There is absolutely NO
REASON to measure cable length to the multiple of any length....once the
CBers leave the building.

Larry
--
Search youtube for "Depleted Uranium"
The ultimate dirty bomb......

Yo! Harry! (or anyone else) Antenna question
 

HK wrote in
:

Frankly, I think we need something a lot better than VHF, some variant
of marine cell (not satellite) for in shore and near shore. The bigger
offshore boats that sink, well, we need more fishing reefs anyway, right?



http://www.globalcomsatphone.com/glo...ited_plan.html

Done! $50/mo in what's left of 2007. $40/mo in 2008. $20/mo in 2009 and
2010. UNLIMITED AIRTIME TO ANY PHONE IN THE US AND CANADA INCL PR.
Reasonable rates to other places.

And, you can carry it in your car and use it at home, too!

Really cheap satphone for coastal USA/Canada and most of the Caribbean.
Look at the maps.

Anybody who can afford to feed those outboard monsters can afford a
satphone from Globalstar, now.



Larry
--
Search youtube for "Depleted Uranium"
The ultimate dirty bomb......

Yo! Harry! (or anyone else) Antenna question
 

Larry wrote:
HK wrote in
:

Frankly, I think we need something a lot better than VHF, some variant
of marine cell (not satellite) for in shore and near shore. The bigger
offshore boats that sink, well, we need more fishing reefs anyway, right?



http://www.globalcomsatphone.com/glo...ited_plan.html

Done! $50/mo in what's left of 2007. $40/mo in 2008. $20/mo in 2009 and
2010. UNLIMITED AIRTIME TO ANY PHONE IN THE US AND CANADA INCL PR.
Reasonable rates to other places.

And, you can carry it in your car and use it at home, too!

Really cheap satphone for coastal USA/Canada and most of the Caribbean.
Look at the maps.

Anybody who can afford to feed those outboard monsters can afford a
satphone from Globalstar, now.



Larry


I looked into that. The phone itself was about a grand. At the moment,
my cell provides the coverage I want while out on the Bay. Works good in
Virginia Beach to a decent distance offshore and it worked offshore in
Hawaii, too.

Yo! Harry! (or anyone else) Antenna question
 

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:53:20 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

Metz antennas are crap - always have been, always will be.

I always used them on all of my old sailboats. On top of a 50 to 80
ft mast with a run of low loss coax they seem to perform quite well.

Yo! Harry! (or anyone else) Antenna question
 

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 16:28:26 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:

It's length *does* affect proper antenna loading.

And that's a *loaded* statement which gets debated in some circles
almost as much as "which boat is the best".

In theory the length of the coax does not matter, but that assumes a
perfect match with a SWR (Standing Wave Ratio) of 1:1. In practice an
SWR of 1.5:1 is generally good enough to ignore feed line length. This
discussion quickly gets very technical and into some very esoteric
transmission line theory.

Someone else mentioned the issue of being able to properly install a
coax connector which is also important. If you do not have the tools
or expertise, it is better to leave the coax uncut, or hire a
professional radio guy to do the job right.