John H. wrote:
On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:51:44 +0000, Larry wrote:

John H. wrote in
:

Anyone - Is the performance of the 5' antenna seriously below that of the
8'er?


None whatsoever. I got to the horizon on a Metz Manta 6 halfwave at butt
level in a Sea Rayder jetboat all the time.

VHF only goes to the horizon, line of sight. To get further, you must
extend the horizon with ALTITUDE. 5' to 8' means nothing.

Screw a bunch of sun-destroyed fiberglass rods. The Metz is guaranteed for
life unless you lose the whip out of it. All the USCGs boats use the Metz,
a testimonial to its rugged construction. Completely self-contained. No
ground plane required. It'll work the horizon holding it in your hand.
http://www.metzcommunication.com/manta6.htm
Great company, too.

This guy has it on sale:
http://www.northeastmarineelectronics.com/index.asp?
PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2984
$34! That's half price!


Larry

Thanks for the tip, Larry.

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, but I was told that unless you know someone who can do a new
connection as good as the old connection, (which I was told will not be
done by the average DIY or boat mechanic) I was told it was better to
just wind it into a ring use some velcro to keep it out of the way.

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:11:55 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

John H. wrote:
On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:51:44 +0000, Larry wrote:

John H. wrote in
:

Anyone - Is the performance of the 5' antenna seriously below that of the
8'er?


None whatsoever. I got to the horizon on a Metz Manta 6 halfwave at butt
level in a Sea Rayder jetboat all the time.

VHF only goes to the horizon, line of sight. To get further, you must
extend the horizon with ALTITUDE. 5' to 8' means nothing.

Screw a bunch of sun-destroyed fiberglass rods. The Metz is guaranteed for
life unless you lose the whip out of it. All the USCGs boats use the Metz,
a testimonial to its rugged construction. Completely self-contained. No
ground plane required. It'll work the horizon holding it in your hand.
http://www.metzcommunication.com/manta6.htm
Great company, too.

This guy has it on sale:
http://www.northeastmarineelectronics.com/index.asp?
PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2984
$34! That's half price!


Larry

Thanks for the tip, Larry.

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, but I was told that unless you know someone who can do a new
connection as good as the old connection, (which I was told will not be
done by the average DIY or boat mechanic) I was told it was better to
just wind it into a ring use some velcro to keep it out of the way.

Well, I know (?) Shortwave! He could probably tell me what to do.

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, but I was told that unless you know someone who can do a new
connection as good as the old connection, (which I was told will not be
done by the average DIY or boat mechanic) I was told it was better to
just wind it into a ring use some velcro to keep it out of the way.

Well, I know (?) Shortwave! He could probably tell me what to do.

Shortwave doesn't know sh*t.

On the serious side, it isn't knowing how to do it, it is having the
skills to be able to do it well. Now if you fly SWF down, he might be
able to splice it for you. But it might be cheaper to buy a short ant.

I can't remember who told me this, or where I read it, but I think it
was in the instructions that came with my Horizon VHF. The question I
asked my installer when I heard this, was there any problem to wind it
up. I was told no, but they said a bad splice job can make a good VHF
worthless.

Needless to say, this will prompt a long discussion on the correct way
to splice or how stupid it is to splice an ant. wire

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:52:15 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

Needless to say, this will prompt a long discussion on the correct way
to splice or how stupid it is to splice an ant. wire

You never splice coax without using proper connectors and a barrel
splice, all of which introduce some additional losses.

The *right* way is to cut off the original connector, shorten the
cable as needed, and install a new connector.

Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:52:15 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

Needless to say, this will prompt a long discussion on the correct way
to splice or how stupid it is to splice an ant. wire

You never splice coax without using proper connectors and a barrel
splice, all of which introduce some additional losses.

The *right* way is to cut off the original connector, shorten the
cable as needed, and install a new connector.

Wayne,

What I have learned from all of this is when I said "splice" I really
meant "cut and install a new connector", and if I can't use the proper
words, I probably am completely incapable of installing a new connector,
without dropping so much signal that it will barely reach from my helm
to the bow of my boat.

It probably won't matter, I very rarely use my VHF, so I would only know
it was not working correctly if I had an emergency and really needed a
good quality connection. Since the odds of this happening is low, I
will not worry about it.

On Wed, 26 Sep 2007 06:45:29 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:52:15 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

Needless to say, this will prompt a long discussion on the correct way
to splice or how stupid it is to splice an ant. wire

You never splice coax without using proper connectors and a barrel
splice, all of which introduce some additional losses.

The *right* way is to cut off the original connector, shorten the
cable as needed, and install a new connector.

Wayne,

What I have learned from all of this is when I said "splice" I really
meant "cut and install a new connector", and if I can't use the proper
words, I probably am completely incapable of installing a new connector,
without dropping so much signal that it will barely reach from my helm
to the bow of my boat.

It probably won't matter, I very rarely use my VHF, so I would only know
it was not working correctly if I had an emergency and really needed a
good quality connection. Since the odds of this happening is low, I
will not worry about it.


When you're on the water, and your engine dies, and call TowBoatUS on your
cell phone, and you drop your cell phone in the bilge while trying to
unscrew the fuel filter, and the tow boat guy manages to get to where you
were when you (luckily) gave your position to the operator immediately, but
the wind has blown you a few miles away, and your radio will receive but
not transmit, and you hear the towboat guy calling but he can't hear your
response, and you stand on the engine compartment waving your orange throw
cushions back and forth for a half hour, and finally the towboat guy spots
you, *THEN* you'll begin to worry about your damn radio!!

John H. wrote:
On Wed, 26 Sep 2007 06:45:29 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:52:15 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

Needless to say, this will prompt a long discussion on the correct way
to splice or how stupid it is to splice an ant. wire
You never splice coax without using proper connectors and a barrel
splice, all of which introduce some additional losses.

The *right* way is to cut off the original connector, shorten the
cable as needed, and install a new connector.
Wayne,

What I have learned from all of this is when I said "splice" I really
meant "cut and install a new connector", and if I can't use the proper
words, I probably am completely incapable of installing a new connector,
without dropping so much signal that it will barely reach from my helm
to the bow of my boat.

It probably won't matter, I very rarely use my VHF, so I would only know
it was not working correctly if I had an emergency and really needed a
good quality connection. Since the odds of this happening is low, I
will not worry about it.


When you're on the water, and your engine dies, and call TowBoatUS on your
cell phone, and you drop your cell phone in the bilge while trying to
unscrew the fuel filter, and the tow boat guy manages to get to where you
were when you (luckily) gave your position to the operator immediately, but
the wind has blown you a few miles away, and your radio will receive but
not transmit, and you hear the towboat guy calling but he can't hear your
response, and you stand on the engine compartment waving your orange throw
cushions back and forth for a half hour, and finally the towboat guy spots
you, *THEN* you'll begin to worry about your damn radio!!


I don't worry about that, as I don't have a boat powered by either an
I/O or an eTec. :}

John H. wrote:
On Wed, 26 Sep 2007 06:45:29 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:52:15 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

Needless to say, this will prompt a long discussion on the correct way
to splice or how stupid it is to splice an ant. wire
You never splice coax without using proper connectors and a barrel
splice, all of which introduce some additional losses.

The *right* way is to cut off the original connector, shorten the
cable as needed, and install a new connector.
Wayne,

What I have learned from all of this is when I said "splice" I really
meant "cut and install a new connector", and if I can't use the proper
words, I probably am completely incapable of installing a new connector,
without dropping so much signal that it will barely reach from my helm
to the bow of my boat.

It probably won't matter, I very rarely use my VHF, so I would only know
it was not working correctly if I had an emergency and really needed a
good quality connection. Since the odds of this happening is low, I
will not worry about it.


When you're on the water, and your engine dies, and call TowBoatUS on your
cell phone, and you drop your cell phone in the bilge while trying to
unscrew the fuel filter, and the tow boat guy manages to get to where you
were when you (luckily) gave your position to the operator immediately, but
the wind has blown you a few miles away, and your radio will receive but
not transmit, and you hear the towboat guy calling but he can't hear your
response, and you stand on the engine compartment waving your orange throw
cushions back and forth for a half hour, and finally the towboat guy spots
you, *THEN* you'll begin to worry about your damn radio!!

That would be one hell of a bad day. So are you going to cut and
install a new connection?

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:07:42 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:52:15 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

Needless to say, this will prompt a long discussion on the correct way
to splice or how stupid it is to splice an ant. wire

You never splice coax without using proper connectors and a barrel
splice, all of which introduce some additional losses.

The *right* way is to cut off the original connector, shorten the
cable as needed, and install a new connector.

Is there a 'proper' manner of installing a new connector? Is there a
'proper' type of new connector to install?

John H. wrote:
On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:07:42 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:52:15 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

Needless to say, this will prompt a long discussion on the correct way
to splice or how stupid it is to splice an ant. wire
You never splice coax without using proper connectors and a barrel
splice, all of which introduce some additional losses.

The *right* way is to cut off the original connector, shorten the
cable as needed, and install a new connector.

Is there a 'proper' manner of installing a new connector? Is there a
'proper' type of new connector to install?


Most antenna kits come with an instruction sheet. The instructions
describe in words and drawings how to attach the connector. Only minor
soldering skills are required.