So took a trip from Sydney harbour up to palm beach at the weekend. I always log on / off with marine rescue Sydney as advised but noticed that when I was in the harbour they could hear me clearly but the receiving signal from MRS was broken an inaudible. To the point that they called my mobile to confirm they had received my log off clearly.
I'm thinking this has to do with my antennae type and position which is only a short 15cm whip mounted on the console, installed by previous owner.
I'm thinking of installing a 1m on the A-frame and could do with some advice. Is there anything I need to know in advance and do you think this will help.
i think it is more likely that the antenna wire has been attacked by salt at one of the ends (probably the aerial end), check the wires in the plugs at each end and reterminate if required. (chop a bit off the wire end and put the plug back on). 15cm is a pretty small aerial i personally like the Vitronix rib antenna (works for me) https://www.marinesuperstore.com/mar...er-rib-antenna
Sorry I should have mentioned that once out of the harbour in open ocean the signal was clear as day.
if it's not an intermittent fault, then aerials are cheap, i'd be happy with the Vitronics i have. I'd steer clear of a long fibreglass aerial on a rib.
after a while you can start to get micro cracking in the fibreglass on aerials fitted to small fast boats on choppy water, i've had this problem in the past on my sunseeker. (the longer the aerial, the more likely the problem) Some manufactures are better than others but the wire type seem more robust on rib type boats.
I have s Pacific vhf antenna which has good send receive properties this antenna is fibre glass and has had a hard time off the west coast of Ireland
I would recommend in a heartbeat
Tsm
Clewless
