Best masthead VHF antenna for the money

[Bru]

what do the coily bits do? Mystery to me. I thought they made the aerial better.

They do

The Metz Manta has a sealed oil filled cylinder containing a base loading coil which increases the effective resonant length of the antenna and thus reduces the VSWR with a corresponding increase in actual transmitted power

Actually, almost all commonly used marine VHF antennas have a load coil top increase the apparent "electrical: length as a 1/4 wavelength antenna in that band would otherwise be around 1.9m long. That coil though can be a cheap twist of wire or a proper piece of serious engineering. Metz are the latter, other makes and models vary

 

[PetiteFleur]

I also had the whip dissappear a couple of years ago when returning from Holland, got another whip from Salty John just before he retired but not got round to fitting it yet as I don't climb the mast nowadays. A friend will hopefully fit it when ashore this winter. Making do with a spare antenna on the stern.