I am in need of a good whip!

ShipsWoofy

ShipsWoofy

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antenna that is..

A few years ago now, Sailing Today carried out quite a comprehensive test of whip antennas and the mid priced units came out best. I think I even replied to someone at the time which they listed as best.

Unfortunately it seems the particular edition I had has gone into the 'blue bin'.

I wonder if anyone with a collection might be able to look up the article for me and give me say the top 5. I am currently interested in the glomex unit and have a sneaking suspicion that it did quite well.

I think it was around the time when skipper_stu's boat was being tested, if that helps narrow it down.

Thank you in advance.
 
Not sure why it matters that more power goes into the drink or into the air, if it means that more goes over the surface too.

On a similar point, why do most Mobo's have two big antennae when yachts make do with one (plus an emergency spare, probably) ?
 
I took my post off as I realize that DW's boat is a cat which will not heel.

Gain is how the signal is distributed, not that there is more of it. With a high gain whip the signal come our in a kind of disk at right angles to the antenna. The signal that is going is to space or the water is signal that is not going out horizontally.
 
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yep, but the 'disc' is lobe shaped, not perfectly flat, so there is a certain amount of beam width from a simple monopole .....IIRC !


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I agree, but in qualifying the disc as having lobes you are describing a lower gain antenna. The point I was making in my deleted post was that high gain antennas are not a good idea on a heeling boat. The higher the gain, the truer this is.

None of this matters if you aren't going the heel, and DW's avatar looks like a cat, so let's leave him to enjoy the benefits of high gain.
 
hm,

with the deleted post this thread makes zero sense, amusing though!

Basically, I need to replace my coax, I went to do it last time the mast was stepped and could not break the antenna base, so left it for a couple of seasons. The base has gone chalky and welded the joint.

I need a spare antenna, so my plan is to fit a new 1050mm whip in direct replacement and fit the old one on to an aerial mast I intend to build on the pushpit.

I remember the ST article was quite surprising in the comparison testing they did, I need the new aerial to work without worry. I have a nice new reel of cable and connectors and would prefer an antenna that allows me to fit my own, it seems many are sealed units (maybe the one I have is actually sealed). Which is fine, until now, when I only need to replace the cable ;(

I am in no rush (slight lie) but the longer I put it off the longer I can avoid paying out for a crane and mast storage while I do some other work on it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Re.
I have a nice new reel of cable and connectors and would prefer an antenna that allows me to fit my own, it seems many are sealed units (maybe the one I have is actually sealed). Which is fine, until now, when I only need to replace the cable ;(

I use a Metz antenna which allows you to use your own coax. Has been very relaible, all stainless construction and really good quality and performance compared to my old Glomex antenna.
I believe pricewise the Metz antenna is between £40 - £50 , used to be available new on ebay.
Hope this helps.
Matt.
 
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I have a nice new reel of cable and connectors and would prefer an antenna that allows me to fit my own, it seems many are sealed units (maybe the one I have is actually sealed). Which is fine, until now, when I only need to replace the cable

[/ QUOTE ]


SaltyJohn sells the Metz antenna which is reckoned to be very good. It has a SO-239 at the base to take a standard pl-259.
 
Sorry about deleted post confusion. I didn't realize that anyone had read it, still less replied, at the time I deleted it. That may be a Cloaked Lakesailoring..

I ask nurse to increase the medication.
 
Dogwatch,
I think the group test you are referring to is the March 2005 issue. The best buy was the V-tronix YWX and the budget buy was the Pacific SV11SM. The Pacific SV12S also rated well.
 
I was very happy with the performance of the 1.1m whip from jgtech despite being mounted on the gantry aft, it was capable of very decent VHF transmit reply ranges. excellent as an amergency areial, and as my AIS aerial. cable supplied with it was tinned, which was not the case of a vtronix aerial at twice the price.
 
I have not come across standard units with connectors before, usually you screw down the wire inside the coil case. Handy as I already have a few rubber boots for SO-239.

This design also means the coil should be properly sealed, I like the idea of that. I also like that in the future it could mean I can change a cable with the mast up, i.e. it is not me who goes up and she can plug in the cable..

The V-tronix YWX comes with 20m of cable and it seems this is fixed. I really want the ability to replace cable if required, writing an aerial off because of a cable fault or age just seems wasteful to me.

Unless someone arrives and tells me the Metz isn't so good after all I think I will go with that, thank you to all who responded, although it would be interesting to know if ST looked at the Metz during their tests and how did they fair.. Before I click to buy.
 
Metz are reckoned to be the 'gold standard' by US sailors. I specifically wanted one, and when I looked for a UK supplier, I only found one, who turned-out to be SaltyJohn of these very fora!

I too wanted to be able to chose the coax I used and have a connection that I could trust.

I haven't actually bought it yet because all the couriers I had lined-up have chickened out of coming here!
 
Metz wasn't one of the brands tested, in fact only 3 manufacturers were represented, V-tronix, Pacific and Glomex, (18 products). There also appeared to be no correlation between the price you pay and the performance you can expect, even from the same manufacturer.
 
I had a V-tronix Hawk for several years and have now sold the boat that it was on. No problems although the cost of a replacement Windex is excessive.
The coax was connected in a gland to the aerial base and never caused a problem and was a solderless type so could be changed at the mast head (not that I ever did).
 
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