ICS NAVTEX antennas?

[nigelmercier]

My ICS Nav4Plus NAVTEX uses a passive antenna like this:
http://www.icselectronics.co.uk/leisure/antennas/passive

I think it may be faulty, so I want to replace it. A new one costs about £85.

Has anyone successfully used a NASA (active) antenna, perhaps having disabled the electronics?
Or any other suggestions?

 

[prv]

I think that antenna is literally just a whip or piece of wire. Before buying anything, maybe experiment with a length of ordinary wire, or even connecting to your rig (unless earthed)?

I'm not 100% certain what's inside Nasa's active navtex tubes, but since the connection from them is basically mains flex I think there's a fair portion of a radio receiver and not what you want if you just need an aerial.

Pete

 

[GrahamM376]

I think that antenna is literally just a whip or piece of wire. Before buying anything, maybe experiment with a length of ordinary wire, or even connecting to your rig (unless earthed)?

I'm not 100% certain what's inside Nasa's active navtex tubes, but since the connection from them is basically mains flex I think there's a fair portion of a radio receiver and not what you want if you just need an aerial.

Pete

On our last boat I connected our ICS Nav4 to the rig via a length of coax and it worked perfectly.

 

[prv]

On our last boat I connected our ICS Nav4 to the rig via a length of coax and it worked perfectly.

I'm planning to at least try the same with my Nav6, once I buy the receiver module for it (I currently only have the display, as an instrument repeater). The boat is currently very sleek and uncluttered with poles and antennae, and I'd like to keep it that way.

Pete

 

[Jamesuk]

I just acquired a Furuno Navtex antenna mushroom shape and it works very well, it's expensive bit of kit not sure why.

 

[prv]

I just acquired a Furuno Navtex antenna mushroom shape and it works very well, it's expensive bit of kit not sure why.

It's probably a radio receiver and perhaps also a Navtex decoder, rather than just an antenna. If the wire out of it has multiple cores rather than being coax, that's probably what's going on.

Pete