Location of Navtex aerial?

[Leif-J]

I am fitting a Furuno NX-300 and wonder, where best to put the mushroom shaped aerial. It is likely to fish a line almost no matter where I put it, and I also need to have it out of reach of my radar beam. So I wonder if it need be over deck, or I might fit it underneath somewhere? Or will this reduce the sensivity?
Another option would be to put it up somewhere in my back stay out of reach - sort of anyway.
Forgive me if this subect has been discussed earlier - could not find it anywhere when searching.
Brgds
Leif

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

I stuck mine on the pushpit 6 years ago stil there and undamaged !

 

[aluijten]

Actually, the antenna can be put even inside of a GRP yacht. You will have a little less reception there, but not much. The receiver is quite sensitive.
I had mine (same model) behind the switch panel that also has the display unit installed and I still received quite a lot of messages. It's now on a custom build pole together with a few other aerials (AIS/GPS/Radar).
Although I would not put it directly in the beam of your radar, in close proximity shouldn't be too much of a problem as the frequencies for these devices are quite different.

 

[Leif-J]

Think I will start trying the reception with the aerial inside then. Can always start drilling (more) holes in my poor boat later.
Btw aluijten, like your avatar - very fond of cats, me and SWMO.

 

[aluijten]

Btw aluijten, like your avatar - very fond of cats, me and SWMO.

Thank you very much. It used to be one of our beloved crew mates. It died prematurely (cancer). During it's lifetime it was the Burmese equivalent of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jean Claude van Damme. All muscles, hardly brains But he loved being on the boat.

 

[Billjratt]

Furuno is a very good unit and will "hear" better than some others. The most important thing is to keep the aerial away from other electrical noise (like flourescent lights etc.), then it will be able to recieve the signals without interruption.

 

[maby]

Navtex operates on a pretty low frequency - the "correct" antenna would be several hundred metres long and mounted a good hundred metres or more up in the air - obviously not practical on a boat. All the Navtex antennae we use on pleasure boats are very heavily loaded, amplified antennae and, as such, are pretty unaffected by position - they all perform very badly in absolute terms. As others have said, the more critical consideration is to keep it as far as possible from sources of interference - which include fluorescent lighting, motorised equipment and electronics.

 

[RobinBirch]

My Navtex antenna sits out of harms way in the rear cabin. Reception/signal seem fine. It used to sit on the guard, kept on being knocked and finally the mounting bracket gave up.

 

[Twister_Ken]

I put a NASA Navtex aerial below decks (up against the coachroof side) on the old boat. NASA kit is pretty low end, but it worked well enough there. I've been looking at Navtex for the new boat, and quite fancy the ICS which has been redesigned in the last year to do away with a tiny and low profile aerial with some integrated electrickery, to a two box solution with a plain vanilla but large aerial. One reason I'm hesitating is my reluctance to put a big aerial somewhere vulnerable. I'm wondering whether I can fit it in some dead space in the aft cabin.

 

[stevensuf]

plus one on keeping the antenna away from other electronics, my stereo makes the reception garbled when on

 

[Leif-J]

Thanks for good advice everyone. I shall try my luck at placing it indoors first - and try to avoid electronics. Wonder where that would be, it seems to be everywhere nowadays.

 

[nigelmercier]

Actually, the [NavTex] antenna can be put even inside of a GRP yacht...

Now that is a good idea, as it will free up some pushpit space for my AIS transceiver antenna (when I get it).

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

I put a NASA Navtex aerial below decks (up against the coachroof side) on the old boat. NASA kit is pretty low end, but it worked well enough there. I've been looking at Navtex for the new boat, and quite fancy the ICS which has been redesigned in the last year to do away with a tiny and low profile aerial with some integrated electrickery, to a two box solution with a plain vanilla but large aerial. One reason I'm hesitating is my reluctance to put a big aerial somewhere vulnerable. I'm wondering whether I can fit it in some dead space in the aft cabin.

Or you could get one of these. I keep mine in the chart table. No drilling and you can take it home. Turn it on before you leave have the latest broadcasts immediately.

http://www.mesltd.co.uk/moerer-wib2b-black-navtex-with-barograph-function-p-11173.html

 

[mdonnelly]

My navtex aerial is sited in a corner of the Chart table where it bothers nothing, doesn't get snagged and has no problems picking up signal.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Or you could get one of these. I keep mine in the chart table. No drilling and you can take it home. Turn it on before you leave have the latest broadcasts immediately.

http://www.mesltd.co.uk/moerer-wib2b-black-navtex-with-barograph-function-p-11173.html

But then I'd have to get a PC wot I have not got.