Hi,
I have a Lowrance LVR880 on the way for the new boat, and I am looking to match it with the best Antenna possible, as I will be fishing 150+kms offshore and would like to utilise the positioning function of this radio.
Can anyone suggest a brand and size aerial to match this with?? And also, where to purchase??
Thanks heaps!
Unless the landtower is very very high you are talking a 30 m boat aerial. I thought 25 watt ones were only good for about 80km so not sure how you will get 150km to sea????? Boat to boat offshore 50km we have got.
My answer is sat phone ( in waterproof bag) at that distance from shore but may be wrong. Plenty on here know heaps more about radio than me so I may be well off the mark
You can hire sat phones.
Shakespeare do big VHF aerials.
Pacific are a good one for a run of the mill buy from anywhere aerial.
Mustang,
not sure if you know or not but the positioning function is from the NMEA connection to your GPS not the antenna, you do however use the antenna when you transmit your position to your mate.
Regards
Honda.
Won't make that distance from shore with VHF. Best antenna by far is Moonraker but you pay a bit more for them
You might get 150km. IF you want reliable comms that far out your only option is sat phone or HF. HF is a pain in the arse, not easy to use and not really suited to small boats, leaving sat phone as the best option.
If you want to talk to people nearby, then just by a pacific antenna, biggest possible and mount it as high as possible.
If you want safety, then by a GPS Epirb.
Cheers fellas.
Honda, yeah I understand it hooks up through nmea to the gps, which is why I specifically bought this model.
Ok so even though I may not reach that distance, Im guessing there is a big chance I could reach someone who would relay a message at least..
Sat phone seems the way to go out there hey??, thanks for the tip!
So I am guessing its either a moonraker, shakespear, or pacific. I will have a look.
Cheers
as with all antenna things there is no substitute for height, get the longest quality antenna/aerial you can find and mount it as high as you can on the boat.
That sort of distance out I would want every thing I could get, my 4.8m cc has a digital yacht tx/rx ais unit, icom VHF m604, 2 icom m88 portables, gps epirb, portable epirb and radar. I will not scrimp when it comes to safety full stop people may laugh at the expense I've spent on a 4.8m centre console but hey I know my family will have the highest chance of being rescued if needed.
That could be taking a risk as you no idea what channel they could be listening to. If it is a repeater channel and you are out of the repeater range you won't get through to the other party even if you are 100m apart.Originally Posted by mustang5
buy whatever - a vhf antenna is pretty much a piece of wire inside a fibreglass pole.
the optimim length of a VHF antenna is 6 feet.
the only difference between a 1.8m antenna and a 2.4 m antenna is the wire is in the top 1.8m. It will perform better though because it is higher
I am sure VHF travel by line of sight so, if your on-board antenna can see the land you should be able to tx/rx...you most likely need to elevate your antenna at 150km offshore but most important to tune & match your antenna so all the power is transmitted and not wasted by reflection (SWR) which could damage your radio...
Id buy a Glomex 6DB RA1225 2.4M It a weapon ! Height is the answer & if you jump on line you can buy a VHF Booster from NZ cost about $500 and you will get these distances ! only problem is the boost is not quit legal but theres heaps of boats in SE QLD that have them i got mind from a well known electronics dealer at Coomra.
Cheers Joe's
Oopps sorry to be helpful
vhf is line of sight. It doesn't matter if you have 100 watts you wont get much further because it's the curvature of the earth that stops you. sorry to be helpful my arse
VHF may be considered only line of sight but the waves have known to bend slightly and VHF will skip in the lower frequencies which means it isn't line of sight.
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