What Antenna to Buy ?

[strobe1970]

G'day All,

I'm looking for an Antenna to buy for my new VHF radio (LVR880). I'm keen to get a reasonably good antenna with hopefully a 6db gain. I'm travelling about probably 30-40Nm (possibly further when more experienced) from the nearest marine rescue with VHF. I've looked at Shakespeare, GME and Pacific (and the price points seem to be in that order).

My favourite at the moment is the Shakespeare 5101 which has a 6db gain and copper core (most expensive). I'm also quite interested in the Pacific Longreach Pro. The standard GME and Pacific brands are cheaper but I can only find 3dB versions (and I think they use Coax for the the aerial transmitting elements). Pacific also has a pro range which seems to have a better gain (they have a 'marine gain' of 9db and a normal gain of 6db - never heard of marine gain before?).

Also it looks like the Pacific longreach pro range have a better VSWR of 1.2 (the others are 1.5) - and are still cheaper that Shakespeare. Pacific seem to be made in NZ and Shakespeare are made in States. And what do all these specifications really mean in a real world scenario ?

So far I've only found Shakespeare at one seller in Australia, and I've not found an outlet for the Pacific longreach pro as yet (though just about everybody sells that standard pacific range).

Paul

[strobe1970]

I forgot to add - I'm looking at a 2.4M length.

[Muddy Toes]

I just bought a ZCG Scalar B20G/D and I'm happy with it.

2.5mtrs tall and 5.1dBi.

It's probably not the cheapest one on the market but it's the one I was recommended by the guys down at my local marine electronics store.