Antenna mounted on front rail

[AJack]

What are people's thoughts about mounting a VHF antenna to the starboard rail on the bow?

 

[zipper]

What are people's thoughts about mounting a VHF antenna to the starboard rail on the bow?

First thought...Will you still be able to put the boat cover on? And if so, in that location will it stress or wear on the cover during towing. My preference would be a Shakespeare ratchet mount mounted topside near the starboard midship cleat that will fold down.



The Quick connect makes it easy to change length of or replace a broken antenna. I use the 4187hd for am/fm and the Quickconnect for VHF with different bases that mount to my tower. $.02

 

[Daron]

Higher is always better. The whole point of a fixed system over a handheld is the benefit of range. You gain that range with the fixed system by increased power (wattage) and better line of sight (better reach through higher mounted antenna). So, if you’re interested in my $.02 then you may as well get the best capabilities for the money your paying for the system and maximize it’s potential and use. Mounting the antenna as high as possible is ALWAYS going to benefit your radio. I am coincidentally going to be ordering my antenna today as well. I made up my mind awhile ago to go with the Shakespeare Quick Connect antenna and it’s quick connect ratchet rail mount (like what @zipper was mentioning). I originally got the idea from this forum, I think from a post Julian had posted. I am going with the 8’ antenna and mounting it dead center on my tower. Like I said, range is the whole reason for getting these over a handheld, so why defeat that purpose?

Now I’m just debating on which radio to get. I really like the Lowrance Link-9, it can be flush mounted. Regardless of which one I get I am going to mount the radio head unit where that useless tray is behind the throttle levers.

Hope that gives you something to think about.

 

[AJack]

I guess I should have laid down my reasons I'm looking at the rail mount.
* I'm going to Bimini in July
* I do plan on selling the boat in two years, upon leaving Tampa; I'm military and will be moving "inland", but I am getting close to retirement and definitely plan to have another boat, thus I want to keep the equipment from this boat. I can revert everything I've done so far back to stock/OEM. A topside mount is not reversible.

First thought...Will you still be able to put the boat cover on? And if so, in that location will it stress or wear on the cover during towing. My preference would be a Shakespeare ratchet mount mounted topside near the starboard midship cleat that will fold down.

View attachment 91000

The Quick connect makes it easy to change length of or replace a broken antenna. I use the 4187hd for am/fm and the Quickconnect for VHF with different bases that mount to my tower. $.02

 

[AJack]

I've been researching and learned this...I have a non-towered JB. After looking around, seems like I would go with the Pacific Aerials Pro mount over the Shakespeare QC. The plan is to get the Standard Horizon GX1600 and create a NMEA 2000 setup between the chartplotter and radio so I can see other boats (I believe this is possible with my Garmin 64CV)!

Higher is always better. The whole point of a fixed system over a handheld is the benefit of range. You gain that range with the fixed system by increased power (wattage) and better line of sight (better reach through higher mounted antenna). So, if you’re interested in my $.02 then you may as well get the best capabilities for the money your paying for the system and maximize it’s potential and use. Mounting the antenna as high as possible is ALWAYS going to benefit your radio. I am coincidentally going to be ordering my antenna today as well. I made up my mind awhile ago to go with the Shakespeare Quick Connect antenna and it’s quick connect ratchet rail mount (like what @zipper was mentioning). I originally got the idea from this forum, I think from a post Julian had posted. I am going with the 8’ antenna and mounting it dead center on my tower. Like I said, range is the whole reason for getting these over a handheld, so why defeat that purpose?

Now I’m just debating on which radio to get. I really like the Lowrance Link-9, it can be flush mounted. Regardless of which one I get I am going to mount the radio head unit where that useless tray is behind the throttle levers.

Hope that gives you something to think about.

 

[Daron]

I guess I should have laid down my reasons I'm looking at the rail mount.
* I'm going to Bimini in July
* I do plan on selling the boat in two years, upon leaving Tampa; I'm military and will be moving "inland", but I am getting close to retirement and definitely plan to have another boat, thus I want to keep the equipment from this boat. I can revert everything I've done so far back to stock/OEM. A topside mount is not reversible.

I retired almost 5 years ago (Army). I'm confused why moving out of Tampa effects your decision to sell the boat? Chances are you will have bodies of water somewhere around you where ever you go next. Retirement from the military is a great thing, and opens up so much more time to use a boat (at least for me, lol ) You have started an investment, and an expensive one, and it's a pretty safe bet that you'll lose big on your boat that early into it's purchase. Regardless, yes, you would be able to take those VHF components with you easily.

 

[Daron]

I've been researching and learned this...I have a non-towered JB. After looking around, seems like I would go with the Pacific Aerials Pro mount over the Shakespeare QC. The plan is to get the Standard Horizon GX1600 and create a NMEA 2000 setup between the chartplotter and radio so I can see other boats (I believe this is possible with my Garmin 64CV)!

Ok, understood. With that said, how about mounting it right off the starboard side by the driver cockpit? I have seen others mount it there. It's out of the way of passengers moving around AND out of your way driving. With that said though, yes, you would need to screw down a mount that you wouldn't want to remove when reselling the boat, would leave holes. However, a mount isn't that expensive, so leaving just the mount with the boat shouldn't be that big of a loss.

 

[AJack]

Nice, I'm Army.

Selling because I got a pretty good deal on the boat, thus when selling, I'm actually paying a few grand to "rent" the boat for a few years. Also, I've used the boat exclusively in salt water around the bay, almost every weekend. I basically live on the bay, the ramp is 3 miles from where we live, and it's free with limited access for base personnel! The next place I should be going only has small lakes. It would seem a waste if I'm not using it as much as I am now and a lake seems like it would feel constricted, when compared to Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

I retired almost 5 years ago (Army). I'm confused why moving out of Tampa effects your decision to sell the boat? Chances are you will have bodies of water somewhere around you where ever you go next. Retirement from the military is a great thing, and opens up so much more time to use a boat (at least for me, lol ) You have started an investment, and an expensive one, and it's a pretty safe bet that you'll lose big on your boat that early into it's purchase. Regardless, yes, you would be able to take those VHF components with you easily.

 

[AJack]

I have three courses of action if not rail mounting:
1) See if I can mount the radio where the GPS cap is. I would have to mock something depending on the size of the hole and re-locate the GPS sensor.

2) Add some kind of rail to the rear of the boat, like the SX230 had and rail mount.

3) Just put the damn thing on the starboard side in vicinity of the helm.

Ok, understood. With that said, how about mounting it right off the starboard side by the driver cockpit? I have seen others mount it there. It's out of the way of passengers moving around AND out of your way driving. With that said though, yes, you would need to screw down a mount that you wouldn't want to remove when reselling the boat, would leave holes. However, a mount isn't that expensive, so leaving just the mount with the boat shouldn't be that big of a loss.