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Marine VHF radio

I've found two antennas that could fit on the boat. Its not a large boat or a sailboat .

There is the base-loaded type. These have a 2-3" coil base and a small wire whip 3 ft or so in length

There are the stick type. These look like there isnt a large coil base, but are thicker fiberglass (3 ft or so in length). I assume the length is made up with a coil running the length of the fiberglass stick.

The stick type will mount better on the boat. The place that out of the way is at a slight angle. I haven't seen a base loaded type that has an angle adjustment. There isnt a place on the back area that a base loaded type will go without being in the way of the swim platform/deck area.

QUESTION-- Is there a noticeable difference in performance in these two types ?

I always used Shakespeare VHF antennas about 6' in length, then again i was 80+ miles offshore most of the time and wanted to reach other boats or Coast Guard if anything came up, I considered my radios as safety equipment so had 2 of them on board. Length is your friend if practicle It depends a lot on where you will be boating, the short antennas will work fine on lakes, going off shore I would look at something that will be appropriate for the distances you would want to transmit. Just my 2 cents....

Salty1 wrote:I always used Shakespeare VHF antennas about 6' in length, then again i was 80+ miles offshore most of the time and wanted to reach other boats or Coast Guard if anything came up, I considered my radios as safety equipment so had 2 of them on board. Length is your friend if practicle It depends a lot on where you will be boating, the short antennas will work fine on lakes, going off shore I would look at something that will be appropriate for the distances you would want to transmit. Just my 2 cents....

Been thinking about VHF for my kayak too, Shakespeare VHF antennas about 6' in length will double as a flagpole with a small orange "bicycle" flag on top :)