taper Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 I am using a Uniden Solara radio in my boat with roughly a 3 foot antenna is there any way to increase the signal strength other than going to a larger antenna, or is their an antenna that will work better but can still be fairly compact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forrest Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 (edited) I am using a Uniden Solara radio in my boat with roughly a 3 foot antenna is there any way to increase the signal strength other than going to a larger antenna, or is their an antenna that will work better but can still be fairly compact. For better reception you could double the antennae length. There are a lot of different types of antennas, some are more compact than others. Check out the guys at Radio World. www.radioworld.ca is their URL. It is hard for someone to diagnose without looking at it unless you completely incorrect match. As for transmission: transmitting from a higher point on the boat will help remove interference from waves. If you have poor transmission and receive it may be due to corroded or poor connections from the radio to the antenna (bad crimp, water damage etc). Also if you have the wrong antenna length it could cause issues. Other than that you have to get a radio with a higher output. forrest Edited April 6, 2008 by forrest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 a real expensive radio will help a bit but there are only 2 ways to increase signals longer antenna or increase watts you can buy a vhf ampliflier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forrest Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 (edited) a real expensive radio will help a bitbut there are only 2 ways to increase signals longer antenna or increase watts you can buy a vhf ampliflier Not trying to step on toes here...have a radio guy set up your radio/antenna..do a bit of research first. A longer antenna will generally increase the reception: -Placing it at a higher point will increase the range (it sees over the waves) -An antenna that is designed for a particular application will refocus the available wattage to a direction that another antenna will likely pick it up. For example you do not want your antenna transmitting to space, that just wastes wattage. -signal loss between radio and antenna is bad. -a tuned antenna (for length) is important Any names for marine grade amps? forrest Edited April 6, 2008 by forrest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 Don't really know why you "need" a VHF amp, I've got a older Uniden MC1010 with an 8" antenna and have no problem going 12 miles with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 forrest, you are correct but because he didn't want a longer antenna, I assumed he would not want to move it higher, would be much the same as getting a longer antenna and as for "An antenna that is designed for a particular application will refocus the available wattage to a direction that another antenna will likely pick it up. For example you do not want your antenna transmitting to space, that just wastes wattage." as much as that is 100% right, it really does not apply to signals on the water different wave antennas can change the angle at which will leave and so if you are in a city you want one that sends the signal at a high angle to get over the tall buildings but on the water the ground plane is the same from one end of the lake to the other so the marine vhf antennas don't vary as much as other vhf . any 2m amp would do as long as you are within the freq. wattage limit.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forrest Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 Don't really know why you "need" a VHF amp, I've got a older Uniden MC1010 with an 8" antenna and have no problem going 12 miles with that. I think Fisherman hit the nail on the head: Taper, why do you think you need a more powerful radio? Oh yeah....the directionality thing Terry and I were mentioning is rated as "gain". I think what Terry was stating is that all marine antennas have about the same gain/directionality. forrest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LundGuy Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 I have two units from Radio World, an on board marine radio which will pick up signals from across Lake Erie from Port Stanley, and a very good hand held unit for my wife when back at the cabin. The hand unit will pick up to 15 miles in good weather, but both have trouble as all radios when you get in behind high points and bad weather, but with better quality units you will still get decent reception even in the worst of conditions and low spots. I have always bought the top of the line marine radios, our lives are worth more than a couple of bucks. I have seen guys buy $400.00 fishing rods and $150.00 radios, doesn't make sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taper Posted April 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 The set up in my boat works quite well (IMHO), I was actually asking the question for my father in law he has roughly the same boat with different brand radio and antenna and cannot get the same reception that I do. He was wondering if he could make a change other than the longer antenna to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forrest Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 The set up in my boat works quite well (IMHO), I was actually asking the question for my father in law he has roughly the same boat with different brand radio and antenna and cannot get the same reception that I do. He was wondering if he could make a change other than the longer antenna to help. Check the connection from radio to antenna (common culprit of bad reception) Have someone look at antenna to make sure it is correct check for good dc to unit (for transmission only) bring head unit to shop to check for proper power output (for transmission only) The unit could also be not as good as yours....check the specs forrest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerritt Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 (edited) I will be picking up a Lowrance Unit from Angling outfitters and it was explained to me that a 4' antenna will give me about a ten mile range... but an 8' will provide around 25 miles... quite the improvement! This unit has DSC :thumbsup_anim: http://www.lowrance.com/en/Products/Marine...Radios/LVR-250/ G Edited April 7, 2008 by Gerritt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forrest Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 I will be picking up a Lowrance Unit from Angling outfitters and it was explained to me that a 4' antenna will give me about a ten mile range... but an 8' will provide around 25 miles... quite the improvement! This unit has DSC :thumbsup_anim: http://www.lowrance.com/en/Products/Marine...Radios/LVR-250/ G OK...this is my last word on this. Get the antenna that suits your application. High waves and a long antenna(high gain) do not mix so in certain situations Gerrit's 25 miles could actually be 5 miles. And that 4' one will still be 10 miles. See a dealer. forrest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silveradosheriff Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 Come on Geritt - go for the 880! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerritt Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 Come on Geritt - go for the 880! are you able to read my mind or something? I need to invest in tinfoil... scary.... I was just looking at it! thinking to myself....... G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 I was always taught that on the water it doesn't make as much difference as on land the line of sight is how these short wave lengths work..you can get some skip over the e layer of the atmosphere but not a lot and not dependable so, The maximum theoretical distance that the two boats can communicate is 9.1 miles (4.2mi + 5mi) and The maximum theoretical distance the distant boat can communicate with the tower is 17 miles (12mi + 5mi) unless the waves are 15 feet high I would go with the longer great gain antennas..if you want to talk to airplanes then the short low gain antennas will shoot the signal high....I have been a ham radio operator for over 20 year, so I have some idea of what I am talking about.....got my license back when you had to be able to build a transceiver to pass the course ..and morse code Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taper Posted April 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 Thanks for all the input guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 While we'z on radios Terry... did you happen to see if you indeed had that adapter for my little radio antenna? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted April 8, 2008 Report Share Posted April 8, 2008 well I forgot all about it... did we check yet to see if the one I have on my antenna fits yours ..I have the one for mine ifmit was the same I can get the part number and we can get one form one of the radio stores Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted April 8, 2008 Report Share Posted April 8, 2008 Nope we didn't check.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted April 8, 2008 Report Share Posted April 8, 2008 ok, we will have to get together to check if it is the right size, I think I thought it was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted April 8, 2008 Report Share Posted April 8, 2008 Dang.. I guess we might have to go fishing together.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted April 8, 2008 Report Share Posted April 8, 2008 LOL any excuse to do that.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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