[aprssig] What a diffeence an antenna makes

[Robert Kirk]

Joe... My solution is to use the same 156MHZ antenna as you, but installed 
on the masthead, coming down to a coax A-B switch. It can feed the boat's 
marine VHF or a Kenwood D7 HT for APRS & voice. That gives the little 5 
watt Kenwood tremendous range from the 40' masthead. I could APRS all the 
way down the Bay last year and hit the Annapolis 105 voice repeater from 
Crisfield. That way you don't need the extra, ugly 8' pole on the transom.

Yes, but you say you can't talk on the marine VHF when  the A-B is in the 
Kenwood position. That's actually the reason I got a ham license, to avoid 
all that waterborne CB chatter (except for calling the bridge tender on 
Channel 13).  If you do need the marine channels, you can listen to them on 
the Kenwood and flip the A-B switch if you ever  need to transmit.

Bob Kirk
N3OZB
& Isobar - Alberg 30 #181


At 10:03 AM 10/31/05 -0500, Joe Della Barba wrote:
>On my boat I had an old decrepit mag mount 2 meter whip bungee-corded to 
>the stern rail for APRS. Even with 30 watts it had problems getting out 
>from many areas. I recently replaced it with a marine VHF base loaded 
>half-wave (tuned for 156 MHz) on an 8 foot extension. The new antenna and 
>the gain of 8 feet in antenna height has done wonders. My trip to Saint 
>Michael's and back tracked perfectly.
>73 de N3HGB-5
>Joe