rktktpaul
New Member
Now that my sister and her family bought a place on the shore of Lake Michigan, it looks like we'll be spending a lot more time on that big body of water. So I've decided to invest in a hard wired VHF radio with DSC hooked up to my Garmin gps unit for safety purposes. My question is regarding the antenna.
To minimize appearance, I plan on using a Shakespear 5241-R 3', 3 dB antenna mounted high on the the bimini strut using a ratchet action, rail mount. I'll fasten the coax to the strut down towards the bimini strut hinge fastened on the deck.
At times I take the bimini top completely off the boat; so a connection that is detachable is desirable. Secondly, I want a clean install; I really don't want to expose the cable inside the boat and then running it through the storage compartment. I also don't want to detach the cable from the antenna and just have it hang inside the boat when I do take the bimini off.
So what I was thinking was to drill a hole on the deck right next to the bimini strut hinge and install a mountable barrel connector and run the cable through the storage compartment to dash. That way when I take the bimini top off, I can just unscrew the coax at the connector without having to undo any connections at the antenna, and still have a clean look inside without any cable flopping around.
Anyone see any downsides? I know that any time you add a connector, you downgrade the signal - is it really that much of a concern??
Thanks for your thoughts guys!!
To minimize appearance, I plan on using a Shakespear 5241-R 3', 3 dB antenna mounted high on the the bimini strut using a ratchet action, rail mount. I'll fasten the coax to the strut down towards the bimini strut hinge fastened on the deck.
At times I take the bimini top completely off the boat; so a connection that is detachable is desirable. Secondly, I want a clean install; I really don't want to expose the cable inside the boat and then running it through the storage compartment. I also don't want to detach the cable from the antenna and just have it hang inside the boat when I do take the bimini off.
So what I was thinking was to drill a hole on the deck right next to the bimini strut hinge and install a mountable barrel connector and run the cable through the storage compartment to dash. That way when I take the bimini top off, I can just unscrew the coax at the connector without having to undo any connections at the antenna, and still have a clean look inside without any cable flopping around.
Anyone see any downsides? I know that any time you add a connector, you downgrade the signal - is it really that much of a concern??
Thanks for your thoughts guys!!