WHF Antenna for Garmin 0100209700 VHF 215 Marine Radio on DA340

Egor

Egor

Member
Jul 22, 2023
51
Monterey Bay, California
Boat Info
SeaRay 340DA 1999
Engines
Twin mercs
Hello,

my boat is DA340 1999
Recent purchase.

VHF Radio was not working, so I purchase new one - Garmin VHF 215 Marine Radio
Now I can talk to harbor master when I am in the harbor, but ppl in a distance dont answer.

I guess this mean I have trouble with antenna.

So I am going to buy new one.

QUESITON: What antenna I should buy for my boat and radio?

thanks to everyone, who respond
 
Believe it or not VHF marine antennas don't last forever. Their constant flexing and movement will eventually affect the electrical dipole elements inside of the fiberglass structure. I would think 20 years would be a good service life and time to replace - maybe less. Another thing is to get a good quality antenna like a Shakespeare Galaxy series 8 foot. It's a quality antenna that is relatively inexpensive; there are many out there however. Another important aspect is the antenna gain; As gain is increased in antenna design the transmit beam width (that donut shaped radiation area around the antenna) becomes narrower but bigger in diameter. As antenna gain is reduced that donut is fatter but much less in diameter. So a low gain antenna can receive and transmit to things closer and higher and lower than your antenna. It seems that a gain of 6 decibels is the happy medium for inshore and near-shore boating.
 
That's the antenna I'd use. I have a Garmin VHF and simply can't read the display - and the display is in the handset no less.
 
AIS is your decision with the style of boating you do and where you do it.
You do not need a specific antenna for AIS. I don't know what a VHF/AIS antenna brings to the table. Maybe @Skybolt knows.
 
Agree on not being able to read the Garmin VHF display!.....I bought one. It was so bad, I thought it was defective, returned it, got another one, still could not read it. Called Garmin, etc, but returned that one and went with Standard Horizon. I've had several Icoms and others, but I've had the best luck with Standard Horizons FWIW.

Ditto on antennae not lasting forever. There is no sign they are failing unless you use your radio a lot and pay attention to distance of the call. It is a critical safety part. I've had a few fail over the yeas.
 
Egor said:
Would this antenna right choice and compatible with my radio (connectors)?

www.westmarine.com

5225-XT 8' Galaxy VHF Antenna, White | West Marine

Check out our 5225-XT 8' Galaxy VHF Antenna, White and more from West Marine!
www.westmarine.com www.westmarine.com

www.garmin.com

Garmin VHF 215 Marine Radio | Boat Radio

The VHF 215 Marine Radio includes a fist mic handset, built-in GPS & allows you to stay in contact with boats near you via the Garmin the NMEA 2000 network.
www.garmin.com www.garmin.com
Click to expand...

The Garmin 215 is a nice VHF Radio, I have the 210 (same radio). But all VHF's have the same antenna connector. The Shakespeare 8' whip with 50 ohm coax is the best antenna for that radio. Stay away from the 3-4' ones.

VHF's center frequency is 155/6 MHz, while AIS is 162 MHz. If the 8' whip antenna is used the 162 MHz is close enough in side band frequencies that it will work just fine in receiving/transmitting AIS. The 215 only receives AIS and does not transmit.

I have a separate AIS transceiver that also will split the VHF signal into it's three receiving bands, VHF/AIS/FM.

The 215 also supports a remote station, it's the same one that @ttmott Tom is referring to be to small to read, without glasses I might add. The only thing readable is the channel number. But the main display is fine, it's only the remote that is too small.
 
Skybolt said:
The Garmin 215 is a nice VHF Radio, I have the 210 (same radio). But all VHF's have the same antenna connector. The Shakespeare 8' whip with 50 ohm coax is the best antenna for that radio. Stay away from the 3-4' ones.

VHF's center frequency is 155/6 MHz, while AIS is 162 MHz. If the 8' whip antenna is used the 162 MHz is close enough in side band frequencies that it will work just fine in receiving/transmitting AIS. The 215 only receives AIS and does not transmit.

I have a separate AIS transceiver that also will split the VHF signal into it's three receiving bands, VHF/AIS/FM.

The 215 also supports a remote station, it's the same one that @ttmott Tom is referring to be to small to read, without glasses I might add. The only thing readable is the channel number. But the main display is fine, it's only the remote that is too small.
Click to expand...
I have the Garmin 315 VHF and an additional remote handset (GHS 11 I think). Both are difficult to read.
I also have the Garmin AIS 800 which is a very good AIS transceiver.
 
ttmott said:
I have the Garmin 315 VHF and an additional remote handset (GHS 11 I think). Both are difficult to read.
I also have the Garmin AIS 800 which is a very good AIS transceiver.
Click to expand...

Yeah the 315 hand set, is the remote handset I am referring too. To your point, very difficult to read, not only the text size but it's orange backlight doesn't help things.

I have the Vesper XB-8000 with the antenna splitter and only use the 8' Shakespeare whip antenna. That setup works well. I went with the Vesper unit over the Garmin for AIS because they also have an anchor drag utility as part of their setup app (Watch Mate), also built into their Cortex VHF. Much easier to use over the typical Maretron/Garmin setup. And also have an external alarm output that is tied into the boat's alarm module (Maretron DCR100).
 
Egor said:
Would this antenna right choice and compatible with my radio (connectors)?

www.westmarine.com

5225-XT 8' Galaxy VHF Antenna, White | West Marine

Check out our 5225-XT 8' Galaxy VHF Antenna, White and more from West Marine!
www.westmarine.com www.westmarine.com

www.garmin.com

Garmin VHF 215 Marine Radio | Boat Radio

The VHF 215 Marine Radio includes a fist mic handset, built-in GPS & allows you to stay in contact with boats near you via the Garmin the NMEA 2000 network.
www.garmin.com www.garmin.com
Click to expand...

According to Sea Ray, my '05 260DA had a Valor 4000. Years ago, I replaced it with a Shakespeare which was what Marinemax sold me when I gave them the p/n from the 260DA parts manual.

The good news for you is that a VHF antenna is a VHF antenna. You can use whatever one you want that will attach to the mount that you have. Shakespeare is a well know brand with a long history so you can't go wrong there.

Find the cheapest price that you can on the internet. Add it to your cart on the WM web page, and then call their customer service line and ask for a price match to the one you found. They'll match it. Buy it with them and pick it up from the store.
 
Egor said:
Hello,

my boat is DA340 1999
Recent purchase.

VHF Radio was not working, so I purchase new one - Garmin VHF 215 Marine Radio
Now I can talk to harbor master when I am in the harbor, but ppl in a distance dont answer.

I guess this mean I have trouble with antenna.

So I am going to buy new one.

QUESITON: What antenna I should buy for my boat and radio?

thanks to everyone, who respond
Click to expand...
I'm not sure you need a new antenna.

VHF radios are line of site only and are affected by a bunch of other factors including antenna height of both radios, obstacles between you and receiver, weather and power of the transmitter (usually marine VHF's have a high and low power transmitt option).

If you can communicate with the harbor master, everything is working. Anything more than a couple miles away or over the horizon, they just are not going to be able to communicate with you.
 
Just a thought. @Egor have you by any chance tried the HI/LO button on the front of the radio? It should be transmitting at 1W of power in LO, and 25W of power in HI.

The general idea is that 1W is sufficient in most cases. In an emergency, you can switch to 25W to ensure that you have the best chance of being heard.

If there aren't that many boats around, you might have better luck trying to test on the higher power setting.

A good way to test your radio is to look up a local marina that has a fuel dock on the web. Most of them will state on there near the directions and hours if they monitor VHF. All of the ones near me do. Usually on ch 69. Get a couple miles away and specifically call the marina fuel dock by name on the radio. If they answer, just ask if they are open. You can ask them if your radio sounds okay. And you'll know the exact distance you transmitted.
 
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