Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

So i broke my vhf antenna and need to replace it. i have a st andard horizon vhf with ais. I'm looking at the Shakespeare 5226-xt antenna as a replacement. I know it wilk have to much coax. What are my options?

If i coil it won't that create an inductive loop?

If i cut it won't that mess with the SWR??

am i over thinking this??

Think you have it on your own answer. Have had many vhf radios down thru the years. In my humble opinion, it makes no difference if you coil the cable or cut it off. I have done it both ways and prefer to coil it because you never know if you will use it on a different boat down the line. A word of caution, try to stay away from the compass, it will drive it nuts.

it will be ok to coil it, be carefull not to kink it, I would roll it in about 4'' roll.

Great ! I appreciate the help. I will coil it and tuck it away.

For future reference, when pulling into a strange slip. Fiberglass doesn't beat steel for strength.

The power loss in an extra 10' of coax at 160MHz won't bother you a bit. If you've got an extra 50', I'd consider re-terminating it.