Marine VHF radio installation and antenna tuning

Installing a marine VHF radio correctly and tuning the antenna can make a huge difference to the radios performance at sea. In this video I work with Jon from Raymarine to install they Ray63 VHF marine radio.
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[@bikemessenger7]

If Knowledge had weight Renko would have sunk in this video! it makes me so happy to see all these experts come and share their knowledge with you and us.

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks Earl, glad you enjoyed it. :)

[@wvtrooper1615]

As a licensed amateur radio operator I’ve sit through sooo many boring lectures on theory but your illustration using a cat is the best! Pull the tail here and a meow comes out here...BRILLIANT!!! 🤣🤣🤣

[@DangarMarine]

It's an oldie but a goodie :)

[@gfd635]

Impressed by Raymarine's help!

[@nicholashaynes1982]

Having had an awesome weekend on the Beach....no boats, no Jetskis, no breakdowns but the most awful 3hr drive home from our holiday home Daphne (?) and Daisy are the fixer...Just bought my Icom hand held float and flash and...aboiut to fit through hull water pick up for the Bravo engine. DANGAR MARINE what have you done! I'm sensible and everything!!!

[@vindivergilio3482]

I absolutely hate installing/tuning antennas. I would rather have my toe nails pulled with broken pliars!! When I was a firefighter, I was Captain of our Heavy Rescue and had a few department radios in my personal truck (a UHF, a VHF, and an 800mhz trucked radio) which I installed myself. Trimming and tuning those antennas was hell. Each interfered with the other to a point I couldnt get as much as a peep out due to what I was told was band/frequency crossover interfearance which is common with multiple bands in a small area. From now on....if I need a radio.....professional installation!! Thank you again for a great video and see you in the next ome.

[@DangarMarine]

Things definitely get much more complicated when you have multiple units interfering with each other.

[@KI4HOK]

As an amateur radio operator, I concur with your explanation of how radio works!

[@DiscusRussell]

As an amateur radio operator too my wife would not concur on how much I have just spent on my new Icom PS dont ask

[@bobuncle8704]

As a former radio installation tech, I rather enjoyed this episode. I actually just found my SWR meter the other day. I need to look for some antennas to test. Maybe I could stop by. It’s only about 15,380 km. noon tomorrow???😂

[@DangarMarine]

I’ll make the sandwiches. :)

[@bobuncle8704]

@@DangarMarine I really wish I could make the trip. Between you, Brupeg, She’ll be right, and Free Range Sailing...a good portion of my viewing is from down under. I just might have emigrate. Move all my shop gear and give everyone a hand.

[@markjarvis7637]

Just like the old CB days, but a lot more complicated, and expensive!!! superb simple explanations for what was happening

[@AR1G3]

23:00 pm GMT +2, my bedtime 22:59 pm GMT +2, new dangar marine video Thanks Stu.

[@-Viceroy-]

At midnight a new DM video. ...sleep is overrated anyhow. - When a man sleeps, nothing is happening. When a man is awake, he can even catch a fish - ...wise words from the late Matti Nykänen...

[@steveshoemaker6347]

Mate l have been Ham Radio Opr...For over 60 years now,SWR is the most misunderstood by most people...A lot of people have destoryed there radio stuff because of it.....I was glad to you getting that taken care of.....Thanks my friend....Cheers...!

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks mate, it was interesting to learn more about what it means and how it works across the frequency spectrum. Maybe not super important for VHF but very interesting non the less. :)

[@steveshoemaker6347]

@@DangarMarine lt is if you wont to transmitte at longer distance....Modern radios have a safe guard built into them to keep them from over heating the finals (power transistors) but also have transistors to kick the finals...But also haft to find a happy medium between different channels on your radio...Cheers my friend...

[@-Viceroy-]

I see Renko on marinetraffic. This is pretty damn cool

[@poorwotan]

Pleasure craft. Nice!!!

[@Bluenoser613]

Guess he got it working!

[@KowboyUSA]

Great site. There's a similarly useful one for aircraft called "planefinder" net that I've been using for more than a decade.

[@CessnaPilot99]

@@KowboyUSA I use flightradar24 which is kind of the gold standard app. Check it out

[@KowboyUSA]

@@CessnaPilot99 That's a good one. Thanks!

[@jonathanflatman]

Keep it simple, one aerial for each job. We had problems with our vehicle diplexers years ago. A Philips engineer came out and we tried to get some pearls of radio wisdom from him. His reply, "Sometimes they work; sometimes they dont". I also mistrust fibreglass dipole whip aerials. You should not need them on a steel hull or with a s/steel A frame mount where the superstructure will form one part of the diplole. We ditched them from our workboats and used s/steel whips after we cut up an old fibreglass dipole (that had limited range) and found a mess of thin wet wire in the hollow base of the unit. The wire was stupidly thin and had broken unseen from the tip.

[@DangarMarine]

Interesting to hear, I got these antennas in a bit of a rush from a local store. It will be interesting to talk to Pacific Aerials about better options.

[@HawkKI4HEE]

As a Ham Radio Operator I truly enjoyed this episode. Wish you'd go truly Comm crazy & install a HF Radio too!

[@mwethereld]

QRZ, DE VK4FAKE, 73's

[@villiersman951]

@@mwethereld cheers from vk4fkas 73

[@knietiefimdispo2458]

​@@villiersman951 cheers from DL5SCW 73

[@DangarMarine]

I have a friend who is a Ham radio operator too, we really wants to experiment more with radios on the boat. :)

[@mvhassallfree1031]

@@DangarMarine 73's de VK4NFL

[@waiakalulu3501]

This guy is THE MOST SOBER person I ever saw on this channel, which is a good thing considering the subject. Glad to see this level of expertise going into a safety item. I appreciate you bringing someone like this on board to really give us a thorough break down of what we need to do to establish the right parameters to even begin installing a system like this. Awesome work!

[@DangarMarine]

It is always great to talk with someone who really knows their stuff on any given subject. So much to learn but it's all very interesting.

[@Redwingster]

The scope meter used in the video is a UNI-T UT81B. Here's a link to the manufacturer's product information: uni-trend.com/html/product/General_Meters/Digital_Multimeters/UT81_Series/UT81B.html

[@danielkohler828]

Very interesting!! Did notice some large marks going by on the sounder

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks Daniel. :)

[@KowboyUSA]

Proper setup of a transmitter is critical. Good job by the lads.

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks mate.

[@blakelieschke14]

Great episode mate 👍 I’m literally 6 months behind your build which feels like almost step by step replication sometimes and this was super handy! I have to admit I never would have gone down the raymarine path if it wasn’t for watching your vids, now there is no other brand of marine electronics I would have in my boat. Buy once, cry once. I ❤️ Raymarine 😁

[@ckm-mkc]

Super interesting - didn't think there would be so much to installing an radio. I've put a few over the years, but never check some of these things. The tuning was really cool.

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@matthewmoses4222]

Good to see a proper radio install, too many folks just plug and play without checking things like SWR for signals reflected back into the radio and power supply levels. You don't want to find out things aren't working properly when you really need them. Cheers on another great video Stu :)

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks Matthew, hope to catch up again before we head north. :)

[@davidhall1779]

Great tutorial on the VHF. I’ll be watching out for the rest of your electronics upgrades.

[@mongomay1]

You could put an all weather speaker outside under the awning to hear the radio while working/cruising/fishing with an on/off type switch for the output to speaker. Might not want to hear it all the time or a switchable a/b/c switch for other devices to use speaker.

[@MeaHeaR]

V.S.R. "Voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) is defined as the ratio between transmitted and reflected voltage standing waves in a radio frequency (RF) electrical transmission system. It is a measure of how efficiently RF power is transmitted from the power source, through a transmission line, and into the load."

[@DougsMessyGarage]

It is nice to see how all of the electronics systems can integrate together to provide much more functionality.

[@DangarMarine]

That's it. They are great on their own, but it's amazing what they can do when working together on a network.

[@qrplife]

Radio installation, now you’re speakin’ my language.

[@ClihtYeastwood]

Fantastic video pal. Your content is really helping me along with all my DIY's, and in turn, saying me money! Cheers from Canada

[@AW-Services]

Awesome upgrades Stu. All you need now is a PA system with 200w horn speakers on the roof

[@lbh002]

Three plus or three minus the hour and half hour is an awesome idea. Well done! In the states on Citizen's Band we had to keep channel 19 open for emergency. So easy!

[@DangarMarine]

It is a great simple system. :)

[@CessnaPilot99]

Been waiting for this video to come out. We know you have a life other than KZbin so any videos are good videos. Thanks for entertaining us all Stu!

[@DangarMarine]

More to come!

[@alansailing1387]

The MOB1 device works with the AIS system, it uses GPS position and reports to surrounding vessels that there is a Man overboard.

[@DangarMarine]

Makes sense to use AIS so people in the vicinity that are able to directly able to help you find out you have a person in the water.

[@spyglassfreowestaus2733]

Brilliant, just brilliant! Although I've had these radios on most of my boats, some things I was never aware of. I appreciate the detail - looking forward to the radar install 👍

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks mate, glad it was helpful.

[@charlieb.4273]

Cool video. As an Amateur Radio guy I would have fussed more with the antenna but your installation will work fine. Radio integration has come a long way. I suppose you could have just used the handheld but in my experience the fact that you have installed properly a more capable system is the best way to prevent it ever needing to be used. Best wishes and 73, Charlie in Virginia

[@646klein]

can you explain in more detail what you would have fussed with the antenna and in what ways ,for a better results in reception or broadcasting. im not a ham radio guy but always interested to listen and learn from those who do know thank you

[@charlieb.4273]

@@646klein It can get complicated but it is rather important to get the VSWR of the antenna as close to 1:1 as possible at the frequency(s) you want. If cutting the antenna is not giving you a way to creep up to the ideal arrangement the I would investigate the ground plane of the antenna. There are two wires on the antenna from the back of the radio, one is to that central peace of wire, the other needs to be grounded to the structure of the pilot house at the base of the antenna. If we assume the pilot house is steel and well grounded to the rest of the steel boat and that ground connection to at the base of antenna is good then you should be able to get a better VSWR. Another thing that could affect it is the ship’s mast and other metal things near the antenna. If the grounds are good moving the antenna to be more clear of other structures can help. If all that fails then an antenna tuner, an electronic circuit made up of inductors and capacitors added underneath the antenna can help. It is a long discussion. Charlie

[@ronrodgers6531]

@@646klein 646klein, I've been tuning ham radio and CB radio antennas for years. Try to keep your antenna away from any metal that can interfere with its radiation pattern. Install an antenna that has the gain characteristics you need. I always determine my lowest and highest frequency I intend to operate on. Make your VSWR measurement on the lowest frequency first. Then compare that to the VSWR on the highest frequency. If your last channel is to low, lengthen the antenna. If your last channel is too high, shorten the antenna. Most VHF gain antennas have about a 3 Megahertz bandwidth. Unity gain antennas operate wider bandwidth, but without gain. I hope this helps.

[@646klein]

thank you both for your replies i know that a good ground is important to the antenna to curb eddie currents and noise in the line . and that metal masts etc can disrupt signals , i worked at a gentlemans house who was a ham radio guy he had a 30ft antenna on the roof of his house with guy wires th went to the end of his garden i assume for a good ground and stability of the antenna too there is much to learn in this field thats for sure

[@terrysmall1421]

geeeeze Jons da man isnt he. learnt so much, thanks for the lesson

[@DangarMarine]

He sure is, I've been learning heaps from him too.

[@glastronjohn1]

Great information. Thanks for sharing. Always enjoy your videos.

[@DangarMarine]

So nice of you, glad you like the vids. :)

[@Kirkuleas]

Really looking forward to the rest of this series

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks mate. I think it only gets more interesting as you start to see how the various pieces interact and work together.

[@DavidTrad]

I think I just worked out a possible issue we are having with the Radios on one of our rescue boats, this video was educational, I just hope on my next shift I don't go down a diagnostic rabbit hole 😱

[@NullaNulla]

Metal or glass boat? Glass boats used to have wire mesh put under the antenna to help it.

[@DavidTrad]

@@NullaNulla Ally boat, the Raymarine expert gave me some clues as to what the problem could be

[@rogerlafrance6355]

Fiberglass antennas and coax go bad with salt water getting in little cracks. They need service or replacement exposed to foul weather. Commercial vessels use stainless steel thru the bulkhead mounts. Overkill? But a backup antenna is a good thing if you need range.

[@davidcatanach2620]

Take a grinder and bosuns chair!

[@rogerlafrance6355]

@@NullaNulla That's why they tend to use halfwave antennas, no groundplane needed. Important atop a sailboat mast.

[@normanboyes4983]

Good one Stu, it’s not what you know it’s who you know.👍⛵️

[@theessexhunter1305]

I ran a 11mtr side band unit for many years...had a 6 element beam @ 36 feet long also a 2k amplifier...never needed to do a radio check just warmed up the set and amp, pointed the beam to what ever country the skip was coming from and called...lol The guy who fitted yours knows his stuff..

[@MargaretLeber]

"11 meters 2kw" == bandit CB

[@theessexhunter1305]

@@MargaretLeber They made a film Smokey and the bandit....lol Harmless fun for millions of people back then, good business for the radio shops and people making the Ariel's and aftermarket parts...

[@MargaretLeber]

​@@theessexhunter1305 2 kw unlicensed HF on a directional antenna isn't "harmless". Heroin is "good business" too.

[@theessexhunter1305]

@@MargaretLeber Shame on you bringing that comment into this platform.... I see you might be dropping stuff with your small plane lol....Or do you fly the c47?

[@Dan_C604]

Awesome episode! And it is even awesomer with Adrian in it :)) cheers Stu!

[@DangarMarine]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@michaelbrace3652]

How cool is technology. Sitting in Hervey Bay I open my Android app 'Vessel Finder' and there is Renko moored off Dangar Island.

[@DangarMarine]

It sure is pretty amazing these days. :)

[@TheFoolishboy9]

Danger, Dangar !. High voltage!

[@netltube]

Great info from the raymarine rep, another great vid with lots of good info, thanks Stu! The cat drawing became funnier and funnier as the vid went on, and more and more technical! lol

[@MeaHeaR]

Adrian DEFINATELY needs his own channel, imaginé the laughs 😂😂😁👍👍

[@McTroyd]

Looking forward to the NMEA detail! I've heard of all these things before but never actually seen a working implementation.

[@DangarMarine]

It is interesting stuff and not as common as I would have thought given how long it has been around.

[@mccallsensei3293]

Excellent video Stu. Smart decision at Raymarine to get on to your channel. Sales coming their way from this presentation. Hey, nice cat too helped a lot🤣!!

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks mate! :)

[@kevinvanlohuizen2709]

Great video, excited for the rest of the series.

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks Kevin, I'm looking forward to getting the rest of the gear in too!

[@johnnycop77]

Bloody hell Stu, I know you put your heart and soul into these vids but it seems the time between each one is getting longer! Riveting as always keep working on Renko hopefully it goes on forever......

[@DangarMarine]

Mostly still get one out each week, this one was 8 days since the last though. ;)

[@t.w.3]

Nice video. Always cool to see the different techniques used for getting the VHF working properly.

[@DangarMarine]

Glad you liked it!

[@mongomay1]

BTW ask/check about lightening protection/bonding/grounding in case you are near a close hit you do not loose all your electronics.

[@DangarMarine]

Yes, planning to do a given on all the various types of grounds a boat needs.

[@dmc2554]

I see new controls for the motor and Hey, the woofers gone!! (music lover here) CHEERS!!

[@DangarMarine]

More on that next week!

[@planbeeapiaries]

This video will become golden!

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks mate, was great to have the opportunity to capture Jon's experience on video.

[@MeaHeaR]

Good to see the Aussie Larrikin Back 😁😁😀👍👍

[@AlisonFort]

Got tea all over my keyboard after your brilliant how radio works lecture. Daffy❤️

[@ionracer24]

Everytime there's an Adrienne episode, i gotta rewatch the mad max trilogy

[@HughJazz69696]

great video, loads of great knowledge here! Thanks Stu.

[@DangarMarine]

Glad to help

[@phill261]

Takes me back to my old CB days never went near marine VHF but did do well with a old cobra rig chatted to most of the world

[@NullaNulla]

The skip is slowly returning too ..... FINALLY.

[@mitch_the_-itch]

My mom met my horrible trucker step dad on her Cobra when he was on a 10-200.

[@RoadhogRNA]

Great equipment is essential!!! Nice work on the install and setup!!!

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks mate. You definitely need good equipment that is working as well as it can when you go to sea.

[@ysesq]

wow it took me 10 mins to install mine. shakespeare dual band antenna into radio, dc power in, nmea connect for ais, done.

[@berikco]

hey Stu, you have same t-shirt as me, but mine is clean 😜 Nice Raymarine stuff for Renko, almost the same as my boat setup, i run 2 Axioms, AR200, AIS700, RAY63, and some other NMEA2000 stuff. Radar and camera's is on the list.

[@DangarMarine]

I don't think I've had a clean one in years! ;) Sounds like a nice setup on your boat. It is great the way all this gear works together now with the networking side of things. Much better than the old days of having separate sounder / GPS / radar etc.

[@stevecobb6001]

HI from North Wales UK. Love your videos!

[@DangarMarine]

Hello there!

[@Markb8608]

I have been looking to upgrade my radio on 24ft boat. It would be handy to have the GPS built into the radio as an extra precaution. I also have been looking at AIS transceiver instead of just a receiver.

[@DangarMarine]

Yes, it is good that the Ray63 has the build in GPS, even though it will favour any GPS on the network that has a higher accuracy. This is particularly important on my boat as it is steel and the radio doesn't have an external antenna. AIS transceivers are also great. There are many safey, security and convenience benefits to being seen as well as seeing other boats.

[@dongill8769]

RENKO is really coming along! Your doing an awesome job! Love the channel and the videos!

[@DangarMarine]

Thanke mate, glad you like the vids. :)

[@kevindavison6019]

That radio check was quite involved I work at an airport and when people call for a check its usually just a quick "loud and clear"!

[@mopedinthemalverns6661]

Ha yes! No mucking around with aviaion. Like boating but 100x as dangerous, complicated, mind-numbing with absolutely no time to do anything in an emergency. On a boat you can switch the engine off and have a cup of tea.

[@kiwifruit4579]

Realy liking these little skits your chucking in stu, i just start to think WTF is he doing then boom laughing, its great keep them coming. A little mud slinging at Cummins is always fun.

[@VA7ACG]

Damn... I wasted years learning radio electronics when it all really breaks down to a cat....less the cat. Superb Stu.

[@alanmac101]

Since you fitted your ship ais I've been able to track renko on my android app, with interest :)

[@4englishlies875]

Wow a lot more complicated than I ever thought it would be , thanks for all the good info.

[@DangarMarine]

Glad to help

[@katmanclancy]

I'm sure that you have, but make sure you have surge protection between antenna and radio Stu.. Also learn to build your own very cheap and easy antenna incase it ever got stuck by lightning.

[@JoeTheLion60]

Really interesting thanks - Great to see Renko getting the tech installed - Maybe NZ could be called Van Damian Land :-)

[@DangarMarine]

I like it!

[@mojo6524]

This is good stuff! I cant wait for the rest of the electronics!

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks mate, I'm looking forward to getting everything wired up too. :)

[@mongomay1]

Now you know what diagnostic/testing equipment you may want to have in the future to maintain your electronics.

[@reisoderberg9955]

Hi stu, I came up beside renko as you were leaving mooney on a white zodiac. We were in the blue sailboat replacing the windows not far from you.

[@DangarMarine]

Ah, I think I saw that boat. I was there with Adrian working on the Detroit 6-71 in the timber boat. :)

[@reisoderberg9955]

@@DangarMarine yeah that would be us, we were cutting flexi glass which was really loud. I think I saw you look over at one point from renkos wheelhouse

[@davidwoods7720]

awesome Stu. NMEA,AIS,VSWR my language. Stay safe

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks David!

[@peterhall4086]

Thanks for an excellent video. I learned much from that.

[@peterhall4086]

Had a look on Marine Traffic, and there you are. Excellent. Nice photo of the boat when you pull up the vessel data card.

[@DangarMarine]

Glad it was helpful! Yes, we are lucky that someone locally is acting as an internet gateway for AIS .

[@paulg9314]

Smart move Stu to stick with a single name brand for all the electronics. The suite should integrate nicely.

[@DangarMarine]

Yes, it certainly does make the integration much simpler and more reliable that's for sure.

[@markaoslo5653]

_"... works just like radio except, there's no cat"_ lol!

[@convoked]

As a licensed HAM radio operator for 35ish years I’ve always wondered how this shit worked. With the clarity of Stu’s explanation the lightbulb finally went off.

[@wjhann4836]

I expect that the Raymarine ST NG standard will be outdated - on the newest items you will find NMEA2000 connectors. But with a simple adapter cable you may interconnect them.

[@christopherscott6435]

I tried to do the cat/radio simulation now I'm bleeding, Thanks Stu.

[@DangarMarine]

Sorry! ;)

[@solarfunction1847]

@ Dangar Marine Hey there Stu, with your antenna setup & radio you will never get a 1:1 SWR with 100% power going out from a packaged setup because antennas can be tuned for a wide bandwidth so it won't be tuned to a certain channel & also the velocity ratio of the coax would also need to be tuned to the same channel that the antenna is, shop bought pre made antenna coax setup's are not this pedantic. Only a custom made antenna / coax pre tuned to say channel 16 will offer you a perfect 1:1 SWR with 100% power going up the stick. Back in the 80's to 90's I used to measure my RG-213 coax which was around 13mm thick after it sat in the sun for a few hours after midday & again during the cool morning & cool night to calculate where to cut the coax to tune it to a certain frequency before I soldered the 239 plug tips to the end of the thick copper cable. Later on I got a piece of 4 inch sewer pipe for a template to wind the coax cable many turns to act as a balun before attaching the end of the coax to the tune-able 1/2 wave antenna. I was using a 50 watt 26 mhz to 28 mhz am, fm, upper sideband, lower sideband radio which I could transmit on am about 150km with a dead flat SWR on channel 11 on 27 mhz band. When I keyed up to talk my modulation wiped out every other conversation for 150km before it could not modulate over local stations in the area. I guess you could say that I was a little pedantic about using 100% of my power along with an amplified mic as well.

[@MargaretLeber]

Can't wait to spot Renko on the AIS.

[@kiiiisu]

ur explanation works better than my cats, cheers!

[@ruaraidhmcdonald-walker9524]

“Radio works just like that except it’s not a cat”. Brilliant. Snorted ma beer!!!

[@HawkKI4HEE]

Thats actually a description quoted by Albert Einstein... You see, the wire telegraph is a kind of very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is there is no cat.

[@Lockemout104]

Man you took the fun out of that. It's the way Stu describes things, matter of fact but cool and well timed. You go with your brillancy.

[@ruaraidhmcdonald-walker9524]

Blimey the comment bores are out in force tonight. It was bloody funny. I sprayed my beer laughing. Stu’s dead pan is always brilliant.

[@DangarMarine]

Apparently it was said to be an Einstein quote but wasn't actually. It's still funny to think of Einstein saying it. :)

[@ruaraidhmcdonald-walker9524]

@@DangarMarine I had no idea. Was very funny, had to clean up the beer after though....

[@gabewhisen3446]

These tec systems are awesome

[@DangarMarine]

It is amazing how much cool tech there is for boats these daysl

[@macmacca659]

Easier with a hand held hey? That was a interesting, worth it, thanks.

[@DangarMarine]

You're welcome. :)

[@kerrygleeson4409]

Great information thanks for sharing your knowledge guys 🇦🇺👍

[@DangarMarine]

Our pleasure!

[@robertadams2857]

Very cool I found you on AIS.

[@guglielmodicarlo4139]

wow,, very detailed antenna diag,, just for info,, Ive owned at the very least 12 boats so far,, and never , not once did I tune an antenna,, and I never had an issue with reception, or wished my radio could go further, etc,, who knows,, maybe I got lucky,,,LOL

[@ysesq]

no one ever tunes marine antennas with prefitted coax lol

[@DangarMarine]

This was more about moving a VHF antenna up to the higher frequencies used by AIS, but most of the time you can just plug and play, but of course without testing you don't know how close you are getting to what is possible with your radio.

[@robertadams2857]

Looks like your getting some very cool electronics. 😎

[@DangarMarine]

Very cool! :)

[@adamheazlett1179]

Thats getting in the way of Coopers room safety first.

[@PittwaterMowingAustralia]

Very interesting video Stu Thanks mate

[@DangarMarine]

Very welcome

[@JTRulzzz]

Hey Stu, could you make a video about the procedures you should take with a VHF, what’s it’s purpose, how to use it and all that. I’m a rec boater but generally leave it off because I have no idea how it all works. Thanks

[@DangarMarine]

Hey mate. Definitely planning to do a couple of vids on each piece of equipment: one on installing one on using.

[@luckydubeinrc5165]

re :antenna (dipole) in this case a vertical, yet still a dipole as 99% of all antennas qualify as dipole antennas, look at it this way,, your upper body and legs is the coax,,, your arms are the 2 legs of the antenna. The groundplane (one half of your antenna) is the ship hull, the other is the vertical part...now.... the impedance will be between 75 to 50 ohms(many variations thereoff) on a vertical though ...closer to 25 ohms so swr = 2:1 that is if 50 ohms =1:2 swr...we can manipulate this value by lenghtening or shortening the coax cable to some extend as well as trim the lenght of the vertical part of the antenna to establish the resonance, yet to improve the swr to 1:1 or as close as possible we wil need to match it, (another can of worms) or use a balun with the correct ratio (a transformer) not common on vhf 300 000 /L freq... for a full wave lenght.. devided x4 for qurter wave or 2 for half way,,but some vhf antenna are 5/8 wave lenghts and for a good reason, like the Windom antenna we manipulate the impedance to be 200 ohm by placing our feed point at a certain distance (re: the two arms are not equal in lenght) theirby creating a feepoint value we need.. ugh im to long winded! :) glad you got all working. now ..remember you have many metal structures ontop of the cabin as well and they will introduce many scenarios on the antenna as well so close by.. mounted in the clear all metal below the antenna will be a good start(i know :) just saying )

[@NullaNulla]

PL259 / SO239 :P seems he may be more of a salesman than a tech :P ..... it's bloody amazing what these new maritime setups can do .. I'm still a lover of the old way pre DSC radios but see the safety benefit of the DSC in an emergency. He's right ... transmitting at 25watts without a "load" (eg antenna) will likely damage the radio from the reflected (not emitted by antenna) power. As for the terminating plugs ... bloody sook it's not hard to do that with a PL259. When you get into BNC, MPL, SMA etc you then need special crimping tools which START around $75 and therefor aren't an option for a single install. Once all my radios became all BNC or MPL it was finally worth me getting the tools. I've NEVER seen anyone bother to actually tune a marine antenna lol .... though it is a good thing to do. Most are in a glass radome that you can't get too like the base VHF antennas. They're usually a coax vertical inside. Anything under 3:1 is eh (not bad not good) ... under 2:1 is acceptable ... under 1.5:1 is brilliant for SWR. Tuning the antenna BEFORE you install is a recipee for disaster!!!! Because as he says it WILL change SWR when you change location. Good boy having and showing the ROCP!! I got mine in 98. Given MR SYD is likely being run off Terry Hills that's probably not too bad. And don't fall for the LOS trick either ... technically speaking they're ALL LOS but have different geographical affects. HF will bounce a little off the water and a LOT if the conditions are right off the ozone (I was listening to a WA USA ham/amateur last night on 7megs in my house on the Mid North Coast for example) where both VHF & UHF will "bounce" off different geographical features like cliff faces (ESPECIALLY UHF). I remember years ago living in a valley where I couldn't get either Taree or Newcastle TV towers ... I pointed west and up 45degrees and got a bounce off a cliff face somewhere to get my signal. Bad but it worked. That signal would have been 180-220meg somewhere so not far of 151-161. Don't rely where it can be helped on bouncing signals though it's a rather inexact science lol. On another note I'll be crossing the dual concrete bridges by your joint tomorrow .. hopefully around 0800.

[@DangarMarine]

I can certainly see why people get right into radio, it does seem like a fun hobby to dive into, always so much to learn and then apply practically. I think Raymarine's recommendation to use pre-terminated connections is to avoid all those calls saying the radio doesn't work when really the use just did a terrible job of doing their first coax connection ever. ;)

[@NullaNulla]

@@DangarMarine yes I can understand what you mean about folks doing their first plug ... mine wasn't pretty. Not sure if you check your FB messages or not ... I didn't mean to be non descript talking to you this afternoon on 73 (though I was returning north), I had to leave some details out for good reasons but it was great to talk to you for even just the fleeting moment and get to talk in real life to the legend and yes my radio is shockingly slow changing up that many channels (not a new DSC model :P :) but it works). I was actually a tad shocked when you did come back and had the volume turned too low so I wasn't sure if it was you returning or if Sydney MR thought it was you calling them (my bad). If you do ever check your FB feel free to message me if you ever have radio questions though it seems you have a few followers who are knowledgable with radios to use as a great resource.

[@martinworrall5888]

You have just scrambled my brain Stu😏

[@shanedavies9564]

Nice one Stu gettn all the good gear by the way my my chicken hillary is brooding as well lols ,happy days ,cheers , shaneo,nelson ,nz

[@DangarMarine]

Every other day I try to get here to decide to join us again. :)

[@TheJustonemore]

Sweet video,west coast of Canada

[@DangarMarine]

Thanks 👍

[@oleran4569]

Great video!

[@DangarMarine]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@DavidFraserYHZ]

Thanks. Very informative.

[@DangarMarine]

Glad it was helpful!

[@debeeriz]

dangar island got a mention in our paper in nz, seems you had a boat catch fire on the pier, a few weeks ago, and l was wondering if stu was there to film it

[@DangarMarine]

Yes, was a terrible accident. There is a short clip of the boat in next week's video.

[@TR4zest]

@@DangarMarine Yes, terrible. It made UK news too.

[@jamesaldridge4381]

I like these electronics .

[@DangarMarine]

Me too, lots of cool toys to play with that also make boating safer.