for those who use HF on their boat, i'm curious what antenna choices
you have made. did you go with an insulated backstay or something else
entirely ? how do you have it all set up on your boat ? i've read
that some people just hoist a wire up with some line and hook it to
their antenna tuner (with a ground of course). are you doing anything
more or less fancy ? if you're using an insulated backstay do you
trust the insulators to keep the mast up ? how much maintenance is
involved in your HF antenna setup ? i'm just curious in general what
solutions people have found since i'm researching it now.

thanks in advance.

If you plan to use HF on the amateur frequencies you will need to be
licensed... Go to the local amateur radio club and folks there will
happily help you get a license, tune an antenna, etc..

denny

If you plan to use HF on the amateur...

Denny... could well be that he is just interested in using the
conventional hf marine bands.

At any rate... a good news group for this sort of inquiry is the
"rec.boats.electronics" web site:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.boats.electronics

They have some real knowledgeable guys that hang out there
when it comes to maritime mobile radio issues. Some of the
key posters are... Larry... Bruce in Alaska... Old Chief Lynn
just to mention a few.

Best regards

Bill (N6TGC)

If you plan to use HF on the amateur frequencies
************************************************** *****

Denny... could well be that he is just interested in using the
conventional hf marine bands.
************************************************** *********************
Yup, could be... Just wanted to make him aware and to point out that
the local ham club is a resource....

denny - k8do

In article .com,
"purple_stars" wrote:

for those who use HF on their boat, i'm curious what antenna choices
you have made. did you go with an insulated backstay or something else
entirely ? how do you have it all set up on your boat ? i've read
that some people just hoist a wire up with some line and hook it to
their antenna tuner (with a ground of course). are you doing anything
more or less fancy ? if you're using an insulated backstay do you
trust the insulators to keep the mast up ? how much maintenance is
involved in your HF antenna setup ? i'm just curious in general what
solutions people have found since i'm researching it now.

thanks in advance.


Purple_stars, One word of advice on installations of MF/HF Marine
Antenna Systems aboard non-metal hulled vessels, It is the RF Ground
System that is the critical design element, NOT the antenna. Just about
anything will work for an antenna, if you have an excellent RF Ground
System. Coversely, if you have a Poor, or Nonexistant RF Ground System,
there is nothing you can do, or no amount of money you can spend, that
will make any antenna a good preformer. Anyone of the OLD Radiomen,
who actually learned their skills back in the Manual Tuner era of
Marine Electronics, will tell you, that a Good RF Ground is the place to
start.

Bruce in alaska one who actually liked the N555 Antenna Tuners
--
add a 2 before @

The advice from Bruce about the RF ground is 100% accurate. When I
first connected up my insulated backstay (yup, it keeps the mast up!) I
couldn't get the antenna to load up very well, and my transmitted
signal was pitiful. A day or so working with copper foil and bronze
screen made all the difference. Lots of area is the key.
I've also sailed on a boat where the owner just had a SS wire from the
masthead to the stern quarter- tensioned with shock cord. Worked fine
as antenna, and was a lot cheaper than a couple of backstay insulators,
too. He had a good RF ground system as well.
John

"purple_stars" wrote in
oups.com:

what antenna choices
you have made.

Insulated backstay works fine....well, once we got rid of the WIRE mainsail
boom rigging that just trashed it whenever the boom was on centerline.
It's nylon, now...

If the masts ever have to come down or be reworked on the ketch, the
triattic will also have insulators added to each end of it and a new wire
installed from the top of the insulated backstay to the center of the
triattic to add a capacitor hat effect to the top of the HF antenna.
Longer is always better on HF.....

Bruce in Alaska wrote in news:bruceg-
:

Anyone of the OLD Radiomen,
who actually learned their skills back in the Manual Tuner era of
Marine Electronics, will tell you, that a Good RF Ground is the place to
start.


Remember when the ground came off the tuner and you got your fingers burned
as it came into resonance?....(c;

In article ,
Larry wrote:

Bruce in Alaska wrote in news:bruceg-
:

Anyone of the OLD Radiomen,
who actually learned their skills back in the Manual Tuner era of
Marine Electronics, will tell you, that a Good RF Ground is the place to
start.


Remember when the ground came off the tuner and you got your fingers burned
as it came into resonance?....(c;


I still have the scars from all the RF burns, I have collected over the
years, in both the Marine and Broadcast Industry......

Bruce in alaska
--
add a 2 before @

Larry wrote:
Bruce in Alaska wrote in news:bruceg-
:


I still have the scars from all the RF burns, I have collected over the
years, in both the Marine and Broadcast Industry......




Channel 24, our Fox network station in Charleston, is the highest powered
UHF TV station in SC, 25MW ERP. RF arcing and high voltage flashovers at
the transmitter are MOST impressive....(c;

Good thing the antenna is 2000' above the parking lot....


2000 feet??
That would be higher than the worlds tallest free standing
structure...the CN Tower in Toronto.
http://www.cntower.ca/portal/
Do they hang their antenna from a 'sky hook'?