Marine Band Question

[92python]

I have a Raytheon 45 with an 8' entenna on my boat. It isn't working properly.

When someone is very close I can hear them. They can hear me a bit further than I can hear them. If they are a few hundred yards away I just hear a buzzing static type noise. If they are much further than that I hear nothing.

I didn't cut the coax on the entenna. It is coiled up in the back of the boat. The power runs to the battery with a fuse in between. I did my best to follow the soldering piece on the installation of the entenna.

Does anyone have any tips or know of a place where I can bring the rig and have someone more knowledgable troubleshoot?

Thanks for any ideas.

[chunkytrout]

Man, could be any number of things. Check your connector ends of cable. Make sure no lose shield braids are floating around. Check for corrosion on both ends. Replace cable temp with a new one and check S strength. If it's not the antenna then it's the rig. Not many service shops left these days. Try the manufacturer. Good luck

chunk

[Surface Tension]

Is this a new install. All the antennas I've put in never required any soldering, why does yours? You should have a RG-58 cable and something like a PL-259 connector. Slight bends are OK but sharp bends are bad.

[92python]

Both of the entennas that I have installed on this boat with this radio required me to strip the coax down and make one small solder.

Both were Shakespeare 8' White Fiberglass entennas.

In the installation manual for the radio it says keep the distance between the entenna and the radio as short as possible. I have been told not to cut the coax on the entenna though.

Any thoughts on this?

[Lip RIPPER!]

Python, I put a new radio in my boat last year and had to solder mine too. The installation manual recommended me to place the antenna at least 3 feet from the unit. All I have ever heard about marine bands is the farther the antenna is away the better they work. I haven't had any problems with mine and I have a short antenna. How close is your antenna from the radio?

[old guy]

I am far from an expert on marine radios but I have had them in various boats since 1978-you certainly can cut marine antenna wire - Shakespeare recommends that it be no shorter than 3 feet -CB wire you are not supposed to cut, or so say the Shakespeare folks --the coiled antenna wire you have could pick up intereference from some other electrical source - on two boats I had to install devices that reduce electrcal interference from the engine, one an I/O and the other a straight inboard - most of the time, for reasons unknown to me, the antenna just quits performing well; I find that it starts to pick up only conversations that are within a range of 3 to 5 miles and then it is time to try first replacing the connection to the radio, and that failing, replace the antenna. Most of us do better with the solderless connection and it seems to perform just as well as the soldered type. Finally, Shakespeare makes a tester they sell for about $30 that will tell you the wattage your radio is producing and how well your antenna is performing. I sound like a Shakespeare salesperson, but they are the best source of accurate info on marine radios that I have found over the years. Good Luck.

[Gissert]

Do you suffer the performance problem when your motor and your other accessories are not running?

If that quiets your radio down, you may have noise jumping in through a poor or dirty ground connection. Another source for interferance like that is running your radio power wire along with ignition wires or anything that carries a heavy current.

This stuff can be a real bear to figure out sometimes.

[92python]

The radio is on the port side with the antenna on the aft side. I'd say they are about 50 inches apart.

I have tried turning all trolling motors, livewells, depth finders, and everything else off but the radio still doesn't perform as advertised.

I picked up a new solderless connection for the anteena to radio connection today. I think I will recheck any bad angles there may be in the coax then replace the connection, get a budy to do some testing with and see what happens from there.

They are a little tough to troubleshoot unless you have another handheld or someone else with a radio to help you test.

Thanks for the replies.

[Gissert]

It sounds like you may have a coax problem. Before you put the new connector, disconnect the coax at the antenna and the radio. With an ohm meter, put one lead on the center conductor, and the other on the shielding or outside part of the connector. If you read anything other than an open circuit, you have the shielding shorting to the center conductor. Make sure that your bare hands dont touch the metal part of the meter leads, or you will read you body resistance.

[92python]

Fixed with a new PL-259 connector. Much better signal. Didn't have to solder this one.

Thanks for the replys.

[Gissert]

Cool!