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Boat Installation

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fireguy810

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Oct 17, 2006
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Im doing an installation on a fireboat. Installing a lowband 46mhz radio, VHF 156mhz radio and a UHF 460mhz radio. I've found marine antennas for the VHF and UHF but I cant find a marine antenna for lowband. So I'm thinking on just using a mobile antenna, but its a fiberglass boat. No groundplane? Anyone have any ideas?
 

DPapay

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Joined
Jul 5, 2007
Messages
351
Location
Morris County, N.J.
Maxrad used to make a lowband mobile "no ground plane" antenna. We never had great luck with them. Your best performance though would come from making a ground plane for a mobile antenna. Go to your local HVAC supply store and pick up a roll of the stack repair tape. It is metal tape a couple inches wide. Use this on the inside ceiling of the fireboat. Try to make as large a plane as you can. Make sure the antenna base ground is mounted to the tape and it should work o.k. If you take your time, you could make it a neat install, not all hacked up looking.
 

KC4YIN

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Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 29, 2003
Messages
459
Location
Kinston NC
I'm doing something similar. I also need something for VHF & UHF with no ground plane. What and where did you find?
 

code3cowboy

Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2006
Messages
659
Location
CA-CZU
I'm doing something similar. I also need something for VHF & UHF with no ground plane. What and where did you find?

You can go with no ground plane NMO or marine antennas, or you can get fiberglass base antennas. I once used an FG4500 on a boat that never bounced around. worked great.
 

Ref-Jazzy

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2010
Messages
130
Location
Indianapolis Indiana
Maxrad used to make a lowband mobile "no ground plane" antenna. We never had great luck with them. Your best performance though would come from making a ground plane for a mobile antenna. Go to your local HVAC supply store and pick up a roll of the stack repair tape. It is metal tape a couple inches wide. Use this on the inside ceiling of the fireboat. Try to make as large a plane as you can. Make sure the antenna base ground is mounted to the tape and it should work o.k. If you take your time, you could make it a neat install, not all hacked up looking.

Also referred to as "Foil Tape"
 

b7spectra

EMS Dispatcher
Joined
Jul 8, 2002
Messages
3,143
Location
Cobb County, GA
Van type ambulances (van with the fiberglass top) are also a pain to work with. If you get a view of the top of an ambulance, you will find they usually affix a 12"x12" piece of sheet metal to the top where they mount the antenna (if you have multiple antennas, you have multiple sheets).
 
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