VHF Marine Antenna

[mmckenna]

Many years ago my dad got a new truck and had me do the antenna install on it for him. He'd picked up a Tram 1/4 wave VHF antenna and a Tram NMO mount with the connector already installed.

1/4 wave NMO base antennas are hard to screw up, and the Tram whip looked fine. Just a vertical element and a chrome NMO nut. Didn't look any different than the Larsen 'chrome nut' style antennas.
But the NMO mount….
The mount was OK. Not high quality. Burrs and signs of poor manufacturing. The RG-58 coaxial cable looked OK. The UHF connector on the end, well, what can I say….
It had over-moulded rubber strain relief. So I started to cut that away. Realized that the strain relief was pretty much the only thing holding the PL-259 connector on. For the record, center punch isn't the way to hold a crimp ring on. Smashing it with incorrect crimpers and hiding it under a strain relief is typical Chinese crap manufacturing.

Not impressed. I cut the connector off and installed my own PL-259.

Great, so my dad saved $2 on the Tram NMO mount compared to a Larsen. Fine for amateur radio use. No way I'd install one of these on anything at work. Saving $2 on an antenna system is kind of silly, in my opinion. Especially when you'd have to cut the cable to length anyway and install your own connector. Good UHF connectors cost more than $2.00.

 

[paulears]

You seem to have a major chip on your shoulder about Chinese products. Of course there are products that are shoddily put together to produce an item that can ship all the way from China and sell for a very low price. Let's concentrate on antennas. I can buy a shoddy Chinese product, or I can buy a better, more expensive one. I sell mainly marine products and some of their marine antennas are extremely tough and reliable and use very standard half wave dipole designs, or sleeve dipoles. I can also buy (and am currently doing so for a commercial order I'm working on for a large project) Amphenol/J-Beam commercial antennas. Each one has the same gain figure as the cheaper Chinese one, but is ten times the price. The client is willing to pay it. You can buy, here in the UK, a range of business radio antennas for vehicles and they are made here. Price wise, they're OK, but they are very simple mechanically.

I would have no problem believing a connector I solder on myself with a compression gland is going to be better performance and lifespan than a pressed product that is crimped on - but again, it's down to price.

I totally agree that some products can be really poorly made and also poor performs BUT the country of origin is not the problem, it's the price point. You use the term 'knock-off' I note. What exactly are they counterfeiting here? If you want any Chinese product rebadged you can get it.

I for one am very happy with the general quality of Chinese products I stock. They are just as reliable as other brands as long as you do not buy a $20 antenna and expect it to be the same quality and performance as a $100 one. I have absolutely no qualms with buying decent product from the Chinese. I have had crap - when I saw something too good to be true. That's my fault as a consumer, not theirs as a producer.

They are not of course perfect, but neither are UK, or US products too, no doubt. Blame the buyers as much as the sellers. I totally agree that the sales people I deal with have no clue, but at the factories and bigger resellers there are people who really know their stuff. I have had products produced entirely for me. They asked if I was pleased with a marine special purpose radio. I said I was but it was a shame the LED display was so small. They asked what I meant and I told them ideally a nice big number that you could read at arms length would be great. Ten days later one arrived. Same radio, but the black front panel had been replaced with a translucent one, with a big yellow LED behind it - brilliant and I bought 50. The extra cost was $5 per radio. They perform well, are waterproof and so far I have had none back. This view that everything they make is rubbish is just so wrong. You generalise about an entire country making rubbish, and I dispute that. I totally accept some product is awful - but caveat emptor applies.

 

[mmckenna]

I for one am very happy with the general quality of Chinese products I stock. They are just as reliable as other brands as long as you do not buy a $20 antenna and expect it to be the same quality and performance as a $100 one.

Absolutely.
I have a couple of Milwaukee brand power tools that were made in China. Milwaukee has been willing to pay for proper quality control, and I'm now exceeding 12 years on some of them. I'm still running a few of the original lithium batteries that came with them. That's because the company (and I) was willing to pay for the quality control.

Chinese manufacturers can absolutely make high quality stuff. The problem is not everyone wants to pay for that. There's no shortage of companies that will cut the quality control to a minimum to lower the price boost profits.

And considering a number of the name brand antennas are made in China doesn't detract from them. It's just that they cost more because the QC is better, and there is an actual support structure in the company that will back the product up. I'm sure some of the Larsen antenna I have used at work were made in China, but so far none of them have failed, and I can actually talk to a knowledgeable person if I need to. Not possible with the cheaper Chinese products.

The chip I have on my shoulder is for the low tier products that have little quality control in place when manufactured. My experience with the few Tram/Browning products I have used is that there is little effort/money spent on the QC. There is no support structure behind the company, and finding detailed engineering info on the products is impossible. Same goes for the handful of Baofeng radios that showed up at one of the sites I support. Poor quality control, the radios didn't meet the FCC specifications that they claimed they did, and there's zero support from the company. On the other hand, we have higher tier radios from other manufacturers that were made in China and work just fine and you can get support from the manufacturer.

As you said, it's what you are willing to pay that makes the difference.

I'm personally willing to pay for that quality control and back end support from the manufacturer. So is my employer.
I'll point out that my tower climbing harness and equipment are all reputable companies. I'm not willing to risk my life to save a few dollars. Same goes for the antennas I install on the police vehicles. I'm not going to risk someones life to save the employer a few dollars.

My own experience is that the Tram/Browning stuff is low quality/low quality control/zero support products. Again, that's fine for hobby use, but on a vessel on the ocean that needs reliable communications, I'd not go for the cheapest antenna I could lay my hands on. That's a gamble that won't be likely to pay off. If this was a recreational boat (and it sounds like it) used on an inland lake, and hooked up to a radio used for non-critical communications, then the low buck Chinese products may be 'good enough'.

 

[PACNWDude]

I have had excellent luck with the Morad VHF marine band antennas. 156 MHz VHF Marine Radio Antenna 6dB gain (
These have worked well on a fleet of oil spill response vessels, and can also be seen on many fishing vessels, especially ones that operate in Alaska. In nearly twenty years of experience with this series of antenna, I have only seen one fail, and that when someone accidentally cut into the loading coil with a sawzall. My only gripe is that the painted mounts will corrode over time, the anodized mounts last with little wear over a long period of time. The antenna and anodized mounts are truly, an install and forget it, if the connectors are correctly installed.

 

[Ubbe]

I have had excellent luck with the Morad VHF marine band antennas.

Why do big antenna companies insists in stating dB without any reference to what. It's a 54" antenna which makes it a 3/4 wave, probably a j-pole design, so it can't be dBi or dBd. It has to be a 6dB gain in reference to a rubber duck antenna or something like that. Why can't they just be honest and say it has 0dBd gain.

/Ubbe

 

[PACNWDude]

Why do big antenna companies insists in stating dB without any reference to what. It's a 54" antenna which makes it a 3/4 wave, probably a j-pole design, so it can't be dBi or dBd. It has to be a 6dB gain in reference to a rubber duck antenna or something like that. Why can't they just be honest and say it has 0dBd gain.

/Ubbe

To the non-engineering types, dBi and dBd has become a bit of a marketing ploy. I know of one local radio shop that convinced a vessel owner to have them install 12 dBi antennas on his yacht (probably because they had them sitting around the warehouse), with the owner then complaining that communications were sporadic with users on the shore. I had to describe antenna radiation patterns to this owner, and recommended 0 or 3 dBi antennas instead, which returned the radiation pattern to something more spherical (isotropic) than the LP record type of pattern from the 12 dBi antennas. Land based radio installers often do not realize that vessels bob around and you want a spherical radiation pattern. Vessel radio is not the same as installations on cars, trucks and buildings.

 

[baybum]

OK, well, 26 posts ago, I asked for first-hand knowledge, reports, recommendations.
Here’s mine…
I picked up a Tram. $30 with coax and connectors.
The performance is excellent. First radio check was 15 miles using a 6W hand-held. Good enough for what I need here on the Chesapeake.
Thanks for all replies and info.

 

[prcguy]

This Tram antenna is less than 0dBd gain, that is less than zero dB gain over a 1/2 wave dipole because this antenna is a 1/2 wave end fed with a little loss in the matching section. Marine antennas are notorious for outright lies in their advertising and this one is a whopper. Most 6ft fiberglass models are also around 0dBd because they are a 1/2 wave coaxial dipole stuck in a fiberglass tube.

Think about this, a 21ft tall exposed 4-bay dipole array set for omni directional coverage is right around 6dBd gain. A 20ft long fiberglass Stationmaster antenna cut for VHF marine is rated 5.25dBd gain. How does Tram or other companies get 6dBd gain from a 35 inch long whip? They lie!

TRAM-1600-HC-35-Marine-Antenna

• Covers all marine band frequencies
• Base-loading coil
• 35" stainless steel whip
• Gain: 6dB
• Stainless steel L-bracket for side or mast mounting
• Covers All Marine-Band Frequencies
• Base-Loading Coil
• 38" Stainless Steel Whip
• Gain: 6 Db
• Stainless-Steel, L-Bracket For Side- Or Mast-Mounting

Using it for AIS receiver

 

[baybum]

Mine works great.

 

[prcguy]

If the Tram 0dBd works great then an actual 6dBd antenna might make you feel light headed and giggle a lot.

Mine works great.

 

[baybum]

Don't know about that...I was just originally looking for people to give me reports based on actual use...

 

[prcguy]

I have a Shakespeare version of the Tram and it works fine for its size. From my location I can pick up the average boat out to maybe 60 miles. My Sinclair 4-bay dipole array easily picks up into Mexico 120mi away.

Don't know about that...I was just originally looking for people to give me reports based on actual use...

 

[baybum]

Very good...thanks

 

[biomedbob]

One of my transmitters was on 1,801 foot transmission tower in Homestead, Florida! Good range!

KF4RG

 

[merlin]

I would go with a Shakespear, made for boats or non metallic mounts. Various mount hardware available too.
They have an 8 footer that is 6 Db gain. See you want smaller
The little 'Classic' probably compares to the Tram. About 40" and mounts to get it above the boat. Height is your performance.
Had one of these on my Bayliner and works great. Talked to king harbor from Catalina on it about 40 miles.

5241-R Classic VHF Antenna - Shakespeare Marine Antennas

3' (0.9m) VHF Marine Band 3dB Gain Shakespeare® engineers constantly push the limits to succeed and conquer innovative antennas that fit the varying, yet specific needs of boaters. The Classic 5241-R VHF antenna fulfills the need of bass boats, center console fishing boats, or any vessels where...

shakespeare-ce.com