AIS Antenna

[Eleanor Q]

Gang,
What is the best VHF antenna for AIS? Does it not matter?

Thanks,
Frank,
Eleanor Q

[Pete7]

We have a normal 1.2m wire one on a 2m pole on the stern, gets us an AIS range of about 5 - 6 miles. You might get more with height but mastheads are already pretty crowded. Also if it's in a vunerable location one of those short rubber ones might last longer from clumsy hands.

Metz have a good reputation in Europe.

Salty John: Metz Manta Marine VHF Antenna plus Metz AIS antenna and other fine boat and yacht chandlery products.

Pete

[David M]

This one has been working fine for me....
Shakespeare Antenna Specifications: Shakespeare 396-1-AIS Broadband VHF

[44'cruisingcat]

Worth getting a decent one, it could be used as an emergency VHF antenna too. It should be mounted well away from the "real" VHF ariel anyway.

[SV_Inspirare]

I use the regular radio VHF antenna via an active splitter. I think they claim near zero loss and it also has an FM output.
I get 350 miles AIS reception range on the pacific west coast (via repeaters I'm guessing) and about 50 miles here in Mexico. My VHF radio is pretty new (Standard Horizon) and I had a good chat with a boat 75miles away a couple of days ago so I guess the low loss part is working

The splitter I'm using is this one: http://www.em-trak.com/PRODUCTS/Acce.../Splitter.aspx
Westmarine carries them.

[barnakiel]

Ours is a shared 1 ft stub. Max range (from within a harbour closed with seawalls) about 15 Nm. Better when outside. Receiver only here.

For a standalone I would buy one of the dedicated units which are supposed to be fine tuned for AIS frequencies.

I think to max out the range (if desireable) a quality low loss cable will count just as much.

b.

[SoonerSailor]

My boat had a nice Metz antenna for AIS on the stern pushpit when we bought it. Had very good AIS reception with it, typically 20 nm or a bit more for commercial vessels. We thought it was clear of the wind generator blades, but we were wrong. In a seaway, the antenna aerial met a blade and the aerial broke at the base. We still picked up vessels up to about 5 nm away. As a stop-gap measure, I attached a 3 ft piece of wire to the Metz base. Of course it doesn't stand up, it curls over and down, but it functioned as well as the original antenna.

I eventually turned the Metz base upside down, and let the 3 foot wire hang straight down. I lives there very well and provides good AIS reception.

[hpeer]

We have a steel boat. I bought a magnetic mount from a Ham shop and plunked it on the cabin top. Works to 40 miles for ships.

Could NOT have been easier.

[mbianka]

I'm using Digital Yacht AIS AA10 Whip Antenna mounted on my radar arch. Works well and can be used as a back up emergency VHF antenna if the need arises.

[Eleanor Q]

Thanks Gang!


Frank