How to Choose the Right Shipboard Antenna?

Marine antennas are manufactured in various forms and shapes these days. They are widely used in merchant ships, naval ships, and leisure crafts all over the globe. A Shipboard Antenna is a type of marine antenna that is installed on naval platforms and large vessels.

You need to consider many factors while choosing a good shipboard antenna. This blog lists all the things to consider when you are buying a marine antenna.

What is Shipboard Antenna?

Now, let us discuss the meaning of the term Shipboard antenna. It is a type of Marine Antenna used in ships, large vessels, yachts, and naval platforms. This marine antenna generally works on different frequency bands such as 117-137 MHz, 118-400 MHz, and 225-400 MHz.

A shipboard antenna can work in any type of weather. It contains a wide vertical beam width for clear communication. The antenna is highly used for various applications such as sea, ground, and ground-to-air applications. Moreover, it is useful in Oceanic applications where ice loading and vibration are major problems.

Types of Shipboard Antenna-VHF & UHF Shipboard Antenna

We will further discuss the kinds of shipboard antennas. Shipboard antennas are mainly of 2 types such as:

1. VHF antenna

VHF Shipboard Antenna is a premium quality dipole antenna developed mainly for the marine VHF radio telephone service. It has sturdy construction and includes a nice finish. Apart from that, it is also easy to install a VHF antenna in any ship or large vessel. A VHF antenna can be used in all types of vessels.

This antenna can be easily mounted on the bulkhead with the help of 4 holes in the bracket. You can attach it to a tube by using M6 U-bolts. Furthermore, the VHF antennas are easy to handle and ship from one place to another.

2. UHF antenna

The second type of shipboard antenna is UHF Shipboard Antenna. It is a type of antenna used in different applications such as two-way radio, commercial communications, and public safety. UHF antennas generally work between the range of 300 MHz and 3 GHz. They are widely used in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) applications where wireless paths are disturbed by obstructions, multi-path, and phasing.

How to Choose the Right Shipboard Antenna?

Do you want to buy a Ship Antenna? Then it is necessary to follow certain things to get the best antenna for marine vessels and ships. Read below to know the things while choosing the right shipboard antenna:

1. Frequency of antenna

Frequency range and bandwidth are important terms to consider in an antenna. If you want to buy the best shipboard antenna, it is necessary to understand these terms. The bandwidth of an antenna is the frequency range on which the antenna works effectively.

The antenna must satisfy certain parameters to work such as radiation pattern, gain, VSWR, and so on. VSWR is the most common parameter for bandwidth considerations. This bandwidth is known as impedance bandwidth.

2. Directional and Omni-directional antenna

The second factor to consider while choosing the shipboard antenna is whether it is Omnidirectional or directional. The omnidirectional antenna sends and receives energy in all horizontal directions. Contrary to that, the directional antennas send and receive energy in one direction.

The omnidirectional antenna is widely used in applications that need good coverage. On the other hand, the directional antenna is used in applications where there is no need for all-around coverage. This antenna focuses energy in one particular direction.

3. Gain of the antenna

The next thing to consider is the antenna’s gain. It is related to the antenna’s directivity. Now, let us know the term directivity. It is a number that indicates the antenna’s ability to focus on energy in a specific direction and not in various directions.

The antenna’s gain is reduced by the loss introduced by the antenna. A parameter that measures the loss of the antenna is known as radiation efficiency and it has a value between 0 and 1.

4. VSWR specification

Voltage Standing wave ratio is an important factor to consider while choosing a shipboard antenna. This ratio is an indication of the amount of mismatch between the antenna and the feed line connecting to the antenna. VSWR has values in ranges from 1 to infinity.

VSWR value under 2 is perfect for many antenna applications. The common VSWR specification adopted is 2:1 VSWR. It means that the range of frequencies in which the VSWR is lower than 2 is the bandwidth of the operation.

5. Antenna placement

The last factor to look for while choosing a Naval Shipboard Antenna is the placement of an antenna. To get the most optimal placement for an antenna, you must consider various factors like height, line-of-sight, distance between antennas, and the curvature of the earth.

You must mount the antenna at the highest point due to the restrictions of the line-of-sight range with VHF signals. The antenna’s orientation must match such as vertical to vertical and horizontal to horizontal.

Advantages of using a Shipboard antenna

After discussing the important factors to consider while choosing the shipboard antenna, we will now discuss the various benefits of a shipboard antenna in the below section:

·    A shipboard antenna is very simple to handle and ship anywhere in the world because of lightweight body.     

• This antenna has solid construction and does not get damaged in any kind of weather of ocean.
• This antenna makes communication easier and better than before.
• It can be used in a wide range of boats, yachts, large vessels and ships.
• The components used in making of a shipboard antenna are durable and do not rust easily even after many years.
• This antenna is easy to maintain for a long time.

Conclusion

This is all about a Shipboard antenna that you must know. It is a kind of High Gain Marine Antenna that can be installed without any special equipment or tool. These antennas are perfect to simplify communication on large vessels, ships and different kinds of boats.