Title: How to Choose the Right Shipboard Antenna?
1How 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- 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 - 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. - 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 antennas gain.
It is related to the antennas directivity. Now,
let us know the term directivity. It is a number
that indicates the antennas ability to focus on
energy in a specific direction and not in various
directions. - The antennas 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. - 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 21 VSWR. It means that the range of
frequencies in which the VSWR is lower than 2 is
the bandwidth of the operation. - 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 antennas 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
4- 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.