Sorry for the delay to throw my 5 cents in, and I never go on the forum while I'm at the office (this forum is my post-work hours boat fix), but I saw this thread before I left the house and had to at least make comment. Shakespeare is no longer the only game in town, and we only use their Galaxy antennas for the Sea Ray crowd. For our outfitting purposes, we use Comrod as our number one choice for the workboat/tug/offshore craft, and Digital Antenna as the next option below for people who either don't want to go for the money with a Comrod, or people in the cruising crowd who want a step up from Shakespeare. Morad is absolutely an awesome antenna, and we've used them on the FDNY and NYPD First Response boats, Kvichak's and SAFEBoats. They are unfortunately as mentioned earlier, difficult to get quickly, and the freight from the West Coast makes them a bit cost prohibitive. Aesthetically, the Comrod has a nicer finish than the Morad, and they are very close I feel in performance. You can't go wrong with either one, and Digital is also an antenna I'd have faith in going offshore, although not as durable as the Comrod/Morad options. A VHF is only as good as its antenna, same as a fishfinder and transducer. Keep in mind though that you may not want to go with a 10db or higher depending on what kind of sea conditions you plan on boating in. 10db is a narrow beamwidth; giving it a stronger signal at longer range. However, because it's so narrow, if you're in the slop, pitching and rolling, that transmission is going to aimed at the sky and the water. A 6db antenna, say a standard 8', has a wider sidelobe, so it is more forgiving in that kind of water, although you of course lose quality at range. That's why you'll see some people with 8 footers on an 8' extension. Height is always important, but remember that VHF is line of sight, and the curveture of the Earth will only allow so much of an actual distance as opposed to a theoretical range like you see with "72Nm" Radars. To calculate your actual range, you need to use the square root of the height (in Feet) of the antenna above water x 1.42 = your real range, however atmospheric conditions also play a factor as well. Just a little info from the Rat.
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