Replacing Vhf antenna

[Pedro]

My 28te came with a radar arch mounted vhf antenna which has a broken tip,(possible shipping damage),who knows,
,it works fine,,,but can't be as good as it should be. How do you run the new cable thru the hard top and then into the arch? Can you use the old cable as a pull wire?Pete

[Jeremyvmd]

Im actually in the middle of doing that (replacing radar and such. Figure while im here...). I am actually going to unbolt the arch, cut and pull the old wires with rope attached to them, but then use that to run the new wires. Good excuse to replace the sealant from 98....if the wire slides you should be able to cut off the old wire at the antenna and sue that to slide the new one through

[Pedro]

Thanks, I've had it for two seasons so far and slowly upgrading things, (garmin 94sv with side scan last year,new cockpit bolsters,added 8d house battery bank,etc etc,can't wait to your electronics upgrade, good luck with it,I'm sure it will be awesome,Pete

[catalina_mike]

It's pretty easy to run the cable using the old one to pull a cord through first. My vessel has the overhead console so it runs down the starboard side by pulling the cover panels off. Get the best antenna you can afford because when you need it to work you will want the best there is. I went with the best that West Marine had made for them. You have to solder the end on but it's no big deal.

[Paddy]

I replaced my antenna over the summer. I thought it would be a simple job...just use the old one to pull the new one through the hole in the arch, but the wiring channel was packed with wiring and each attempt failed. I ended up drilling a tiny hole 1/2 up the end of the new cable, and tied some 40 pound fishing braid to it. I then used a thin wire to pull the braid through and finally muscled the new cable down by slowly feeding the line through the arch hole and pulling on the braid. Hopefully, you will have an easier go of it! As Catalina Mike said, get the best you can afford, not something you want to skimp on.

Good Luck

[djpeewee]

Some Dawn dish soap on the cables will help get them through a crowded cable way. Just rub it on the cables as they go into the radar arch tube. It sometimes makes all the difference.

[Pedro]

Turns out my ant might be tricky to replace, the existing vhf cable runs in a very tight wire bundle way up under the gunnel, I'll need to climb in behind the water heater, that's not possible so ,i will have to pay someone smaller than me to climb inside under the the gunnel

[Pedro]

How tricky is it to snake the chi wire through the wire bundle under the Gunnel?It looks like I'd need to cut about 12 tie wraps that are 2' beyond the reach of any human?

(Merged into existing thread by Admin)

[DougSea]

I wouldn't worry about the wire bundle. Abandon the old wire and tie the new one to the outside of the bundle. Plus, once you cut it off you can probably pull the old antenna wire out.

Either way it's a relatively easy thing to get the wire down from the arch and into the gunnel area. I ran all sorts of stuff down when I redid the systems on our 28. Once you've done that it's a quick run forward to the radio. If you want to really neaten it up you can leave that for a winter project.

[Pedro]

Doug,Thanks for your words of wisdom,I installed the new antennae today! Feeding the wire through radar arch was a tight squeeze but the rest went smoothly I even got two tie wraps on it,soldered on the connect viola the Sea tow automated radio confirms I transmit and receive clearly

[DougSea]

Glad it worked out Pete!