BigBendFishing.Net

I am mounting a VHF radio and have a couple of questions.

First, I am planning on building an aluminum bracket to mount the GPS/Fishfinder above the radio, with about 1.5" of clearance between the two. I need to do this to keep both away from my compass (my brother did not do this on his console and his boat is always pointing west!). My question here is will the GPS/Fioshfinder interfere with the radio (or vice versa)? It is not a problem if it does, all holes drilled will be covered and I can reconfigure, but it will look better and make for more room.

Second, I have read some things about the installation and am a little confused (I tend to overplan things, but I would rather measure twice and cut once). I know the coax needs to be a minimum of 3 feet in length. But I have read a couple of places that said the antenna needs to be 3 feet from the radio-not in coax length, but physical distance. My brothers radio is not and it puts out fine. I have seen other boats that break that rule as well, as most small boats will mount the radio on the top of the console and the radio on the side (which is what I want to do). Anyone have any thoughts or experience here?

I really appreciate the advice and love this site.

The distance between the radio and antenna can be of importance. The distance between the antenna and any metal objects can be of more importance. You get into SWR (standing wavelength ratio) problems if you are too close to metal or worse yet, grounded metal objects. The same problem can come into play if the radio is too close to the antenna. Usually if the antenna and it's broadcast path are above the radio, you should be OK. There can be problems of interference between electronic components. That is why you have coaxial wire. The braided wire that covers the solid conductor in the center shields it from interference by providing a path to ground. Electronic components almost always have a magnetic field around them when they are operating, which is why your brother's compass always reads west. In that area the only way to remedy the problem is by physical distance. Shields do not work well against magnetic fields.
I hope any of this is of help. If you have more questions let me know. I will try to answer them to the best of my ability.
FF

Well I mounted it all. I reckon I can move the antenna if I need to. I got such a deal on it, I figured what the heck, I can replace it (since I already cut the coax).

I mounted it closer than 3 feet, but with 4 feet of coax. We'll see how it goes, but the compass did not budge when on or when transmitting. I made my own bracket out of aluminum stock and have the fishfinder above the radio, it looks nice. We'll see how it works. I was listening to the weather radio, so at least it receives.

Glad you got it done and it seems to work. Channel 28 is supposed to have an automated radio check that repeats what you broadcast back to you. It has not worked for me the past 2 weeks between St. Marks and the Aucilla. It might be because my handheld is not reaching it.
I think you will find that all is working fine and you will be able to enjoy it for a long time to come.
FF

It is channel 27 now and it worked fine. I was listening to folks and the transmission seemed fine on return. Thanks.

Thanks for the update.
FF