PBO verdict

For offshore sailing in particular, carrying an emergency antenna makes sense. It adds to the arsenal of safety equipment on board, especially if the emergency antenna can be raised above deck height – the higher the better for greater range.

Our test conditions looked pretty favourable for VHF radio wave transmission: it was a warm, sunny day. However, moisture content in the air absorbs energy and thus reduces transmission range. It is possible that warm weather could have created humidity from surface evaporation, which hindered our transmission strength.

The test illustrated the importance of placing the antenna as high as possible, both to increase range and to ensure there was no part of the boat obstructing the transmission: however, the height would be limited by the length of cable provided. The Glomex had the longest at 9m.

As a comparison, at our four-mile range we tried using the handheld VHF on board Trinity Star. Surprisingly, it performed just as well in transmission despite operating at 5W (compared with the 25W used with the emergency antennas) and marginally better in reception, probably because it was held clear of any superstructure. This suggests that the most compelling reason to use one of these emergency antennas is to take advantage of its ability to be hoisted aloft to increase range.

The antennas which made use of the storage container to mount the antenna, the Glomex and VTronix, were considered the easiest to lash to a suitable attachment point. The test demonstrated that the telescopic whip antenna of the Pacific performed the best on test and therefore gets the Best Buy award, although we did have reservations about the robustness of the telescopic whip. n Thanks to Alan Watson for providing his Nelson 42 and his technical support for this test.