Dodgy VHF aerial help

[cpedw]

... as it will normally reach as far as the ships handheld even if the masthead aerial is mince.

I can vouch for that. I have used the HH to DIY radio check. I later found it's not an adequate test.
Derek

[aquaplane]

Having thought about it, the lock keeper had a HH and he was 3 yards away and got nothing, but that was from the mast head aerial. I didn't try the pushpit mounted one until much later.

[ash]

Having thought about it, the lock keeper had a HH and he was 3 yards away and got nothing, but that was from the mast head aerial.

Can you be too close?

When I first got my H/H, I tried to call it from the main set / masthead while stood in the cockpit. Felt that it didn't work and assumed that the waves were going over my head. Tried it from further away on the pontoon with a helper on the main set and that seemed fine.

Ash

[sahona]

Ash -yes, but don't ask for an explanation or conditions required. Funny things happen sometimes.
Aqua - if you take the fuse for the vhf out of the power line and use the meter set to amps (10) to bridge the gap, you will see what the set is trying to draw. It should register about 5 or 6 amps when transmitting at 25 watts. If less than this it's either dud or shut itself down due to a bad aerial/connection. -see what it does on both aerials to spot the odd one out.