VHF Notes

BY021 (Ed Lyman - NOAA Hawaii) and BY030 (Bill Lackey - Entangled Whale Response Orange County) have been testing using external VHF antennas mounted directly to Scout's aft bulkhead to add a layer of redundancy in telemetry. The following make, model, and frequency of VHF transponders have been tested and shown good results (e.g. no interference with the Iridium or GPS antennas). Teams have fabricated a holster that can be attached to the body of the Scout buoy. See pictures below.

BY030 with ATS VHF transmitter attached. This configuration does not interfere with the GPS or Iridium's ability to transmit messages on the Scout beacon.

Reach out if you're interested in doing this modification. There's some details that need more documentation here (3D print files, threaded inserts, epoxy, etc)