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I have a 2005 Vista 288 and I need to change my VHF antenna as the based is cracked and it won't stay in the socket. Has anyone tried to do this and are there any shortcuts that I can use. The antenna is a Shakespear Centenial 5101. Thanks !!

Should be pretty striaght forward. Unscrew the connector on the back of your radio, cut off the connector. Before pulling the old cable out attach the proper length of line to the cable. I prefer a strong masons stringline and overlap approx 6-inches and attach with eletrical tape. Then slowly start pulling the cable from outside the boat. It helps greatly to have someone inside feeding cable also. Once the string is outside attach the new cable and start pulling firmly yet gently so you don't cause cable damage. Good luck.

Usually you get either a solder type connector for the radio end however unless you have a VERY large hot iron, you will have trouble getting a good connection. It may look fine, and the radio may receive fine but transmitting will be weak to non-existent. What works much better is the crimp style connector. No soldering required and I've never had any problems with this style.

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2014 Vista V435
2011 Glastron GT180
2013 Sea Doo RXT-260

jak is right, just swap it out. half hour job tops.

Thanks for the input, I'll try the suggested method and see how it goes!!!