My last duty station in the Coast Guard from 1978 thru 1985 was Coast Guard Headquarters. I was the Electronics Program Manager for Icebreakers, CGC Eagle, all Buoy Tenders, 327 Foot Cutters, 82'/95' WPBs and all small boats(40',41' and 44'). My job was to plan installations of electronics and write the autorization to install the electronics. I see a major mistake in the antenna system on the 41' UTB. The Coast Guard had a requirement to maintain radio coverage on the distress frequencies for both VHF-FM and HF frequencies. I only see one antenna on the port side of the cabin. The radar antenna is on the cabin roof and the ADF antenna is on top of the mast. Depending what district the 41' UTB was assigned to made the determination where the antennas were located. All HF antennas were located on the side of the cabin. The VHF-FM antenna was either located on the oposite side of the cabin from the HF antenna or located on the mast in various locations. This VHF-FM antenna could be the long type(like the HF antenna only be VHV-FM frequency compatible) or could be a shorter style and be located on the mast. No Coast Guard Cutter or Coast Guard Small Boat would get underway without the capability to communicate on HF or VHF-FM.

WHERE IS THE VHF-FM ANTENNA? Any other retired Coasties notice this error. Will HL continue to produce this error? Will we have a revised version of the 41' UTB. Will HL send out an antenna to install on the starboard side of the cabin? Will we have a change and thus creat a variation? So many questions and possibilities. I have contacted HL on this error.

Rich+

Good eye spotting the missing antenna, but the average person wouldn't know the difference.I wouldn't think every 41 footer would be exactly the same and that Harbour Lights made a fair and reasonable model of the average USCG 41 footer.

You would think every boat would be exactly the same but they're not. It all depends who originally built them and who installed all the eletronics and gear.

Let us know what Harbour Lights has to say about the matter.

Bob

All 41' UTBs were basically the same thanks to paperwork called SHIPALTs(Ship Aterations) that controlled the installation of equipment. The antennas might be in several locations but they WOULD HAVE THE ANTENNA. HL left the antenna off completely. There is no difference between this and a six sided Coquille or dormer windows wrong or the color of water off the New England coast. Authenticity is the thing. Every now and then HL DOES MAKE A MISTAKE. My whole thing is what they are going to do about it. Being a coastie, I care about the authenticity of CG vessels.

Rich

Rich,

If you got a 44 footer, then you know the mast is located in the wrong place on it. They didn't change the location on later editions, and for something as small as the antenna, I would not expect that they would make a change to it.

I drove the small boats, and they still look pretty darned good to me.

The other Rich

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