I would stick with an 8 foot antenna it will give you more range for transmitting/recieving. I just put a COBRA MR F75 in my boat and am very happy with it so far. The radio that you have listed is basically the same radio except the speaker is located in the Microphone on mine and not in the main radio body, my hearing sucks so that helps me, as I can keep the volumn down and still hear it well as it is close to my ears.