Antenna ?

[Mark]

Does anyone know how to improve my am/fm radio reception on the boat? Can you use the mast or rigging for an antenna? What about just mounting a car antenna at the top of the mast. I dont want satelite radio, I dont want to listen to cds, I want to be able to listen to the local stations which is about 60 miles away from the lake. Any ideas?If I chose to add a VHF radio later, could you use one antenna for am/fm reception and also for the VHF (send and receive)? Just curious. Thanks.

 

[Greg]

FM or AM

For FM reception just get a dipole and mount as high as you can get it. Like inside the cabin trunk. For AM the atenna will always be directional, once you want any db gain. Best if you want AM and FM reception would be a stainless car type atenna mounted on the stern. Try a truck stop for such an antenna cheap. Or a Radio Shack. No you can't use an AM FM atenna on the mast for your VHF, but you can with a little magic box use a VHF antenna for FM radio. I think the little box costs a little over a hundred dollars. It has to disconnect the FM from the antenna when you transmit with the VHF, or the FM radio would blow its curcuits. For the best in AM antennas try CCRADIO the C Crane Co. has a web site. Not cheap, but they do carry the best. FM isn't picky, just get more surface area for it to pick up the signal. All radios will work better if you have your ground tied to the cast iron keel (ground plane) or an actual ground plane.

 

[Ed]

Experiment

I solved this problem with a short AM-FM antenna from Minney's in CA. It just plugs into the antenna jack on the back of the radio. Like Greg says, there is a special mixer box you can buy to combine with VHF. I don't think the fiberglass of the boat would interfere much with this kind of reception, so mounting is not critical. I just put mine under the sink.But, your distance is pretty great. Why don't you experiment with the stays? If it works, it could be great for your long distance reception.