VHF Radio and antenna

[dmarsh0527]

I just purchased a 2004 Seaswirl 17 foot bowrider. I comes with a satellite AM FM CD player. I would like to add a VHF Marine radio. Can the antenna serve both radios? An 8' antenna on this boat would not add to the appearance.<br /><br />Thanks in advance.

 

[hkellogg]

Re: VHF Radio and antenna

a vhf antenna as far as I know can not pickup fm stations to my knowledge, secondly doesn't satellite radio require a satellite receiver(XM or sirius) with a subscription for that matter ?

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: VHF Radio and antenna

Hi demarsh,<br /><br />Yes, they are called band splitters, they allow a AM/FM lead to connect to a VHF antenna. I don't know how good they are because I've never tried one.<br /><br />

<br /><br />For safety (range) why compromise - 8' antennas look good <br /><br />Aldo

 

[Keith Buchanan]

Re: VHF Radio and antenna

Any diplexer or bandpass splitter will inherantly have an insersion loss and will attenuate the signal to your VHF.If you don't go out far all is well and good..

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: VHF Radio and antenna

If you don't need a lot of range you might consider a hand held VHF, then you don't have to worry about the ant.

 

[ThomWV]

Re: VHF Radio and antenna

HKellogg, just a note: Marine VHF radios are Frequency Modulated (FM). Just thought you'd like to know. The only real difference between broadcast FM and our boat radios is the frequency range they operate in, with the boat radio being centered around 156 megahertz and the FM broadcast band centered around 100 megahertz. Not a large difference and certanly not anything that would hinder reception of the commercial band.<br /><br />Thom