BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - Marine VHF

Larry

( Mika) wrote in :

Currently have a car FM with its own antenna just above deck. Wish to
use my mast-mounted marine VHF antenna for receiving broadcast FM as
well. There are many devices available what sort of split the
antenna cable to VHF and FM. Do these in practice provide enough
separation so that I would not "fry" my FM receiver should I transmit
on marine VHF while broadcast FM radio is swhitched on? 25 watts to
receiver could do some damage...

Mika

They work but do cause some sensitivity decline in your marine VHF because
of the poor way they are designed, more like a cheap radio than a piece of
RF hardware, which would cost them money to make. They're lossy, both on
incoming and transmitting.

Your VHF antenna is NOT made or tuned for any FM radio band. It's not
going to be a great FM antenna to receive FM stations miles and miles away.
Any consumer FM radio is a terrible piece of equipment, even expensive
ones. They're made to sell, not to perform, and all have poor receivers,
which is why FM broadcasters are running 100,000 watts of power so they can
hear them.

If I were you, I'd leave my VHF piece of safety equipment attached to its
antenna, not make it part of the entertainment system that's not going to
save you from the sinking, if you get my drift.