Building a VHF/FM splitter??

[salmonslammer]

Well I finally bought a cd/stereo for the boat and was putzing around with it today and came to the revolation that I don't have an antenea for it. I bought it primarly for the cd, but would like to listen to the radio too, seeing how football season is here.

I already have an 8' VHF arieal so I went and checked the price of splitters and they were $50!! That seemed a little steep so I got the idea that maybe I could build one.. Problem is I don't have a clue on what I need.

I just don't want to add another antenea if I can help it. What about using a FM antenea from a home system??

Any ideas???

[dcclubs]

Your $50 splitter is really a band separator to send the FM signal to one tap and the VHF signal to the other tap. The least expensive antenna option is a wire dipole. It looks like a piece of 300 ohm TV twin lead (the old style TV antenna wire) shaped to look like a "T". You would have to spread out the top of the "T" under or along your boat for reception. A better option is to pick up an auto antenna (usually about 28" long) and simply install this somewhere on the boat. I installed mine up under the passenger leg area on my 185 Thompson and it work fine. Make sure that the antenna is vertically oriented when you install it.

[Jason Adam]

Adding a cheap auto antenna would be a better choice than risking damaging the good VHF antenna you have. I have never used a splitter, but $50 is steep when you can pick up a separate antenna for like $10. I believe they have antennas that stick to your windshield and are clear. Maybe check that as well.

[salmonslammer]

Thanks for the responces guys... I think that I will bag the splitter idea and go with the auto antenna, hopefully I will be able to find one that is low profile.

dcclubs...is any of your anteena visable where you mounted it?? Does FM work on line of sight like VHF or is it a reflective signal?? I have an old runabout that has an enclosed bow so I could probably find a spot towards the bow that would be out of the way, but the antenna would be fully enclosed in the boat.

I'll play around with the positioning before I start drilling any holes!!!

[dcclubs]

You can't see my antenna unless you get down low and look up under the dash. FM is a line of sight signal. Up under the bow will be just fine as long as you keep it as vertical as possible. It will work sideways but some stations may not come in well. Mine is mounted in a fiberglass boat. I'm not sure what effect an aluminum boat will have on reception.

[salmonslammer]

Thanks dc, I'll have to play around with it this weekend and see how it works.

[IT pimp 2002]

My radio comes in fine and I'll be darned if I can find any type of antena in the boat. May want to try it W/O one first.

[Jason Adam]

My old trophy had an antenna plug wired to my radio, but I never saw any kind of antenna. I figured it had to use the windshield frame or something:confused: :confused: :confused: Now that I think of it, I don't know if there is an antenna plug at the radio on my new boat:confused: