Radio antenna AM/FM

[kcadwal]

I have installed a AM/FM radio w/Sirius in my boat. I have an antenna for both Seriur and my VHF, which is an 8' Shakespeare "whip". I think I have heard that I can use the VHF antenna for my AM/FM without making another penetration in my cabin. Any thoughts on how this can be done?

[Bodofish]

Each antenna is tuned to the band it's made to receive. It probably won't work too well. I got a little stick on one from Schucks that’s to stick on the dash and it works pretty good. Otherwise you need a special boat antenna. A car antenna use the body of the car as part of the antenna and a plastic boat won't fit the bill and neither will a metal one, you never ground anything through the hull.

[medic1]

When I was in high school my buddy bought this little splitter that was supposed to allow him to use his CB antenna for his radio. We were never able to get it to work, but we didn't really know what we were doing. I think he found it at Radio Shack. I do have one question though. Why? I think I can count on one hand the number of times that I have listened to local radio in both my truck and boat since I got Sirius/XM. If you have never experienced it you might want to give it a couple of trips out to experience it before you decide to drill and mount another antenna.

[G-Man]

Antennas are made for a specific frequency range and their construction is somewhat of a black art. Marine VHF radios operate around 150MHz and your FM radio operates between 88 and 108MHz. I'm not sure of the exact frequency but satellite radio runs above 2GHz. As Bodo mentioned, one could use the VHF antenna to pull in the FM signal, but expect less than thrilling reception. Also keep in mind that it isn't wise to be transmitting back into your FM radio's receiver, you may end up blowing it out. Antenna couplers are available that electrically adjust the length of your antenna, just expect to spend some money and you will need to power it as well. Best bet is to just get a good FM antenna designed for boat use and keep them all separate. Again, as previously mentioned, car and ground based antennas were not designed to work on a boat. If someone claims they have a system or device to let you use your VHF and FM radio together send me a PM with the details and I'll check it out. I worked on airborne radio communication and navigation equipment in the service and also have a general FCC license so I it's a bit harder to BS me on this subject.