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 Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums
 General Sailing Forum
 FM antenna		  New Topic  Topic Locked
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jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1484 Posts
Initially Posted - 12/31/2011 :  13:00:17  Show Profile
I received a marine AM,FM, MP3...etc... tuner/stereo and wonder what type of antenna to use. A basic dipole is likely a bad choice, there are marine antenna as well as short AM/FM antenna tower units.

What do others here use?

Happy New Year to all!!!
Jerry
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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5376 Posts
Response Posted - 12/31/2011 :  17:08:51  Show Profile
For FM, all you need is a 30" piece of wire and a good ground.
I also like conventional rabbit ears or a dipole made from 300 Ohm flat wire.
For AM, the antenna is usually a coil built-in to the receiver, but external coil antennas are available from Radio Shack or mail order.

On Passage, I did the following which worked pretty well: I took a short cable connecting it from the antenna input to a bolt holding down one of the chainplates holding the upper shroud.

My radio has excellent selectivity and sensitivity, so I can receive most stations in the NYC and Hartford/New Haven markets.

Care should be taken to add a choke coil in series with the radio's 12V supply cable to eliminate static from the engine's alternator. You can purchase these in an auto parts store.

Care should also be given to any LED lighting you may have, as it can generate substantial FM interference. I added a 0.1 uF capacitor in parallel and a choke coil in series with the offending LED light.

If you need specifics, please drop me a line on bruce2sail at aol dot com.
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GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4304 Posts
Response Posted - 01/01/2012 :  01:12:50  Show Profile
I'm using a 30" wire antenna from WM attached basically like Bruce mentions above and I get all stations on the AM/FM bands. I don't have an alternator so haven't had any issues with static except on AM when there are thunderstorms within a 100 miles or so.
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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.