[thefishingfreak]

sorry to put this in offshore forum but i want opinions from the best .
ok my house is up on a hill 4 stories high 72 steps to get to the top floor.
if i get on my roof i can see boston skyline, and the ocean on a clear day.

the question is :

i want to put a vhf radio antena on my roof and a radio in the house ,to listen to whats going on "waterwise" when i'm home. and so the wife can contact me over the radio, and i can contact her. without using the cell phone [which i always forget]
by "gps" the spots i'm in most of the time are about 7 to 15 miles away from the house.
whats the way to go? is there a 110 volt vhf radio?
or get another 12 volt radio and power it through an inverter?
also is there a directional antenna so i'm not hearing junk from the behind the house?

yeah cabin fever bear with me

 

[STRIKERTHREE]

i believe motorola makes a 110v model check their web site also when you put the antenna up make sure you ground it so if it gets hit by lightning it wont blow out the radio and cause a fire

 

[howfishe]

Home Radio

I would get an inverter! Why you ask? Two reasons:
1: I would have a spare radio, if anything happens to the radio on the boat I can swap it quickly to see if its the radio or something else(eg. antenna/wires/cables).
2:I would have a 12volt inverter at home so I can check out other 12v equipment at home.

P.S. If you buy a inverter MAKE SURE it can handle the current draw( measured in Amp.'s in spec.'s) when you are transmitting.

FYI- you may need a FCC Ship To Shore license. Another can of worms

 

[MakoMatt]

fishingfreak, I use a 12 volt converter and keep the radio in the garage with the antenna on top of the garage roof. The top of the antenna is no more then 20' off the ground and I can speak with vessels about 20 miles out, sometimes further.

MakoMatt

 

[thefishingfreak]

thanks guy's i like the converter idea, then i can play around with my gps map or loran in the winter
going to radio-shack tonite

 

[MakoMatt]

fishingfreak, I got my converter at the Radio Shack, I think it was around $50. The radio I use is very old, not worth anything, but it seems to work OK except for one thing. If I talk for very long, meaning around 6 seconds or longer, the converter shuts down and I have to hit a reset button. This only happens when broadcasting. Don't know if it is just my unit, the converter, or they all will do that. The converter must be about 15 years old now and it has done this since day one.

Another good thing about keeping it in the garage, you can listen to what's happening while doing projects in there, but, be warned, when you hear they are catching you get very t'd off you are not out there too.

Makomatt

 

[MakoMike]

Freak,
Remember, the higher up you can get the antenna, the more range you'll have,

 

[captnlp]

converter

I went with the converter and a good antena. During the summer on clear nights I have had ranges of 90 miles.

 

[treypescatorie]

Directional Antenna

You can use a directional antenna for your radio. I dont know if they make one specificaly for the marine band. But you can use one that is used for the ham radio 2 meter band, which is 145mhz to 148mhz. You can use a yagie antenna which is a directional beam antenna usually multi elements like 11 or so. Thes antenna's are high gain and the all the stations in the back of the antenna will be very weak while the stations to the front and sides will be much stronger.I used this my self and it worked great. The ham band is not the same exact frequency but it will work fine. You can get these antennas at certain electronic supply stores. If you live on the island they sell them at t$m electronics in Patchogue.

Good luck

 

[thefishingfreak]

funny sometimes on the comp. speakers i can pick up ham radio operators.
trey? about how much are those directional antennas
not familar with any supply house by me around boston maybey someplace on the web?
my handheld gps says the elevation is 120' above sea level on the top floor, add about 10' or so to the top of the roof. so i think it'l work pretty good.
back to the old grounding issue, ground it to what? how? i dont want to make a lightning attractor on the house iether

 

[treypescatorie]

Antenna

Hi fishingfreak;
you can use this antenna (model#124wb)$69.95 ,they sell it @HRO www.hamradio.com.It wont give you as much gain as say an 11 element antenna but this 4 element beam will do the trick. As far as mounting it just mount it to a tv mast and run a copper wire from the ground part of the antenne (the part where the outer part of the coax connector is connected to) to a cold water pipe.

As far as the power supply is concerned go to radio shack and get a 12 volt power supply and make sure that it is rated for the current draw of your radio. Look in the manual for that # in amps.

 

[thefishingfreak]

if you post it they will come

trey: thats what i needed-thanks
went to radio shack but the dumb clerk knew nothing besides trying to sell me a cell phone
i'll let you know how it goes