External FM Antenna

[Slack]

Many of us experience the lost or degrade in FM reception after adding an amplifier. Most of the radio stations are full of static at best. I was thinking about adding a rubber type marine grade FM antenna on the top of my tower. Has anyone tried something like this and actually gotten better reception? I am thinking the factory antenna in the helm is too close to the amp which is causing interference. It was frustrating with all of the static when you are near a city and you know you should be receiving certain stations just fine.

Thanks in advance for you input.

 

[Seadeals]

I don’t have a tower so haven’t tried that. I have yet to find a solution that works other than just using my USB port or Bluetooth as the source. I will be interested in any responses.

 

[the MfM]

I bought one of the cheap external mount 16” flexible antennas. Held in place in a few possible mounting locations and was disappointed in the reception. Held it up as high as I could and got two channels in clear. My truck parked five feet away can get 20+ stations.

Not sure I will bother mounting it.

 

[seanmclean]

I bought a powered antenna and mounted it up inside the hull. It improved things slightly, but FM reception is still terrible.

 

[Ronnie]

I bought a powered antenna and mounted it on top of the helm, in part so that I could see the light which indicates it is on/power is getting to it. There was a slight improvement in reception but not much. Maybe mounting it high on the tower would work but I recall that the Instructions for my powered antenna stating that it should not be mounted on metal or less than 2 or so inches from it so the tower May make the reception worse/non existent. Mine already pics up enough static as it is and reception is poor anyway in many of the places I boat (lakes or reservoirs in valleys or just secluded areas) so I will just leave it where it is at.

If I were to reposition it on the tower I would route the line up and in the Port side of it. The starboard side already has a bundle of wires in it so getting another thick lead through there may be a pain, running a thin satellite radio antennae sure was.

On a semi related note, I relocated my satellite radio antenna this past off season to the top of the tower tow point thinking that I would never lose reception again because no one sits there, puts towels there to dry, etc.. I was right about this but I still lose reception when passing under bridges, overpasses, shade trees. Still just about any location is better than the oem location under the helm.

 

[Slack]

It's truly ironic. You upgrade your amp because your music is not loud enough. Now that it's nice and loud, all you get is static. Good thing we have other options such as XM, bluetooth, etc.

 

[seanmclean]

It's truly ironic. You upgrade your amp because your music is not loud enough. Now that it's nice and loud, all you get is static. Good thing we have other options such as XM, bluetooth, etc.

Truly Ironic. Not sure if mounting the amps somewhere else would improve it, but I'm sure not rerunning wire throughout the boat. Luckily I can get almost all the radio stations I listen to on IHeartRadio.

 

[Mainah]

For those with vhf anteena there is a splitter available to use that as an fm antenna as well. I don’t do the fm thing often enough to go that route but perhaps that improves things enough to be worth it. Anyone here tried that?

 

[seanmclean]

For those with vhf anteena there is a splitter available to use that as an fm antenna as well. I don’t do the fm thing often enough to go that route but perhaps that improves things enough to be worth it. Anyone here tried that?

I had no idea such a thing existed, now I'm curious.

 

[Mainah]

https://www.manventureoutpost.com/products/Pacific-Aerials-VHF{47}AM{47}FM-Band-Splitter-(P7101).html?google=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzYuy9f2w2wIVWrnACh1AOwTaEAQYAyABEgKIJPD_BwE

 

[seanmclean]

Just ordered it, will let everyone know if it works out. Some areas we go to have poor cell service, so this would be nice to have working again.

 

[Seadeals]

It will be great to see if that helps you. Too bad the panel mount vhf/antenna is still on my “mods to do” list also. Not ready to dig into that project right now as the handheld has been working for our coastal hopping but as all the arm twisting to do Bimini some day continues it may allow me to kill two birds with one stone. For now, my iPod playlist keeps getting bigger and better.

 

[seanmclean]

Following @Mainah's VHF install was easy peasy. Seemed daunting at first, but came together really nicely.

 

[seanmclean]

Just an update, I installed the VHF/FM splitter that @Mainah linked - reception is significantly better. I still wouldn't call it great, but I went from getting one of my stations to five. I still connect via bluetooth primarily, but nice to have as an option when I'm in a dead zone.

 

[Slack]

Thanks for the update. What kind of vhf antenna are you using?

 

[seanmclean]

Thanks for the update. What kind of vhf antenna are you using?

Pacific Aerials P6125

 

[zipper]

Many of us experience the lost or degrade...I was thinking about adding a rubber type marine grade FM antenna on the top of my tower. Has anyone tried something like this and actually gotten better reception?

Thanks in advance for you input.

I put these on my tower. And ran the wiring inside. Different boat/tower. Strong fm signal. Had no fm when we bought the boat, thought it was the antenna...ended up being the factory JBL head unit. Great reception with antennas up there.
@Mainah and @gmtech16450yz have done similar installs in new (er) boats. I used Shakespeare and Crypt Towers equip.

 

[seanmclean]

Finally solved this issue. I had a tiny bit of nagging static after my amp install, so I was looking to solve that problem by improving the radio ground. I cut the ground on the radio harness and tied it into the ground bar my amps are on. Zero static, and FM reception restored - I can get all the same stations that I can get out of my car.

 

[Seadeals]

Great news! I suspect that may work for mine as well. My head unit is on the original boat harness but my amp is on the new feed. I tried a ground jumper between the two which didn’t help; but think grounding to the same (-) as the amp like you did may help. Still thinking the best thing to do might be to switch power (+&-) for the head unit to the new power feed that the amp is on.

 

[swatski]

Finally solved this issue. I had a tiny bit of nagging static after my amp install, so I was looking to solve that problem by improving the radio ground. I cut the ground on the radio harness and tied it into the ground bar my amps are on. Zero static, and FM reception restored - I can get all the same stations that I can get out of my car.

I have had the same issues (and the same results) as far as static/noise: switching the HU to the common ground eliminated all noise!

Are you still using the VHF antenna with adapter/spliter to get FM signal? Does it work better than the factory antenna? I stumbled on this thread, need a better FM for our trips to Bull Shoals Lake as Kate loves some of the classic rock/oldies stations there.

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