Car radio - aerial - earth

[Rune]

Any good ideas of how I install an aerial for the car radio in my sailboat.
I am not quite sure what I do with the earth for the aerial.
Somebody suggested wiring it to the stanchions. But they are out of alu. so can't quite see how that would work.
Would it be enough to connect it to the minus?


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[trays]

I have one slung horizontally under the side deck in my litttel boat. Put there by previous owner. It works fine. I will try to look at it tomorrow and get back.



Ray

<hr width=100% size=1>Ray

 

[trays]

I have one slung horizontally under the side deck in my litttel boat. Put there by previous owner. It works fine. I will try to look at it tomorrow and get back.



Ray

<hr width=100% size=1>Ray

 

[andy_wilson]

I fitted a strip antenna (from Halfords) under the headlining inside the boat.

These are designed for the windscreen, in front of the rear view mirror, with an earth braid to the nearby bodywork.

On the boat I have the antenna earth to the chassis of the radio / cassette, which works just fine.

Interference is zero / reception is as good as you can expect a couple of metres above sea level.

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[Boathook]

I just used a bit of single core copper wire threaded through some high level lockers. Works fine on FM and MW though the car radio is playing up on LW but it is 20 years old ...

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[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

I am just using a rubber ducky type, no earth, reception is just fine. Have it on the back of one of my shelves. Try it, you might be surprised how good a signal you get.

<hr width=100% size=1>Julian

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk/Honda_00.html>Honda Formula 4-Stroke racing</A>

 

[discovery2]

For over 18 years I have used without any trouble a fibreglass whip aerial with a (spring mounted base) bolted through the (wood & fibreglass) coach roof and connected to the radio only with the supplied lead. The earth (if one is required) used the screen of the coax cable. Reception was good.

David

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[pampas]

Have fitted many an ariel to plastic cars, so long as the screen is a good connection to the outer case of the plug,you should have no problems only that of placing the ariel in the best reception area.
in a steel body car the body acts as a ground plane, may be, if poor reception still occurs a sea earth may be part of your answer.

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[h4nym]

Slightly different problem... but while the mindset is on this - changed the alternator recently on my port engine... now irritating interference on MW... never there before - any thoughts on what I need to do?

H

<hr width=100% size=1>Life balance?

 

[Chris771]

Go to an auto spares (or auto electrical) shop and buy an alternator suppression capacitor. Then connect it between the alternator output and the alternator case, or negative lead. Should only be a couple of squiddlies.

Chris

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[h4nym]

Ta!

<hr width=100% size=1>Life balance?

 

[Guest]

I used a Rubber Duck replacement Car aerial for years and only connected via the co-ax without any other consideration ..... worked fine. All I did was make sure it was at least a metre or so from any alternators etc.



<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I only came - cos they said there was FREE Guinness !

 

[charles_reed]

If you're referring to the RF earth it's probably unnecessary with a car/boat radio.

However it's desirable on your vhf and radar and essential for DGPS receivers and SSB transceivers.

Mine is a "ring" including all the sacrificial anodes a 5m2 area of copper scrim epoxyied into the aft cabin bilge and an external RF earth plate of an alleged 50m2 surface area (it consists of thousands of gold-plated copper mini-spheres sintered together and I'm very sceptical about it)
The connecting ring is of 65mm wide copper strip (surface area not cross-sectional area is important with RF circuits) and includes the FM/AM aerial earth.

If you're not going to put in an RF earth take the chassis earth back to the aerial earth.

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[trays]

On my 18 foot trailer sailer I have a car aerial tucked up under the side deck (horizontal - which is probably not ideal) and it is connected to the car radio only via the coax cable. Seems to work reasonably well, but I could not get any AM stations when I tried yesterday, with boat on trailer.

Ray

<hr width=100% size=1>Ray