hooking up a VHF in the house?
 

random question here but I just realized that I have an old Standard horizon VHF and an 8 foot shakespeare antennae lying aroung. Has anyone ever tried putting this set up in their house? I guess I would put the antennae on the highest part of the house and run the coaxial cable down pretty easily but I would have to get power somehow. Is there a transformer for this type of thing somewhere? It would be cool to be able to talk and listen to other boats when I'm not on the water especially to find out weather and sea height and things like that.

yes there is a power converter you can get,lots of people have them at point jude, you got all the gossip of the day.

Not sure but isnt' VHF a "line of sight" device? So unless you lived on the coast or a high elevation near it you may not pick up much? But then maybe you do....

There are power supplies to convert AC (house current) to DC to power the radio. You'll also need an FCC license for a "base station." Gte the entenna as high as possible for best reception.

Double Edge Sword Here-

We had one in when I was in High School, and my parents live up on the ridge in Sandwich and you could hear and transmit across most of Cape Cod Bay. Pretty cool to listen in when you're not out there, and I could call my dad for a fishing report.

Bad side - my mom knew when we were lying about when we were coming home or why we were "stuck".

lol that is a downside. From my roof I can see the ocean across the bay so the line of sight shouldn't be an issue. I just need to find a transformer and I'll be in business!

You should be able to get one at Radio Shack.

awesome thanks

I,ve had one in my house ; for 30 YEARS ;; when we were all commercial & no cell phones / they stayed on 24/7 / they were our life-line to ouR families // & if we had a problem / it was our Sea Tow/ ;;
I have my small S/s sail boat antenna mounted on top of a rotor Tv antenna . it has been on there so long /it can,t be moved . I had the TV antenna saws-all off/ just leaving the main pole with the antenna ;
BTW .... all the outside equipment & power converter are original . I,ve messed with the radio,s a few times .
Now with cell phones ,it never gets turned on ;

MIKE

I've always wondered if there's ever a concern about lightning with a big antenna on the roof.

I was thinking the same thing. I might put it lower