[doubledip]

Is there any way I can listen to vhf in the san fernando valley?

 

[Mike_I]

Short answer is yes it's possible. Long answer is that you probably won't hear much. Exactly where are you, what is your elevation and surrounding terrain like? What part of the coast are you interested in?

Mike

 

[Xlobsterman]

Is there any way I can listen to vhf in the san fernando valley?

OK, there are many factors that will affect your radio reception in YOUR location. Most importantly is the topography around you. If you live in and area where you are high in elevation, you should get some good reception. VHF electromagnetic propagation is known as Line-of-Sight (LOS). Like a flashlight, it can only transmit in straight lines. This differs from lower-frequency radios in the HF range, such as HF-SSB or Citizen?s Band (CB) radio that can rely on "skip" to transmit long distances. For this reason, the transmission/reception range for VHF marine radios is effectively limited by the curvature of the earth and antenna height. In this regard, the higher you can mount your antenna, the further you will be able to communicate. Of course, this is simply because the line-of-sight for the higher antenna is greater.

When I lived in LA county (Hawthorne) I used a Standard Galaxy VHF radio connected to a 12v power supply, and this was connected to a GAM Electronics 10.5db VHF antenna on the roof of my house. I would regularly receive transmissions from the San Diego sportfishing fleets calling in their fish counts. These signals were transmitted as far away as 200+ miles from my location. I would also regularly talk to friends fishing as far away as 50 miles from my home! Anyhow, do some homework, and if you are in an area with no obstructions to limit your , purchase a good high quality, high gain antenna, and you should receive some interesting transmissions. X

This post edited by Xlobsterman 05/24/2008

 

[Ghostboy]

Is there any way I can listen to vhf in the san fernando valley?

It highly unlikey you'll receive any transmissions, due to your onshore distance and surrounding elevations.

VHF Simplex transmissions are line of site max'ing out at 10 to 20 mile depending on conditions, antenna lenght to gain ratio, transmit wattage and the quality of your receiver's front-end - Ghostboy!