"suds" wrote in
news
Being on bed rest for a month has left me with a little too much time
on my hands. ;^) One of the ways I pass the day is to listen to
the chatter on the vhf channels using my 5 watt hand-held.
Unfortunately, it just doesn't seem to have that much of a range.
While the Coast Guard comes in loud and clear, I seldom hear the
response of who it is they are talking to. Other than the Coast Guard
about all I can pick up is the drunks out at the sand bar. I don't
really need to hear about what a good time they're having, it's bad
enough that I have to sit hear watching them out the window.

So I was wondering if it is possible to buy an external antenna that I
could mount to the roof of my house and thereby extend the range?
Would it be just that simple or are there going to be issues of
amplification, impedance matching, licensing, etc?

As long as you're not transmitting with it you won't have to worry about
impedance matching. If the radio has an external antenna jack all you'll
need is the right connector, some rg-58 coax cable, and, of course an
antenna. If you're talking about the marine band you can just get a marine
antenna that one might mount on a boat and mount it up on your roof.