crap radio reception

[HG2K5]

was on the motorway this morning, on my way to Kilmarnock if anyone knows it, its about 20-ish miles from where I live, was listening to Rock radio, not long before I came off the a77/m77 the sound started to go all crackly and jumpy and sometimes barely audible like happens if your listening to say a local station and are getting out of range of it, but IIRC the station above is a Scottish national station, although radio 1 etc. still worked fine.

04 plate Clio with standard cd player, speakers + aerial

then after I'd removed the standard aerial and fitted the stubby civic type r aerial in the Honda dealers car park, put Real radio on, and it did exactly as the above other station did, the display changed from "REAL" to "100.3" and the AF bit on the display kept flashing, then just as I joined the A77/M77 back TO Glasgow the reception got spot on again and the display went back to normal. again IIRC real radio is also a Scottish national radio station

both stations and every other 1 I listen to are spot on perfect reception now even with the stubby Type R aerial fitted, any ideas whats causing the pish reception, I've no doubt if I repeated the journey at the exact same places the reception would start f**king up again.

 

[Da]

bad connections/ground under the aerial base is usually the cause. The only way to know is removing the roof lining and have a look.

 

[Sime388]

AF is Auto Frequency btw

 

[HG2K5]

AF is Auto Frequency btw

what does that mean and what does it do?

 

[BrianR]

It means Alternative Frequency, its an RDS feature (on some sets) that checks the signal strength and looks for the same station broadcasting on a different networked frequency, with a better signal, and re-tunes your set.

In theory if you tuned to Radio 1 in Kilmarnoch, you could drive to Truro and never loose the station, though personally i would rather stick hot bricks in my Y fronts than listen to Chris Moyles, but whatever turns you on (or in my case, Off)

Local Radio doesn't always have an AF, so it looks for other stations playing the same type of music if you have PTY selected.

 

[Andy_con]

my 182 has a rubbish radio, i can only pick up two stations

 

[Gaz_]

mines just gone really crap since thursday. Checked the connection on the back of the H/U, thats ok..... and nobody has pinched the aerial lol, so whats going on? (Its a kenwood KDC-W5534U)

 

[davejm123]

^^ mines gone crap too! after i fitted a new HU, checked all the connections a few times and still rubbish

 

[Gaz_]

its weird, the H/U been fitted sice june and its been fine, annoying

 

[BrianR]

Poor radio reception that has suddenly happened is almost certainly down to the antenna.

I assume its Clio roof mount antennae under discussion.

The most common faults are, corrosion on the screw where the mast fits the base.

Corrosion where the base of the antenna makes contact with the body of the car, under the headlining.

Water in the coax cable or connectors.

The first two are easy, clean them up by wire brushing until you can see shiny metal, tighten and rub some petroleum gel round to stop recurrence.

DONT use WD40 its no good for electrical repairs.

If the coax is water logged then its replacement, only option.

Front mount antennae like the 172/V6 are easy, remove the panel by the interior light and scrape away the corrosion.

The rear mounted 182 type is a little more tricky, you need to drop the headlining. Clean hands and take your time.

If you suspect the antenna but cant see an obvious fault, try pulling the set remove the antenna plug and run a piece of wire from the antenna socket to outside the car as a temporary antenna and see if the reception improves, if it does, its new antenna time.

 

[Gaz_]

Not what i wanted to hear lol

I did check the threads on the base/screw and they looked ok although a clean up won't harm i suppose..... Pulling out/down the rooflining on these cars is a big no no in my experience (been there before).... although i will try running a coax temp to see what happens.

 

[BrianR]

Not what i wanted to hear lol

I did check the threads on the base/screw and they looked ok although a clean up won't harm i suppose..... Pulling out/down the rooflining on these cars is a big no no in my experience (been there before).... although i will try running a coax temp to see what happens.

Don't use coax as a temp antenna, the screen will defeat the object, just a piece of wire or another mast antenna with coax attached.

Get that headlining down........whats the matter with ya!

 

[Gaz_]

Don't use coax as a temp antenna, the screen will defeat the object, just a piece of wire or another mast antenna with coax attached.

Cheers, i will have a gander when/if the weather ever improves

Get that headlining down........whats the matter with ya!

*shudders at the thought*