bad reception

[Crashking 10+ year member]

lately in orlando the reception of the radio stations has declined, not only in my truck, but my moms van and also my home stereo

what can i install on my sony cdx m800 in my truck so that it can get a better reception and not just boost the reception by a certain amount of db.... on all of the radio's that i have played it gets static sometimes or plays just fine... either depends on the position of the vehicle or where i am located around the home system

i don't want to be stuck listening to cd's all the time... then i'll never hear the radio and new songs that might pop-up

note: i did a search... didn't see much for it

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[aphinney 10+ year member]

get XM

 

[Crashking 10+ year member]

get XM

ehhhh... something about having to pay monthly to have a ugly growth on the outside of the vehicle doesnt appeal to me... if that's my only answer then i will listen to cd's

 

[strong*I*bumpin 10+ year member]

get XM

its a conspiracy,yeah!

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

a better antena, boosters dont work with digital tuners.

 

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

Strip (about a 1/2") and tape a loooong piece of 16-20ga wire to the antenna connector. Run it behind the dash, in the door jambs, around the windsheild molding, etc...

Run it as long as you can hide it. This will greatly increase your reception. Works everytime.

Work's fine on my sister's Sony HU & My wife's Pioneer.

Costs

-Nick

 

[Crashking 10+ year member]

definitly don't want a bigger antenna... actually want to go with a smaller billet aluminum one

Strip (about a 1/2") and tape a loooong piece of 16-20ga wire to the antenna connector. Run it behind the dash, in the door jambs, around the windsheild molding, etc...
Run it as long as you can hide it. This will greatly increase your reception. Works everytime.

Work's fine on my sister's Sony HU & My wife's Pioneer.

Costs

-Nick

definitly sounds like a cheaper alternative than xm!, will have to see about doing that when i get to wiring the sub in

 

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

definitly don't want a bigger antenna... actually want to go with a smaller billet aluminum one
definitly sounds like a cheaper alternative than xm!, will have to see about doing that when i get to wiring the sub in

Its the exact same concept as an antenna booster You can get from JC Whitney for $15-20, except this way doesn't have the handy "boot" to plug onto the stock lead.

As I said, it's worked for me a couple times. The Olds ALero's have "in the glass" antennas... this helped her greatly.

-Nick

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

^^^ right concept...

lately in orlando the reception of the radio stations has declined, not only in my truck, but my moms van and also my home stereo

Weather has some effects on reception, but it's usually short-lived.

The copper strap idea is essentially providing your antenna with the other half it's electrically "missing" - making a quarter-wavelength vertical into a half-wave dipole. Ideally, you'd want this to be a quarter-wavelength long (around 2 and a third feet for FM broadcast) but whatever's a handy length should work.

boosters dont work with digital tuners.

They don't work period - boosters simply raise the signal level, but what they don't do is raise the S/N level to help you bring weaker stations out of the mud. Only higher antenna gain can do that, which you aren't going to easily get mobile.

If you really want to get better reception (and adding the extra element described above doesn't help enough), I'd say get an aftermarket scanner antenna that covers the FM band, and mount it on your roof with a hole mount for excellent grounding, but if you consider an XM antenna to be an "ugly growth" than it would be too big for you.

 

[Bigrick31 10+ year member]

definitely aluminum foil that should fix your reception problems

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Preferably big chunks of it outside the car //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Crashking 10+ year member]

lol i think i'll just run a cable from all the radio stations into my truck... seems to be the best idea so far //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

soooooo running the small guage (large number) wire will or will not work for my head unit???? lol... i'm willin to try anything that's pretty cheap and doesnt require drilling holes on the outside of my truck

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

It'll work.

 

[Crashking 10+ year member]

It'll work.

cool... if not aluminum foil is my friend.... lmao

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

...doesnt require drilling holes on the outside of my truck

C'mon, you haven't lived until you've taken a 2" hole saw to the outside panels of your truck //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif actually, that was one of the scariest things I've done, lol...