Hi there,

My Fabia vRS is fitted with the original headunit and as of recently, the radio has started getting a lot of interference around buildings and trees. :confused: My first thought was the aerial but it seems fine. Anyone experienced similar problems?

Cheers

Well not had mine very long, but also noticed the radio signal is very poor :(

i even changed mine to a kenwood and the signal is still poo!!:thumbdwn:

The aerial base contains a small electrical circuit (balun circuit), which boosts reception. Mine suffered from water ingress & corrosion of the pcb components and subsequent dodgy reception. Got a replacement from a scrappy for £5, half hour to change, 22mm spanner required.

and its fixed it? good reception?

Had the same problem, had the aerial, the booster and the head unit replaced under warranty and it's still pants.

One thing that did help was turning LOC OFF in the settings, I did this after reading the manual letter by letter and it seems to have made a bit of a difference but it might just be psychological (like the car running better after a full clean and polish!!!)

I bought a Vrs yesterday, removed the factory unit (which worked fine ironically) and put in my existing JVC headunit. Everything works as it should except theres absolutely NO radio coverage at all! Not even a smidge.

Am going to bugger about with the settings in the headunit a bit first but am intrigued by the aerial booster circuitry.

Has anyone else had this and noticed an improvement by changing it?

...and yes the aerial is still connected to the back of my headunit.

:read:

Mines rubbish.

But I do have a beesting arial.

And an aftermarket headunit with radio booster.

Good job I dont listen to the radio.

I had the same problem. The ariel looked fine from the outside but when I took the twig off and looked at the base the rubber around where the twig screws in was slightly peeled back. After replacing the ariel base I dismantled the old one only to find it was so full of water that the electrics inside to do with boosting the signal were completely corroded! I think the new ariel base from Skoda was about £60.

For info my head unit is not the standard one. That was a broken tape blayer when I got the car so it now has a Pioneer CD unit with the extra ariel booster behind it so that power is fed to the bee sting on the roof. The ariel base buggered up with the water ingress with this installed. After fitting the new ariel base the reception is the best I have ever seen from any car. I think I would have to bury the car a mile down in a mine to loose signal!

I had the same problem. The ariel looked fine from the outside but when I took the twig off and looked at the base the rubber around where the twig screws in was slightly peeled back. After replacing the ariel base I dismantled the old one only to find it was so full of water that the electrics inside to do with boosting the signal were completely corroded! I think the new ariel base from Skoda was about £60.

and its fixed it? good reception?

yup

if your not using the factory fitted radio you may have to get a 12vdc supply to the antenna (the booster wont work without it)

have a look on ebay for the correct bits (dont just conect 12v to the antenna or you will need another new radio )

I went to Halfords in Leicester to get the required lead to supply 12V down the aerial lead to the antenna amplifier. Its very simple, it comes with a flying lead that attaches to the switched 12V feed for an amp in the stock loom (blue wire)

It improved the signal right up to the point that I slotted my headunit back into the dashboard. After that I'm back to square 1.

I was going to remove the circuit altogether and fit a new aerial hoping that the headunit would be able to pick up enough signal. When I get the time, I'll let you know the outcome...

Rob

:read:

if it worked before you pushed the radio back into the dash then take the radio out and make sure that nothing has shorted out or came loose

its a lot cheaper than a new antenna

Did exactly that when I got home, that wasn't the problem.

Unfortunately the problem may actually have been where I did the installation. It appears my mates driveway in Syston isn't the greatest for signal.

Last night on my way to Asda I picked up Radio1, 2 and the local dribble pretty well.

Suffice to say I didn't change anything when I took the unit out. The signal still isn't absolutely brilliant but at least it works now.

Rob