I usually listen to SD music via Media but when I sometimes go to Radio and listen to a strong AM station I have to wind the volume up.

The problem is that if I go back to Media the volume is way too loud and scares the tripe out of SWMBO.

To me the handbook is awful in that it seems to have been written by a techy who thinks we are all members of the iGen.

.........and another thing, why do I have to keep manually select 'connect' every time the signal temporarily drops out whilst driving.....to me it should do it automatically?!

Can't answer about AM as I never listen to anything on that in the UK, just FM, but the level between FM and the SD card hardly varies. Occasionally there appears to be some difference between "albums" on the SD card, but I put this down to the recording level of the original download or CD.

 

Never seen the "connect" message on FM; where does it appear?

 

(AM is very old fashioned now, here in the old country! Some of us, but not around here, are going digital!!)

Graham, in the wide brown land AM can be heard for hundreds of kms from a strong tx as opposed to FM which is line of sight and basically useless over a range of hills unless retransmitted.

~24 million people for a vast continent with most near the coast means it will be a while before digital radios become the standard in car radios I guess, they're not all that common in the house yet either.

Strangely things seem to change after say, stopping for fuel which seems odd in that volume can sometimes act normally.

It definitely isn't related to the particular track being played, the levels are way out.

Re 'connect' relates to the MFD when the phone signal drops out but does not reconnect automatically, instead relying on the driver to reconnect using the right 'scroll' wheel which means you may not realise you are no longer able to receive a call if you miss the warning.

Why doesn't it do it automatically as it does when you first start the car. To me that doesn't make sense.

It hasn't had a first service yet so I'll take it up then with a techy.

Good point about the "brown" distances!! Not something we get a problem with back in the "old country". Around here even FM can be dodgy. I can be listening to Radio 2 all the back from Cardiff and then just before i get home, for a 3 miles section, at night I get Radio Eiriean, all the way from Ireland! as for digital, even the BBC say we are unlikely to ever get it here.

 

In the UK the few stations that are on AM don't seem  to "auto-tune" either. That only happens on FM. Don't know whether that is the unit or the station.

 

I was out in the car earlier and note that tracks recorded on the SD card in .wma format are louder than the .mp3 ones. 

The Bolero surprises me in that it seems you can only pre-set 6 stations in total as opposed to 6 AM and at least 6 FM in every other car I've had.

What the young aussie says about fm, am. is true, being a c.b fanatic  the am signal is very powerfull against the f.m band, hence all the cheap mobile c.bs available here are on the f.m band. i.e a very short range, approx. only 15miles away, compared with c.b on a.m band approx. 40-50miles away.The good ol guverment band mobile cb on am, they were supposed to interfear with peoples tvs.

Young Aussie ......sigh

If only.

Well I discovered something more about the Bolero yesterday.

When I went from Media to Radio and found the AM station could barely be heard, I selected an FM station and it was perfect for levels so I went back to the AM station and it was perfect also!

My Bolero is just plain weird to me.

Hi Ryeman.  I have exactly the same problem with my Bolero.  It is driving us mad!  Your last post is the current issue with have with our Yeti.  I’ve not had the chance to take it into the dealer yet but will let you know how I get on.

Hi Ryeman.  I have exactly the same problem with my Bolero.  It is driving us mad!  Your last post is the current issue with have with our Yeti.  I’ve not had the chance to take it into the dealer yet but will let you know how I get on.

Many thanks, I was starting to think I was a complete muppet.

Did selecting FM then going back to AM bring the volume up?

Yes! Alternatively I turn the radio off and on. Not ideal. Now I know that someone else has the same problem I will visit my local dealer this week and see what they say. I was starting to think that it was something I was doing!

I agree, I'm not sure that anything works consistently or predictably.....truly weird!

'connect' relates to the MFD when the phone signal drops out but does not reconnect automatically, instead relying on the driver to reconnect using the right 'scroll' wheel which means you may not realise you are no longer able to receive a call if you miss the warning.

Why doesn't it do it automatically as it does when you first start the car. To me that doesn't make sense.

It hasn't had a first service yet so I'll take it up then with a techy.

 

I think the reason it doesn't reconnect is basically because it shouldn't spontaneously disconnect in the first place.  The unsolicited disconnection indicates that the phone and the BT module have fallen out over something, and one or the other then regards the connection is unusable until they're told my the user to stop squabbling and be friends again.

 

I had precisely this problem with my Samsung feature phone.  I've since used a Blackberry and three Android smartphones (two Motorola and one Sony) in the Yeti with no recurrence of the probelm.  The Motorolas and the Sony have all maintained the BT connection for drives of several hours' duration.

 

Bottom line is, I think, that the problem is with the phone rather than the BT module.  That may not be what you want to hear - although it could be a good excuse to buy a shiny new phone!

 

I doubt whether doing anything to the Bolero will make a difference.  It's the BT module under the driver's seat that connects to the phone and AFAIK there's no way to update the firmware on that without swapping it out completely.

 

(One question: have you disabled the "bong" when the BT module connects to and disconnects from a phone?  If not then it should "bong" when the BT connection drops unexpectedly.)

Edited 18 June, 201412 yr by ejstubbs

Unfortunately my S3 is pretty new but maybe it needs an update.

I don't recall any 'bong' as the signal drops out.

The Bolero has its own issues with volume and phone behaviour.