Ive recently bought a 2010 1.4 TDI fabia & love the car, but have noticed how poor the radio reception is on FM sometimes here in the hills of N wales, & AM is non existent so listening to five live is a complete no no

 

Is there a way of improving reception a bit, or perhaps fitting a better roof aerial or amplifier?

Do you know if the windscreen has been replaced on the car?? There's another aerial embedded in the screen! It's called the 'Diversity Aerial' and it helps improve the signal due to the normal aerial on the roof being tiny!!

 

If you can see a very faint black line in the center of the screen from top to near bottom (an I mean very faint) then it's there! if you can't see one then the screen has been replaced with a cheaper screen without the 'Diversity Aerial'

nia, the usual problem that causes this on a Fabia is the failure of the aerial signal amplifier at the base of the aerial on the roof. It sometimes gets water in it which affects the radio reception. It's a well known issue not just on Skoda Fabias but on many different makes of car. I don't think there is a screen diversity aerial on your car. I have had two Fabia Estates and neither has had one. However, it may be a later model 'improvement'. The size of the aerial on the roof has almost nothing to do with the strength of signal captured these days due to the huge number of windings in the aerial and the amplifier which makes that 'tiny' aerial effectively about 20ft high. This signal amplifier can be quite easily replaced and is accessed from inside the car above the headlining. So there is some fiddling about to do.  Of course, there are some areas where reception is just not good due to geograhic issues and no amount of fiddling will make it completely better.

Hmmmm just noticed you said 2010 Fabia, maybe won't have the Diversity then, my 2013 Greenline II Estate does!! it's only noticeable in bright sunlight!

Right, that's interesting Simon. However, it's very unlikely to be a fault with that diversity aerial if anyone has one. It's nearly always the amplifier. Of course, nia should try retuning his radio before doing anything and of course check all the plugs to it especially the aerial. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Edited 19 March, 201610 yr by Estate Man

Thanks Estate Man. I had my Fabia from new in 2009 and the radio used to be perfect then it sudenly wouldn't pick up a clear signal and your reply seems to cover it so I will give it a go.

Actually the aerial has been through bad times but the loss did not coincide with any of the incidents and I did not realise there was a signal amplifier at the base of the aerial inside the car so I did not pick up on it. I had the aerial, which swivels down, at half mast after my garage door lintel caught on it and at some point a monkey at Longlete tried to bite it off at the base but it carried on working. The damage must have left a small hole and water must have got in. Thanks again

Where can you buy the new signal amplifier?

Does it have to be a Skoda dealership?

Does it have a make and model number?

I Googled for "Skoda Fabia 2 aerial signal amplifier" and it was not clear what I should be buying.

Thanks

Hmmmm just noticed you said 2010 Fabia, maybe won't have the Diversity then, my 2013 Greenline II Estate does!! it's only noticeable in bright sunlight!

 

So does my 2013. 

 

I thought it was on all Fabia's, but maybe not... 

+1 2013 Combi

Cheers for the replies. Ive tried re-tuning the radio but the signals ok on some FM stations but I cant get radio 5 at all. 

I used to get more stations in my old Mk3 so I was assuming it was the aerial

 

Could I test for power to the base with the headliner dropped down from the hatch?

 

Ive seen some later fabias with a shorter more solid looking aerial than mine & was wondering if they were aftermarket or not

Mines the bee sting type seen on most vw's since the 90's (with the spiral wire visible around the outside of the mast) & the skoda ones Ive seen seem about half the length but with a solid stem

Cheers

Mike

My Wife's 2009 Fabia 1 (Poverty spec Fabia II Hatch) has the Looooong roof mounted aerial with the spiral of wire round it! Think that's the standard of the time!!!

 

The Short stubby 'fat' aerial on the roof is usually pared with the 'diversity' aerial I mentioned earlier (that's what's on my baby)!! Think it's a 2013 Fabia II 'Face-lift' update only!!

Edited 20 March, 201610 yr by Simoneale1973

Ah that makes sense! I saw a 2013 fabia yesterday with the shorter type & was wondering why mine was different

 

Would mine deffo be amplified I wonder, with it being fairly base spec?

 

Has anyone fitted another makers brand of amplified aerial to their car from say a Honda or Renault?

Cheers for the replies. Ive tried re-tuning the radio but the signals ok on some FM stations but I cant get radio 5 at all. 

I used to get more stations in my old Mk3 so I was assuming it was the aerials

 

Could I test for power to the base with the headliner dropped down from the hatch?

 

Ive seen some later fabias with a shorter more solid looking aerial than mine & was wondering if they were aftermarket or not

Mines the bee sting type seen on most vw's since the 90's (with the spiral wire visible around the outside of the mast) & the skoda ones Ive seen seem about half the length but with a solid stem

Cheers

Mike

If you want Radio 5, you're lucky you don't have a Swing radio. It has only got FM.

My March 2012 Elegance Estate has the "diversity" aerial and the shorter roof aerial.

Talking of the 'diversity' aerial, be aware that if you have a windscreen replaced with the cheaper non Škoda glass it'll have a much thicker aerial embedded in the glass which in my case didn't work very well. I complained to my insurance (and Auto-glass) and eventually got a genuine windscreen fitted which thankfully improved the reception. Also, I see that the Mk III Fabia doesn't have the diversity aerial anymore, but the roof aerial is slightly longer and helically wound. I wonder if this could be retro fitted to help improve reception on the Mk II?

On 21/03/2016 at 18:54, AVTUR said:

Talking of the 'diversity' aerial, be aware that if you have a windscreen replaced with the cheaper non Škoda glass it'll have a much thicker aerial embedded in the glass which in my case didn't work very well. I complained to my insurance (and Auto-glass) and eventually got a genuine windscreen fitted which thankfully improved the reception. Also, I see that the Mk III Fabia doesn't have the diversity aerial anymore, but the roof aerial is slightly longer and helically wound. I wonder if this could be retro fitted to help improve reception on the Mk II?

 

interesting, how do you know if you have this aerial in the windscreen?  I have the short stubby one on the roof, 2014 combi, don't have DAB but considered getting a retro-fit kit because the FM reception has recently gone poor in valley areas.

On 31/05/2018 at 08:32, globalste said:

 

interesting, how do you know if you have this aerial in the windscreen?  I have the short stubby one on the roof, 2014 combi, don't have DAB but considered getting a retro-fit kit because the FM reception has recently gone poor in valley areas.

Check you windscreen from all angles, and different lighting situations... You should 'just' see a thin black line running from top to bottom of the screen in the middle of the screen (behind the rear mirror) it's quite hard to see sometimes, though my Dashcam see's mine from the inside!

Ah ok thanks, so if I’ve had a windscreen replaced I wonder how I find out if it’s a correct one or not?  Eg my replacement one doesn’t have the thin aerial in it, but should it or shouldn’t it?

As a matter of interest which connection is for the windscreen antenna on the back of a Swing radio? Thanks in advance.