Morning,

Unfortunately i'm a Liverpool fan, whilst driving home last night i was desperately trying to listen to the last part of the match but the reception was sooo bad.

Its a '54 Fabia VRS which has an Alpine head-unit, when i fitted the head-unit i put in the aerial booster as most people recommended, but reception is still very poor.

Can anyone suggest ways i can improve reception for MW?

Thanks,

Matt

do you have xenions? ive found when you have other electrical devices on like lights, blowers that this interferes with the reception. it might be worth going to maplins and seeing if they have some bits for reducing radio interference (cant remember what the bit is called off hand) .

MW is really only going to be enhanced by a longer aerial.

See if you can find a bit that screws in of a length tuned to MW that can also do FM.

AM signals can travel long distances, which means that fewer transmitters are needed and most stations need only one frequency - or two in the case of BBC Radio Five Live. However, signals can be weakened by obstructions such as large buildings or hills. Reception quality can vary from place to place, and also - because of differences in the atmosphere - from day to night. You may get good, clear reception during the day, but after sunset the signal may fade or become distorted. Signals travel further at night, so you may also get interference from other AM transmitters further away. In addition, AM signals can be affected by electrical interference from sources such as street lamps, flashing signs and power lines. This will produce crackling noises.

In some cars the aerial must be matched to the radio for good MW and LW reception. You can do this by tuning the radio to a weak MW station and adjusting the radio's aerial trimmer. Consult the manufacturer's manual to find the location of the aerial trimmer.

Lifted from Auntie.

Rgs

t hought mw was done by a small ferrite rod aerial and not the fm aerial which is tuned for VHF as opposed to MHZ think you be better off looking for some resistors to put on the back of the stereo personally.

Ferrite Rods are great for AM, but you try getting hold of one these days :(

maplins

On a serious note see if maplins do a compressor to go on the power at the back of the stereo, this should stop the interefenerce when the car is running.

Modern Car radios do not have a ferrite rod type of aerial. They rely on the medium ,long wave ,and VHF all using the rod type car aerial. The first car radios of old did have a ferrite rod ,which had an extra coil which was connected to a rod type aerial. A car radio with a ferrite rod aerial fitted would be unable to receive any signals because the metal car ,and radio case would screen the signal.

You will not find any trimmer which can be adjusted in a modern radio .The electronic circuit is designed to be as good as it can be to receive any signals from the aerial. I believe its down to 'try it and see' to find a car radio which works well in your car. My Fabia still has its original Radio (Skoda labelled ,Grundig made ) which has worked extremely well for eight years. Reading previous posts it seems problems start when a different radio is fitted.

hmmm...thanks for responses. i'm aware that the signal round here isn't the best and use of differing aerials/boosters. i'm a qualified signals operator, but we normally just boost the power.

matt

only problem with boosting the power is you will/can boost the interference/.

that's why for TV, best to have an amplified ariel than a booster at the TV end...does the same apply for radio in a car?

cheers

mf

that's why for TV, best to have an amplified ariel than a booster at the TV end...does the same apply for radio in a car?

cheers

mf

Effectivley yes, but repace the term 'amplified' aerial with 'tuned' aerial.

you basically need something that is the right size and shape to pick up signals in a specified frequency band (right shape for right hole if you like). The better that is, the better your reception and lack of noise. Therefore the more you boost it, the more you get signal rather than noise.

The trouble is of course, that the shapes and designs of FM vs AM aerials are different. Even AM aerials for LW / MW / SW are different by the nature of the wavelength they are trying to pickup.

Rgs

Chris

With the original fabia radio, the amplifier for the aerial is in the base of the antenna. The OEM symphony HU powered this by supplying the power down the coax. Your alpine unit cannot power the amplifier, so you add a booster to the aerial coax further down the cable. This means that the signal that is amplified is less clean than the oem amp at the base of the aerial.