I have a Pioneer in-dash. Reception sucks. FM range is greatly diminished and AM is pretty much shot. Same thing happened when i put a newer non-bose factory in (although not as bad). I read somewhere about our cars having 2 antennas (first i am hearing of it) but i know it is a common issue. Has anyone ever found a fix to this problem?

 

I don't think we have 2 antennas (at least my 95 doesn't) cuz the "2nd antenna" is a copper strip along the windshield (my dad's pathfinder has it) and I don't see it on my windshield. are u sure you got the antenna hooked up right, if so maybe the antenna is only meant for bose too (that would suck ballz!)

 

Go to your local Radio Shack. I'm sure they'll have something to hook up to you antenna or radio to boost the reception.

 

same thing has happened to me. am is almost shot, and the fm is starting to act up. i got a Pioneer Premier DEH-850MP, and i had it installed from best buy. i took it to them today and they checked the wiring (plug it out and back in), and worst case scenario....the antenna. They wanted to charge me $25 for 15 mins to find the problem, and to replace the antenna about $100. ill see if that plugging did anything but if not imma have to get it done!

 

I doubt a new ant is going to do it, unless it is twice as long. was hoping maybe a better grounding or something could fix it.

 

ill just buy a new antenna from ebay, not the whole mast. i was told it could be due to grounding, rust/corrosion, or probably the radio itself??

 

I don't know about non bose systems, but if you have Bose, there are two antennas. the embedded one is in the rear glass. It's called a dual diversity antenna. Between the two antennas, the HU will automatically select the ant. which is pulling in a better signal. I had a problem with stations rapidly cutting in and out. Couldn't figure out what was going on until one day I opened up my trunk w/ the radio on. as soon as the trunk was cracked, the stations were all fine. I found that there was some kind of short in the cluster of wires that runs along the left side trunk hinge. i never got around to testing for the bad wire. I shook / twisted the cluster around a little, and somehow that's fixed it ever since. I'm guessing that there must be some kind of wire that's related to the antenna within that cluster.

 

http://www.jatan.net/tsbs/044762.pdf

I am going ot try it tomorrow!! wish me luck.

 

Get an amplified antenna.

The stock HU has good sensitivity unlike most after market units.

 

update????

 

Pretty intresting. I dont have an antenna, and have pretty good reception. One thing you can do is get xm, or sirius radio.. hehe..

 

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My first 95 had a pioneer aftermarket and stock antenna and got great recption. Our 97 has the antenna broken off and fm works great, Am gets nothing over 50 miles away but I'll bet when I get the antenna replace it will work great. Must be something wrong somewhere.

 

Make sure the power antenna wire is connected. MANY shops miss this. It's the solid blue wire on the aftermarket harnesses.

 

Have a similar problem. My radio stations work fine but just one station cuts in and out sometimes (z100).

What could cause this?

 

My antenna stoped working a while back. The motor would run but the mast would not retract. I disconn'ed the antenna. I still get most stations (the strong ones anyway). I also have an aftermarket radio. The mast will probably stay permanently retracted until I get the car painted. I'll take the antenna out and fill that hole in.

 

there is 2 antennas... if u have bose it actually will use both by sensing which signal is higher between the two... by the way that does not work with a aftermarket unit

 

Okay, this is how to get better radio reception:







-Go to Best Buy and tell them you want SIRIUS or XM radio..

 

best buy = the gay....

 

Have you ever worked there?

 

My power antenna was shot, didn't go up and down, and the reception coax wire was barely attached to the unit. I hate power antennas so I made my own shorty antenna using existing power antenna parts and an uinversal antenna kit.

The new antenna is about a foot long and I get no better reception then I did why my broken power antenna. The car has an aftermarket (crap) acoutic deck in it. I made a grouding cable from the antenna's main body and connected it to a bolt in the trunk to make sure it was grounded well.

Any idea's why my reception sucks?

 

To those that state their antenna does not go up and down..

are you SURE the power antenna lead is connected if you have an aftermarket deck?

 

as for the link i posted, i am going to try it today, (was too busy).

 

DIDN'T notice that second antenna strip in the back until you mentioned it, i thought it was part of the defogger

 

For me, it's probably a mechanical issue like the plastic strip probably just broken. My antenna always worked.

 

yea for the worst 2 years of my life.... but i milked that discount like nobody else... i used it more than anybody else had in the past 10 years of working there....

 

antenna amplifier i think radio shack has them

 

pics????
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look at your back glass. look at the defogger lines. right above those lines you will see some lines that do not go straight across. they cut down left etc. that is the other antenna. I have a non-bose SE and i have them so i am sure everyone does.

 

Well im part-time and I work in media, so I pretty much love it.

 

so the other day i needed to charge my cell phone (w810i) in the car, and when i plugged it in, the static came back on fm. i unplugged it and the static was gone, and i did that for a few times and that's whats causing the static. It sounds more like air in the back round, and the voice dims away a little. But the am has always been staticy, and even when i plugged in the stock radio back then, there was still static. Might i have to change the antenna mast?

 

i work at best buy, car installation. the discount is awsome, it makes me never want buy something there again with out the discount. it is pretty gay, i get nooooooooooooooo hours

 

I dont know how you live in car audio.. It's the most boring place in the store IMO. Even if you're in the installation bay.

 

Hey I'm new in this forum. Just wanted to introduce myself. My antennae is jammed (it will not extend) and I have no reception at all. Can anyone help me with this?