Radio Reception?
02-13-2005, 09:24 AM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 107
Radio Reception?
I was wondering if others are having the same problem as my 04 Max has? I get awful radio reception. My 95 Max SE was 100% better than my new ride. I now can only pick up stations clear from a very close range and static if there is any distance to the station. Nissan tells me this is due to the in glass antenna, my wife's 04 Accord has the same thing with a great signal 
. I know that XM or Sirius would solve this problem my car is pre-wired, but that is gonna cost me a chunk to install and a monthly bill to boot!!!!
. I know that XM or Sirius would solve this problem my car is pre-wired, but that is gonna cost me a chunk to install and a monthly bill to boot!!!!
02-13-2005, 05:49 PM
#2
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 880
Baloney. The reception in my Max is excellent. In fact, I've driven it cross-country twice and I've found it pulls in distant stations as well as any car I've had. Don't buy the "antenna in glass" huey. Your Max should perform just fine, and you need to push the dealer to fix it. If all else fails, take it to a good radio shop that does car sound and let them diagnose it for you.
Mike
Mike
02-13-2005, 08:43 PM
#3
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 107
Originally Posted by Mike_TX
Baloney. The reception in my Max is excellent. In fact, I've driven it cross-country twice and I've found it pulls in distant stations as well as any car I've had. Don't buy the "antenna in glass" huey. Your Max should perform just fine, and you need to push the dealer to fix it. If all else fails, take it to a good radio shop that does car sound and let them diagnose it for you.
Mike
Mike
02-14-2005, 07:45 PM
#7
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 599
Do you use a cell phone charger in the car? if so try upluging it for the ride. Things like that are really dirty. They cause a ton of noise on the ground/power which most definately effects the radio reception. See if that helps. It's a start! Good luck!
I know this helped improve my reception. TRY IT! I am still trying to figure out a way to isolate the charger so it doesn't create line noise.
I know this helped improve my reception. TRY IT! I am still trying to figure out a way to isolate the charger so it doesn't create line noise.
02-14-2005, 09:20 PM
#8
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 107
Originally Posted by msoemax
Do you use a cell phone charger in the car? if so try upluging it for the ride. Things like that are really dirty. They cause a ton of noise on the ground/power which most definately effects the radio reception. See if that helps. It's a start! Good luck!
I know this helped improve my reception. TRY IT! I am still trying to figure out a way to isolate the charger so it doesn't create line noise.
I know this helped improve my reception. TRY IT! I am still trying to figure out a way to isolate the charger so it doesn't create line noise.
No other power source is being used like a cell phone charger or Radar Det. Now I am in somewhat of a mountain area but compared to my 95 Max or any other car for that matter it is horrible. I know people in flat areas like Florida have better reception picking up many stations, but this is the worst reception of any car I have ever been in. Well with the exception of one without an antenna! Yes to the other fellow I am dying to get mine hooked up to Sat. Radio but heck that is going to cost a chunk of change. Thanks everyone for the input.
BTW it is just fine with AM Reception.
02-15-2005, 12:23 AM
#9
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: a meadow south of Atlanta
Posts: 8,143
brewboy13 - I have no more trouble with my 6th gen radio reception than any other 'antenna in windshield' vehicle. Surprisingly, it is better than the reception in my wife's Ranger, which has a raised metal antenna.
Generally speaking, however, radio reception ranges from poor to very poor in hilly or mountainous terrain, and northeast Alabama is exactly that. Gadsden has lots of hills and ridges around it.
I have felt for years that I don't seem to get quite as good reception in vehicles with 'antenna in windshield' as I did in olden-day vehicles with raised metal antennas.
I think part of that problem may be that most everywhere I drove half a century ago was in what one would now consider 'open country'. These days, however, there are high tension power lines, cell phone towers, microwave relay towers, power plants, factorys, stores with neon lights, radar, TV transmission towers, lots more radio stations, traffic lights, many more vehicles, etc, etc, almost anywhere one goes. Electronics are now everywhere, and the air is saturated with 'noise'.
But no, the 6th gen Maxima radio reception seems to suffer from this noise pollution no more than other radios I have had in recent vehicles.
Generally speaking, however, radio reception ranges from poor to very poor in hilly or mountainous terrain, and northeast Alabama is exactly that. Gadsden has lots of hills and ridges around it.
I have felt for years that I don't seem to get quite as good reception in vehicles with 'antenna in windshield' as I did in olden-day vehicles with raised metal antennas.
I think part of that problem may be that most everywhere I drove half a century ago was in what one would now consider 'open country'. These days, however, there are high tension power lines, cell phone towers, microwave relay towers, power plants, factorys, stores with neon lights, radar, TV transmission towers, lots more radio stations, traffic lights, many more vehicles, etc, etc, almost anywhere one goes. Electronics are now everywhere, and the air is saturated with 'noise'.
But no, the 6th gen Maxima radio reception seems to suffer from this noise pollution no more than other radios I have had in recent vehicles.
02-15-2005, 12:36 AM
#10
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 136
I have a 5th gen max with the in-glass antenna and the receptions sucks. But what was really strange is when I covered the child-seat brackets on the rear deck, it improved. I'm not sure why, and I don't know if it's even related.
02-15-2005, 08:57 PM
#11
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 107
Originally Posted by lightonthehill
brewboy13 -
Generally speaking, however, radio reception ranges from poor to very poor in hilly or mountainous terrain, and northeast Alabama is exactly that. Gadsden has lots of hills and ridges around it.
.
Generally speaking, however, radio reception ranges from poor to very poor in hilly or mountainous terrain, and northeast Alabama is exactly that. Gadsden has lots of hills and ridges around it.
.
I have lived here all my life and this is by far the worst recption of any vehicle that I have been in around here. I realize we are somewhat limited due to the area but still it seems pretty weak. I can normally pick up all Birmingham stations (45-50 miles away) no problem but not in this car. Also my wife's Accord has the in glass antenna and it picks up stations great. I guess mine may be worse than others or it just maybe the new Max is not great for this area. I am going to to go the dealer and see what they may can dig into.
12-07-2005, 08:14 AM
#12
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 121
after market anttena adaptor
i didn't noticed radio reception problem until I put in an aftermarket HU which called for an attenna adaptor that converts the 2 pin out from my 03 Max to the singe pin into the HU. I've noticed the union of the 2 pin plug to the adaptors recepticles are very suseptable to noice interference. I've tried plugging it in reverse to swtich the contact pin and it got some what better. However I'm still getting lots of static noice, especially from distant stations and also stations I used to get fine with factory HU. There is also an antenna booster wire attached to the car's attena cable that is supposed to be hooked up to the HU's "anttena remote" wire. I will look into their connections. But so far I can not enjoy the radio any more.
12-07-2005, 08:33 AM
#13
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Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 2,085
Originally Posted by WinterC
I have to agree with the original post. My reception is sub-par compared to my old 98 SE with power antena.
I'll live with it. It's better than having the antenna go up and down. that's old school.
12-07-2005, 09:23 AM
#15
my reception
blowss a$$ chunks hardcore.!!!!
It had mediocre reception prior to tinting, now it just blows. Compared to our 99 Boneville with UP/DOWN antenna the max blows. Need to find a remote antenna thingy with a booster. I used to have one in the ghetto old olds 88 Royale. That thing picked upi everything. Even across lake Ontario i would get rochester channels. NO MORE
Kam
It had mediocre reception prior to tinting, now it just blows. Compared to our 99 Boneville with UP/DOWN antenna the max blows. Need to find a remote antenna thingy with a booster. I used to have one in the ghetto old olds 88 Royale. That thing picked upi everything. Even across lake Ontario i would get rochester channels. NO MORE
Kam
12-07-2005, 10:41 AM
#17
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: MN
Posts: 191
Just a thought:
Those that get bad reception, there is TSB 05106 that deals with static in the speakers when a GSM type phone is on operation. It only covers non Bose systems.
http://nissanhelp.com/Bulletins/Maxima/2005/1.htm
Those that get bad reception, there is TSB 05106 that deals with static in the speakers when a GSM type phone is on operation. It only covers non Bose systems.
http://nissanhelp.com/Bulletins/Maxima/2005/1.htm
12-07-2005, 11:31 AM
#19
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Posts: 1,994
Originally Posted by lightonthehill
Generally speaking, however, radio reception ranges from poor to very poor in hilly or mountainous terrain, and northeast Alabama is exactly that. Gadsden has lots of hills and ridges around it.
When in the mountains I either listen to CDs or AM radio and don't even try getting FM stations. When FM stations do come in, they don't last long when you are driving.
12-07-2005, 06:52 PM
#22
Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 54
Originally Posted by msoemax
Do you use a cell phone charger in the car? if so try upluging it for the ride. Things like that are really dirty. They cause a ton of noise on the ground/power which most definately effects the radio reception. See if that helps. It's a start! Good luck!
I know this helped improve my reception. TRY IT! I am still trying to figure out a way to isolate the charger so it doesn't create line noise.
I know this helped improve my reception. TRY IT! I am still trying to figure out a way to isolate the charger so it doesn't create line noise.
12-07-2005, 08:09 PM
#23
Donating Maxima.org Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 54
3M makes a great tint that is non-metalized and has a 4 year warranty if it turns purple or bubbles. They also claim you can wash it with any type of window cleaner. It is kind of expensive but worth it in the long run.
12-12-2005, 08:12 PM
#25
Donating Maxima.org Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 108
I have ****ty reception as well. I didn't know the tint had anything to do with it. I got it tinted right away so I don't know if it was bad before. All I know is that my wife's Rav4 gets like 400 more stations than my max 
12-13-2005, 12:09 PM
#27
Supporting Maxima.org Member
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 53
I agree with the original poster as well. The reception does seem to be significantly worse in my max than in other vehicles I have owned. However, all my other vehicles have had external antennas. I notice even in flat open country, Kansas, Nebraska, etc. the reception range is very limited. In other vehicles I've been able to receive WBAP and KRLD out of Dallas well into Oklahoma and as far as Kansas at night but not with the Max.
12-13-2005, 12:21 PM
#28
Originally Posted by SmokeMaximus
whoever has there car tinted with metalized tint it screws your radio reception. I did and now my stereo sucks. I will be adding a aftermarket hidden antenna
12-15-2005, 06:39 AM
#30
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 121
no more static in radio
those of ya that has an AM head unite in the 5th gen, make sure your head unit is on the SAME ground as the antenna instead of grounding from HU to chassis; black ground wire in the Metra harness doesn't count since there is no connection through the factory harness!
I took the ground wire from the HU and bolted it to the screw hole on the back of the head unit itself as that is the same ground the power antenna is hooked up to and the factory wiring doesn't provide GND to the radio therefore the radio is grounded through the power antenna.
I took the ground wire from the HU and bolted it to the screw hole on the back of the head unit itself as that is the same ground the power antenna is hooked up to and the factory wiring doesn't provide GND to the radio therefore the radio is grounded through the power antenna.
12-15-2005, 08:22 AM
#33
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 121
i fixed my reception problem
Originally Posted by myer84
My reception sucks after I put in my dvd HU. Iam interested in finding out more about the antenna booster wire. If someone can plz help me in how to connect it.
12-15-2005, 12:17 PM
#35
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 448
Originally Posted by ypl102
a separate antenna or antenna booster doesn't work if you don't get rid of the source of your noise, you will simply boost the noise level along with the signal level while retaing the same S/N ratio. You need to troubleshoot the problem from antenna power wire, HU ground or amp ground if you have an amp. Let me know if you need more details cuz that's all I did the pass week and I've fixed my FM reception noise and now battling the amp ground issue, will hook up a better ground this weekend.
12-17-2005, 08:45 PM
#36
Originally Posted by myer84
My reception sucks after I put in my dvd HU. Iam interested in finding out more about the antenna booster wire. If someone can plz help me in how to connect it.
12-24-2005, 09:29 AM
#37
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 121
static fm reception
well, I have to correct what I previously said about factory radio is grounded through the antenna ground; just realized the 8 bolts on 2 sides of the radio would ground it to the metal brackets which are connected to chassis.
My AM HU fm noise was due to 2 things and I only fixed one of them. pick a staticky station, connect/disconnect the amp turn on wire in back of the HU at a moderate volume and with the subwoofer level turned all the way down if your HU has such function so you can hear from only the speakers. Mine cleared up a when this amp remote is disconnected. I also noticed turning off the LP function from the amp improved it, just use the LP from HU if so equipped. Also my 2 channel subwoofer rca mono outs were split into 4 channels b/f going into the amp, make sure their polarities are correct eventhough you would think mono doesn't matter, but this took care of all the noises coming from the amp.
The 2nd cause is due to the diversity antenna, if you connect the AM adaptor b/t factory diversity and HU the normal way (clip thru loop), the 12V power antenna must get hooked up as this channel of the diversity must be powered. If you decide to flip the adaptor and utilize the other lead, you will not need 12V since this antenna doesn't get powered. After all these, My reception is perfect if the car is not moving; but when it moves, FM still gets interferance from something and only local stations gets affected the least due to stronger signal. Sorry troubleshooting is impossible when car moves. I might try another after market antenna or booster of some kind b/f putting back the factory head unit. it's a lot less headache and I listen to radio all the times so . ..
My AM HU fm noise was due to 2 things and I only fixed one of them. pick a staticky station, connect/disconnect the amp turn on wire in back of the HU at a moderate volume and with the subwoofer level turned all the way down if your HU has such function so you can hear from only the speakers. Mine cleared up a when this amp remote is disconnected. I also noticed turning off the LP function from the amp improved it, just use the LP from HU if so equipped. Also my 2 channel subwoofer rca mono outs were split into 4 channels b/f going into the amp, make sure their polarities are correct eventhough you would think mono doesn't matter, but this took care of all the noises coming from the amp.
The 2nd cause is due to the diversity antenna, if you connect the AM adaptor b/t factory diversity and HU the normal way (clip thru loop), the 12V power antenna must get hooked up as this channel of the diversity must be powered. If you decide to flip the adaptor and utilize the other lead, you will not need 12V since this antenna doesn't get powered. After all these, My reception is perfect if the car is not moving; but when it moves, FM still gets interferance from something and only local stations gets affected the least due to stronger signal. Sorry troubleshooting is impossible when car moves. I might try another after market antenna or booster of some kind b/f putting back the factory head unit. it's a lot less headache and I listen to radio all the times so . ..
12-25-2005, 06:52 AM
#38
Newbie - Just Registered
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 3
How much is the $ per month of sirius and xm? And who has either? which works better? I am leaning towards sirius because of H.Stern and their other sports packages. My regular radio reception in the max SUCKS, like no other, so i am bent on satalite for now. Hope it doesnt become the next cable tv and become flooded with commercials :-).
06-06-2015, 12:52 PM
#39
Newbie - Just Registered
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 2
Need a solution please
I have a 2005 Maxima 4 door sedan with a BOSE radio system factory installed. I bought the car used and the radio reception is horrible here in Florida (no mountains, etc..) I have searched and tried to read through the threads but I see no SOLUTION to the problem. Yes, there is tint on the windows but I cant pick up a clear signal from a very large station 40 miles away that broadcasts all over NE Florida.
What is the solution? I can't truly afford to take it to the dealer to "diagnose" the problem. Please help wizchef89@gmail.com
What is the solution? I can't truly afford to take it to the dealer to "diagnose" the problem. Please help wizchef89@gmail.com
06-06-2015, 01:07 PM
#40
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Posts: 1,994
You do not say if you have problems with FM or AM stations.
My 04 now has 148 K miles and the AM radio still works just fine.
I do not listen to FM, so do not know how that side works.
I do use the 6 CD changer quite often and except for a few skips at times, it too
continues to work well.
If you decide it needs repair, do not go to the dealer. Take it to someone who specializes in fixing automobile radios.
My 04 now has 148 K miles and the AM radio still works just fine.
I do not listen to FM, so do not know how that side works.
I do use the 6 CD changer quite often and except for a few skips at times, it too
continues to work well.
If you decide it needs repair, do not go to the dealer. Take it to someone who specializes in fixing automobile radios.