TurTLe*

iTrader: (11)

Before you guys say i didn't plug in the antenna cable, i know i did.

I have the bose in the 4th gen. From my understanding the BOSE setup in my car uses 2 antenna's there rear glass and the powered external one. The bose unit picks which one is stronger and uses it. Prior to me owning the car the power antenna did not work. Now when i owned the car FM signal was STRONG beyond any question of a doubt it worked perfectly with the BOSE headunit and i was very pleased with the reception when i went out of the city i was able to get all my stations for a good range.

Now I installed an Alpine 9883 headunit in my car with everything hooked up. I get reception in the city i would say 7/10 compared to my bose. But once i get out of the city its all static. A couple of stations that i used to get clear reception is never clear any longer. While i know everything is hooked up correctly, my reception has gone way down. I even pluged in my bose to make sure the station wasn't going out and sure enough it was nice out of the bose but bad out the alpine.


My thoughts are since i replaced the bose headunit, i think the alpine radio doesn't pick up that there are 2 options for the antenna and goes to a default i guess of the power antenna. That might explain why i have a noticeable difference in terms of FM reception. So in theory i would get a new power antenna and i should be golden. I don't want to go out and spend $30 on something that might not solve my problem. I mean yea my antenna doesn't work but it never worked and it never bothered me because i can get my FM but not i cant. So is it the antenna or the alpine unit ? Thoughts please

Strontium

I noticed a decrease in FM reception on replacing my HU. Googled around a bit and it seems that's common. From what I've been able to find, aftermarket units have crappier FM reception. On a side note, I now have just about zero AM reception. Only reason I listen to radio anyway is for sports and traffic... So, the AM thing bothers me more

TurTLe*

iTrader: (11)

i'm about the same but there are a couple of FM stations i listen to in the morning that gives new briefs and stuff that i like to keep track of.

AceofSpds

iTrader: (4)

Its the alpine unit, i have the same head unit and problem and my friend put in the same unit in his dad's accord and it also does the same.

TurTLe*

iTrader: (11)

ok so most people just blame the alpine. i was thinking of the HD radio tuner unit but thats 300$ VS the $80 sat radio tuner but monthly fees blah i think i'll just stick with my ipod stuff then.

brusk

iTrader: (1)

Not that familiar with anything other than a 5th gen setup but did they previously use the antenna amplifier? Did you hook up the power antenna wire from the HU to it? I missed this when I did my install being new to how nissan does stuff. I actually thought the aftermarket ones have done better in my last few cars but they were Hondas so they don't really count anyway.

JamesNH

iTrader: (12)

its not just alpine. Had crappy reception with my pioneer and eclipse. The eclipse had better reception.