Poor radio reception

[Ian Szgatti]

Well... i'll point out the obvious... I am feeling like the village idiot. I bought a brand new car stereo to replace my 91 Olds Cieras' stock radio hoping I would improve my radio reception.
Yeah... that didn't work. It's like the stock antenna isn't doing it's job quite right. You know, I've changed the antenna in that car before, but only the whip. I'll tell you, it's very hard to get at the stock antenna wiring. My question is: How much of a pain in the ass would it be to buy an after-market antenna and get me some good reception?
I have heard of pre-amped antennas, but I'm not sure how to go here... please help. Thanks

Ian

[dave92cherokee]

On your model car does the antenna mount to the front or rear quarter panel. If it's the rear quarter panel and it's not an electric antenna then it should be fairly easy to get to it from inside the trunk. If it mounts to the front the maybe you should look into buying a new antenna and antenna extension cable and mounting one to the rear quarter panel that you can get to from the trunk and route the antenna wire through the backseat and under the carpet along the outside up to the dash and to your radio. If you do that then you also have the option to make it an electric antenna if you wish. If it's on the front it should still be pretty easy to get to just remove the inner fenderwell piece that should just be held in place with little snap in clips and then you should be able to reach inside the quarter panel to reach the antenna. If you take a good look at how it's all run you'll probably realize it won't be as hard to replace as originally thought.

[bjboertje]

i'm having the same problem, although i didn't purchade the head unit to get better reception. i can only get two stations in clearly where before (another aftermarket head unit) i could get about 15.

[Ian Szgatti]

I listen to the country music station... and oddly enough I only get poor reception on those stations I listento most... if I wanted Nelly or Celin Dion though no problem... go figure.
I just wanted to make sure i could just buy another antenna and be good to go. I've already spent some good doh on that stereo.

[PlayStation3]

time for satalite radio

[pimprolla112]

Originally Posted by PlayStation3

time for satalite radio

He speaks of the promised land, i have XM and i love it, i hear some weird shit from time to time but they play everything i like.

You can also look into Dual antenna setups where you have 2 antennas on the car, but the problem could be something as simple as a loose connection to needing a new antenna.

[PaulD]

everyone knows that the car/antenna/radio are an engineered system - the OEM system will always get the best reception. To use the dual antenna system, you have to have a radio capable of utilizing it. Amplified antennas are generally designed to make up for the fact that the actual whip is very short, not necessarily for awesome pickup.

[Ian Szgatti]

Originally Posted by PaulD

everyone knows that the car/antenna/radio are an engineered system - the OEM system will always get the best reception. To use the dual antenna system, you have to have a radio capable of utilizing it. Amplified antennas are generally designed to make up for the fact that the actual whip is very short, not necessarily for awesome pickup.

i hear all of that....

and satalite radio... im just far to cheap... i couldnt pay for it like that... Im going to try something as close as possible to the stock antenna, but rear mounted to avoid any electrical "noise" from the engine bay.

[bjboertje]

Originally Posted by PaulD

everyone knows that the car/antenna/radio are an engineered system - the OEM system will always get the best reception.

Not always. My DEH P3700MP got better reception than the stock radio did.

[PaulD]

not very often, especially if the OEM is an upscale model

[Ian Szgatti]

Originally Posted by PaulD

not very often, especially if the OEM is an upscale model

I bought a midrange pioneer... all I know is that it has a bunch of aux outs in the back, which will be nice for some other stuff in the future... and it has a remote. Every time I've bought a radio in the past I've gone for the cheapest one that would play a CD... since this was on sale I had to.... I don't regret it what so ever, even though the wife gaveme shit. I was still embarraced when we coulndt get our radio station in... I told her a new radio would solve our problems... yeah... I only suspected.. and WANTED a radio... haha.