Crappy FM and AM radio reception...

[jiggseob]

I live up north in Canada on the frozen tundra (-10 F this AM) 50 mile southeast of Edmonton.

All the radio stations broadcast from Edmonton, and ~50 miles away, the radio reception in the Beetle with aftermarket hu and in the Jetta with factory VW radio, and in the Beetle (before hu) with the factory radio, the radio stations fade out at about 40 miles from the transmitter.

All other vehicles - my work van, my dodge truck, the tractor, the combine - have radios that reception in this area, and much farther is not an issue.

Is the factory VW antenna, or cable, or something just really crappy? Which parts can one replace to improve reception? I hope its not the cable, that would require gutting the interior to fish things thru. Can one replace just the thread-on mast? Has anyone done that and found improvement? None of the masts I've tried will fit the thread.

I use noise from my i-pod and usb sticks, but my wife uses the radios, and would like them to work better.

Thanks in advance.

[jiggseob]

I just read my above post, and I know someone's going to suggest I just get my wife to drive the combine down to the store to get bread...

[sharkboards]

I have the same problem, and to date haven't found a slam-dunk solution. There is a potential issue with poor grounding of the antenna base on the inner/outer roof mount. Some have had success with cleaning the contact area and reattaching. I just read of someone finding a place where the antenna wire had worn through the plastic shield and grounded itself near the antenna base; a simple fix.

I haven't read of significantly better reception from an aftermarket mast either. But a replacement of the OEM one might help. I'm still playing with the antenna lead into the back of my new aftermarket radio, which doesn't get any better reception than did the OEM VW radio.

The best I've seen so far is from someone who claimed they installed a taller antenna to the existing base. I've also looked at sites for AM radio antennas: seems they require a lot of wire to catch the frequency, so it's usually wound around in a loop. Yeah, that would look cool on the roof of our cars!

Looking for creative solutions.
marc

[sb_beetle]

Go to RadioShack (or equivalent up in the Great White North) and get an inline power antenna adapter. They look like an antenna jumper with a blue wire coming out. Every VW I've owned has had this issue and the adapter has solved the problem.

[jiggseob]

From the words of wisdom, the in-line adapter thing it will be.

The Beetle is kinda cramped behind the hu anyways, and adding another thing back there will be wonderful. Maybe I can find an adapter which fulfils two functions: adapting from our "special" VW antenna fitting, and amplifying the antenna signal.

Management has asked for a hu swap in the Jetta. She likes the hu I have in the Beetle because it has a usb-in for relatively seamless operation of the i-pods. The Jetta has a double-din hole, so I can add a blanking plate above the new hu so that the starbucks cup in the cupholder doesn't interfere with operation of the noise. With the double-din hole, and a single din hu, there will be lotsa room for the antenna adapter(s).

[thegimpster]

I have crappy reception too and vag-com said i had an open antenna circuit.