The radio reception in the car is bad: What should I do?
Every car these days is equipped with a radio, which no driver can do without. Regardless of what media you like to listen to in your car, virtually every driver uses the radio in their car from time to time. But sometimes the radio receiver lets us down, receiving the radio signal poorly. This is of course very annoying. What to do in such a situation and what is the reason for the poor performance of the car radio?
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If the radio in your car begins to poorly receive a radio channel, this does not always mean that the car’s equipment or radio antenna is to blame. After all, the source of interference can be tall buildings, cell phone towers along the road, and even a solar flare, which can cause electromagnetic radiation.
In most cases, when there is poor reception of radio channels, the reason is precisely external interference, and not a breakdown of the car’s radio equipment.
So don’t rush to contact electricians with complaints about your car’s radio equipment. First you need to find out what is the reason for the bad radio receiver. Here are five ways you can improve the reception of your favorite radio channels.
1) Check the car antenna
If your car is equipped with an external metal antenna, there is always a risk of damage to it, which will lead to deterioration in the quality of radio reception. For example, an external retractable antenna can get damaged at a car wash (car wash workers often move the antenna to avoid damaging it and then simply forget to retract it again). It can also be damaged by a bird in the parking lot. Or the machine's antenna may be damaged due to ice formation in the winter. Especially during freezing rain, which can easily bend the antenna and even break it completely. Remember that even minor, unnoticeable damage to the external retractable antenna can significantly affect the quality of radio signal reception.
Therefore, at the first sign of a drop in the quality of radio reception of the radio, check the condition of the external car antenna.
It is quite possible that your antenna is simply not extended all the way and therefore radio channels are received with interference. In this case, you only need to extend the antenna according to the vehicle manual.
If your car is equipped with an electric antenna that extends using a button, then due to ice formation, the antenna may not extend completely. In this case, the signal will be received with interference. Unfortunately, on many cars, antennas are usually installed out of the driver's field of vision, and you may simply not notice that the antenna is not fully extended. Therefore, if the radio signal reception is poor, be sure to check the condition of the antenna.
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If your antenna is frozen and does not extend, do not try to pull it out of the car body with pliers. This way you can not only damage the antenna housing, but also the electromechanical mechanism that extends it from the car body.
Checking the antenna
If a metal antenna is installed in the car, then one of the reasons for the poor signal may be its damage.
This situation is possible for the following reasons:
- after washing a vehicle, car wash workers sometimes damage the antenna or simply forget to push it back, which also interferes with receiving a radio signal;
- birds often deform the antenna in the parking lot;
- In winter, the device may become icy;
- hail can bend the antenna.
Drivers should remember that even minimal damage to the antenna leads to a deterioration in signal reception. Therefore, at the first sign, it is necessary to check the retractable element.
If the antenna has an electrical mechanism and is extended by pressing a button, then icing may interfere with the process and the radio signal will not be received with interference.
If the antenna is frozen during icing, then you cannot use force to return it to its normal state, especially using pliers.
2) Check antenna connections
The most common cause of poor radio reception in a car is a poor connection between the car radio and the antenna connector. The fact is that if the antenna cable has a poor connection to the radio (with radio tuner), then the quality of radio transmission from the antenna to the receiver will be low. As a result, you will hear interference or only radio noise. Unfortunately, over time, body vibration causes many of the vehicle's wire connections to weaken and become susceptible to corrosion from moisture. This also applies to the connectors connecting the radio receiver to the antenna. As a result, the driver begins to experience difficulties in setting up high-quality radio channel reception.
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So if you encounter poor-quality sound when listening to the radio in a car, then immediately after checking the antenna for damage, inspect the cable connecting the antenna to the radio. To do this, you need to remove the radio from the car or push it forward from the center console to inspect the rear of the tuner, where the antenna cable connector is located.
If during a visual inspection you do not find any problems with the connector, do not rush to install the radio back. Please note that the cable or connector may have hidden damage. Therefore, turn on any radio channel that has interference and turn up the volume to listen to extraneous noise. Then move the antenna cable (for example, you can move the radio antenna connector). If the connection is reliable and tight, then you should not hear any changes in the sound of the radio channel. If you hear noise, crackling, etc., then most likely either the antenna cable or the connection connector is damaged.
3) Buy a new radio antenna for your car
When checking the connection between the antenna and the radio receiver, you may find that your antenna has signs of rust, dents or even breaks; in this case, without installing a new antenna, you will not be able to return the quality of signal reception to the previous level. Please note that rust can damage not only the antenna mast itself, but also its connectors at the junction with the cable that goes to the radio tuner in the car's head unit.
Also, many modern cars are now equipped with new types of radio antennas. This type of antenna is a mesh sticker that is glued to the rear or side windows of the car. These flat panel radio antennas have some aesthetic advantages over external metal car antenna masts. Firstly, the mesh antenna is glued inside the car and cannot be damaged at a car wash, by birds in the parking lot or from the formation of ice.
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But unfortunately, such flat antennas do not receive the signal very well. Especially in big cities and hilly areas. Also, the main disadvantage of an antenna on glass is the need to purchase a new one if it is damaged on the inside. Moreover, it can be damaged very easily by simply touching the glass with something sharp.
So, despite new technologies, an external antenna on the car body still has a number of advantages in terms of the quality of radio signal reception.
Checking the performance of the antenna
When the radio reception in a car is poor, not all drivers know what to do. If the antenna has been checked for external damage and there are no complaints about the wire connections, then it is worth making sure that the signal receiving device itself is working.
If dents, rust or similar damage is found on the antenna, the device must be replaced with a new one.
Modern cars are equipped with a mesh antenna that is glued to the rear or side windows. Such a device has an aesthetic advantage over an external antenna, but does not differ in the quality of radio signal reception. Also, the sticker can be damaged from the inside, for example by children. In this case, you will have to buy a new one.
4) Install a radio signal amplifier in the car
Usually, in the case of poor-quality radio signal reception in a car, radio amplifiers are not very effective. Especially if the reason for the poor quality sound of the radio channel is related to a broken antenna or wear of the antenna cable and connectors. But usually with this type of damage, poor reception of all radio channels is observed.
But sometimes, even with working radio equipment, each driver is faced with uncertain reception of just a few radio channels. What to do in this case? Indeed, the power of the radio signal from all radio stations is different and radio channels can indeed be received differently by our car radio equipment. How, then, can you tune your favorite radio channel to high-quality sound?
In this case, radio amplifiers can come to your aid. But remember that if interference when receiving a radio station is associated with high-rise buildings or terrain features, then a radio signal amplifier will not help you.
Signal amplifier
Typically, if radio signal reception is poor, using an amplifier is ineffective. Especially if poor quality sound is caused by damage to the antenna, wear of the cable or connector. However, as a rule, this leads to deterioration of the radio signal of all channels.
However, there are times when new equipment is installed, and some channels continue to broadcast with interference. If the radio reception in the car is poor, what should you do about this problem? Each radio channel has a different transmitted signal strength and is therefore received differently by the radio device. In this case, the use of a signal amplifier is completely justified. It is important to clarify that the amplifier cannot cope with interference caused by high-rise buildings or due to the terrain.
5) Change the radio
In general, radio tuners in music head units of modern cars, which are installed during car assembly[/anchor], are of sufficient quality for reliable reception of radio channels. But unfortunately, not all radios are created equal. For example, it is not uncommon for even expensive digital audio units, providing incredible high-quality sound from CD/DVD media, to be equipped with a not very high-quality radio tuner. Moreover, low-quality radios are even found in expensive premium cars. Sometimes the quality of radio signal reception in economy class cars is even better than in luxury ones.
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So if you have checked all the radio equipment and have not established the cause of poor-quality radio signal reception, then most likely, if you cannot do without the clear sound of radio channels, you will have to change your standard radio to a better one, which has a more advanced radio tuner.
When choosing a radio, pay attention to the brand and its cost. Remember that cheap units will not be able to provide you with high-quality radio reception in your car.
