(poor) AM reception fix?

[jhenderson]

Mines a factory whip. Might as well be a coat hanger.

 

[MRFost]

Yeah, I'm trying to decide *why* I would listen to AM, as it's all gone to talk radio hasn't it? When I'm driving, I'm happy to not hear others yammering. That's the reason for Sirius, and when they do talk I poke another button (touchpoint) as there are several channels that I rotate through...my wife listens to AM over the internet at home and sometimes (in her Jeep).

 

[Wiredawg]

Yeah, I'm trying to decide *why* I would listen to AM, as it's all gone to talk radio hasn't it? When I'm driving, I'm happy to not hear others yammering. That's the reason for Sirius, and when they do talk I poke another button (touchpoint) as there are several channels that I rotate through...my wife listens to AM over the internet at home and sometimes (in her Jeep).

Yeah, sometimes I drive her truck, volume is half cranked with Rush Limbaugh blaring. Argh! l

 

[rashwor]

Wiredawg, you got a good wife! LOL.

 

[Wiredawg]

Around ten years ago, one of my jobs with the USAF was to manage frequencies (spectrum) for 13 AF bases, but I'm retired now and not sure what the FCC has done with AM/FM radio spectrum, including broadcasting power. In the absence of this info, I used to work with this technology and have an idea. In the day, it was important that the base of the mast was grounded well. Although the antenna should be grounded at the radio, it wouldn't hurt to unscrew the mast and make sure the mast clamp is grounded. Rather than making bare metal for the clamp the get the ground, I recommend running a short piece of wire and solder/attach it to the mounting and fish the other end into the engine and terminate it under a screw to get a ground. I ground my CB antennas this way.

Here is some info from the OEM service manual about AM/FM for folks who still have the steel whip mast:

08 - Electrical / 8A - Audio/Video/Entertainment/Connectivity / CABLE, Antenna, Audio / Operation
OPERATION
The antenna body and cable connects the antenna mast to the radio. The radio antenna is an electromagnetic circuit component used to capture radio frequency signals that are broadcast by local commercial radio stations in both the Amplitude Modulating (AM) and Frequency Modulating (FM) frequency ranges. These electromagnetic radio frequency signals induce small electrical modulations into the antenna as they move past the mast. The antenna body transfers the weak electromagnetic radio waves induced into the rigid antenna mast into the center conductor of the flexible primary antenna coaxial cable. The braided outer shield of the antenna coaxial cable is grounded through both the antenna body and the radio chassis, effectively shielding the radio waves as they are conducted to the radio. The radio then tunes and amplifies the weak radio signals into stronger electrical signals in order to operate the audio system speakers.

For the removal and installation of the cable and base (Refer to 08 - Electrical/8A - Audio/Video/Entertainment/Connectivity/MAST, Antenna, Removal) and (Refer to 08 - Electrical/8A - Audio/Video/Entertainment/Connectivity/MAST, Antenna, Installation) .

Hope this helps.

Ron

 

[Wiredawg]

Team,

I remembered to check my AM today, loud and too clear. Just thought I'd close the loop on this from my end.

Cheers, Ron