radio reception failing

[Rob101]

hi all - here's a teaser for you... have had a sony head unit in the bongo for a few months all working fine. this week the reception has started to fail - seems to be fine the moment i turn it on, but then goes crackly and loses reception. the cd (same unit) is still working fine. i guess I'll pull the unit out and check the aerial lead in the back, but from there where do i go re. troubleshooting?? fiddling with the aerial makes little difference..

any help greatly appreciated !

Rob

[Yamaha]

I think you're on the right track - if the cd works OK - it has to be either a dodgy aerial / lead, OR a fault in the head unit.

If you're gonna hook it out - try a piece of wire as an aerial - or another car aerial - this should show whether it's the head unit.

I'm sure some of the breakers will have s/h aerials for sale - although I do remeber someone advertising new ones on eBay about 6 months ago - around £35'ish.

Mike

[stringman]

Make sure the aerial whip is clean and check to see if it has a good earth. If when the signal is poor you hold the whip and this improves the signal you have a poor earth on the aerial

[Rob101]

well the mystery deepens - the radio worked fine this morning, but could this be because it is raining therefore the aerial is being earthed better?? if it is the aerial earth contact as you suggest stringman- how would i go about fixing it?

however, my investigations have been brought to an abrupt stop by my leisure battery dying.. i'll probably kick off another thread on that later on !

ta for the responses.
rob

[bigdaddycain]

I had to adapt the antenna connection going into the rear of my sony headunit to get a decent connection, perhaps it has slipped from the plug, but appears to be stil connected? WHip the head unit back out, and check the aerial lead is firmly pushed all the way in.

Worth a look before you start messing about with the antenna?

[Rob101]

Bit of a bump here, but I finally got around to investigating my loss of FM reception this evening !! I took the Sony head unit out - all connections were OK, and both MW and LW were working, but FM remained very poor and only just picks up the strongest of signals. I plopped the original bongo unit back in, and FM was working perfectly!! So logic tells me the head unit is at fault, but do tuners fail like this (its only a year old)?? I'm more inclined to blame the bongo!

Also, the aerial lead has a range expander plugged into it.. what does this do?? I thought an aerial was just a piece of metal - could this be the root of my problems?

cheers

Rob

[cheffy34]

Funnily enough i have the very same prob with mine, i had a m o sound head unit in never a prob, couple days after fittin a kenwood it started i've givin in with it, really drives me up the wall I was gonna change the arial next, when i get around to it gotta long old list

Let me know if you get to the bottom of it

[francophile1947]

Hi Rob
You don't need the range extender unless you are using the original Jap radio. As your problems are only with FM, it could be something to do with the expander, which extends the FM range only. Take it out and see what happens.

[Rob101]

Hi Rob
You don't need the range extender unless you are using the original Jap radio. As your problems are only with FM, it could be something to do with the expander, which extends the FM range only. Take it out and see what happens.

Thanks John (i always want to call you Franco), I just gave that a go but it made no difference. Also, unscrewing and remounting the aerial outside made no difference to reception.. apart from when it was off the radio wouldnt power up at all !! So I concluded that the aerial earth was ok as it completed the circuit permitting the unit to power up..
Using the aerial as part of the power seemed a bit wierd, so I earthed the head unit properly to the metal bar behind the dashboard while I had everything apart.. As a last resort I stuck a coat hanger into the head unit aerial socket, and FM reception was still rubbish. So I guess its the Sony FM receiver and Bongo is clear of blame here !

I'll try a cheapo unit next just to be sure, before taking the plunge and getting a new one..

Cheers

Rob

[bigdaddycain]

I prefer sony products, and i have never heard of this before... Is there any difference at al to the reception if you play around with the antenna? Or does it make no difference?

[Rob101]

I prefer sony products, and i have never heard of this before... Is there any difference at al to the reception if you play around with the antenna? Or does it make no difference?

No difference BDC ! extended it + fiddled with the angle (fnarr) with no difference to reception. Unmounted it from the body which subsequently powered the head unit off (i assume because it was the negative for the power - is this normal?!). As I mentioned in previous post, earthing the stereo properly with a wire meant it would turn on without a grounded aerial plugged in, but the FM reception was still terrible to non-existent with a coat hanger in place or the aerial reconnected..

Like your good self, I find it hard to believe the Sony receiver would fail, but its looking more likely to be the case. I spose the final test is to put the sony in another car, and try another unit in the bongo !

[Rob101]

big bump here -

An end to the stereo saga - I replaced the Sony head unit last weekend (with Kirsty's Aldi special), and all is well with the radio.. Bongo wasn't at fault, it was the Sony. Am gutted as it was 2 months out of warranty and we really liked it..

Anyone want a Sony CDX410u mp3 stereo with USB and Remote but a broken FM radio ?!

Cheers

rob

[jaylee]

Just a thought...
Years ago when buying a new car stereo they used to suggest tuning the radio to the weakest signal & adjusting a purpose made dial on the back of the head unit with a small flat head screwdriver to improve over all reception.?

... To be honest, i've had my JVC CD cutting edge cheapness tuner fer 10 years & it's never let me down!