mw radio reception can you help pse

ulsterlistener · 28/01/10 - 20:29

well i have a bmw with the aerial somewhere in the back window, my problem is this, i am from n ireland and work in the republic of ireland, and have for the past 4 years, ok over the past number of years i could listen to radio 5 talksport and big l well into r o i however now i have interferance from my base about 15 miles from lagenvalley transmitter for bbc stations. the static is drea
dful , over this period i have added a dab highway (disconnected made no differance) sat nav (disconnected made no differance)i am really looking for usful advice, when my car was in for service i used my wifes peogeot and with a proper aerial the reception was good BUT i had similar prior to this year (12 mts) why would this happen is it because of reducing power because of dab or overlap in mw adverts as in talksport adverts overlapping please advise (by the way dab disapears about 2 miles over the border fm go,s on for 60 + miles)

[Deleted User] · 28/01/10 - 21:09

Get your aerial checked out. It sounds like it's not earthed properly.

Roxio · 28/01/10 - 21:21

I think and I would like confirmation from some-one in the know, that MW transmitters are gradually having the power reduced. I have noticed over the past five years a reduction.

[Deleted User] · 28/01/10 - 21:23

Roxio wrote: »

I think and I would like confirmation from some-one in the know, that MW transmitters are gradually having the power reduced. I have noticed over the past five years a reduction.

Nope, that's wrong. What may be happening is an increase in interference from things like this:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1021150

Roxio · 28/01/10 - 21:55

Its not interference my house is about 8 miles from the Fareham transmitter. There has over five years been a noticeable reduction in signal strength, perhaps not power with other stations underneath. I can almost null it out and I could not do that 5 years back.
Radio Solent is bad on 999 as is Talk Sport

ulsterlistener · 29/01/10 - 12:54

hi many thanks to all who tried to help
much appreciated

Phil Dodd · 29/01/10 - 20:27

I'd go along with the theory of the car aerial's connection having deteriorated. Car dash boards are of course built as a separate unit before being assembled into the car body, and have been for several decades, so experimenting with the aerial lead coming out of the back of the radio is an extremely frustrating business for us consumers. The trouble is that there is so much hidden moisture in a car. We get in, look around and see the roof lining and the carpets. Between them and the shell of the car is the water, caused by us getting in wearing wet clothes, and by the natural differences between inside and outside temperatures. This water causes corrosion in electrical connections and cabling like no tomorrow.

In a beautiful car like a BMW, the last thing that anyone wants is to go and stick a new ugly aerial coming out of the wing. One thought that occurs is maybe a new aerial could be hidden in a boot spoiler ?

Try what your local car radio installer ( e.g. Halfords ) suggest. But a new aerial, and cable to the radio, seems a worthy solution. Happy motoring.

ulsterlistener · 29/01/10 - 21:24

hi phil thank you for a lovely reply i will ask halfords tomorrow unusal for digital spy nowadays a discussion without anything nasty or upperhand thank you all who responded i really love my radio and travel 180 miles round trip every day and to be honest miss 5 live especially drive on way home

Masteriser · 29/01/10 - 21:40

It will certainly be the aerial. Those tiny hidden in the window types so beloved by modern carmakers are next to useless. They only collect a small amount of signal and try to make up the difference with amplification. But no-one seems to have thought that all the amplifier is doing is amplifying the mush.

I have a VW Golf Mk 5 made in 2005. This was the first year they tried this low profile (out of sight) type of aerial. Reception on FM and MW, unless the transmitter mast was in view, was next to*useless. Longwave was a disaster. VW had so many complaints they went back to the bee sting roof mounted type for the 2006 model.

I had a bee sting retrofitted to my car just over a year ago when I replaced the radio,*and, while these are not the absolute ideal as far as radio reception is concerned, my reception has hugely improved over what I had. I do a lot of driving in South London which is known as being a difficult reception area in places (despite almost all the locals and nationals coming from Crystal Palace or Croydon).

Try an independent car radio installer. Hirshmann make good bee sting aerials.

Good luck.

Yagi-Uda · 30/01/10 - 15:37

Roxio wrote: »

Its not interference my house is about 8 miles from the Fareham transmitter. There has over five years been a noticeable reduction in signal strength, perhaps not power with other stations underneath. I can almost null it out and I could not do that 5 years back.
Radio Solent is bad on 999 as is Talk Sport

I'm probably slightly further away from Fareham and haven't noticed an absolute reduction in signal strength. However it is true that whoever else is on 909 interferes far more after dark than in the past.

One problem I often notice with 5 Live from Fareham is really bad intermittent FMing of the signal, but I have never had any success getting the BBC to understand what I am talking about. I just get the usual "switch to DAB" email in response!

slipstream42 · 30/01/10 - 17:33

Try getting DAB radio then you wouldnt have to put up with MW's poor reception, its barely listenable in my area and always has been, theres always crackles and hisses and sharp rises in volume too

ulsterlistener · 01/02/10 - 19:29

ok thanks again everyone, well i brought my car to halfords craigavon today, spoke to a guy who wanted to know what my problem was even though i asked for the radio fitting engineer, he said he had not a clue what the problem was but would get the engineer. about 5 minutes later he came back alone and said the problem was the two copper clips from the rear window had become overused and that was the reason for static, honest that is what he said, i told him i didnt have copper clips at the rear window he insisted i had brought him out to car he agreed i didnt and listened to the radio he said he didnt have a clue and to listen to another station on fm where there was no mw static you know im getting old and times have changed, might do as he suggests but yes i am still confused, my conclussion these guys know no more than we do

during this time i pointed out the sat nav and pure highway i had bought from them customer over the past few months feedback well you tell me

Masteriser · 02/02/10 - 00:48

Don't waste your time with the Halfords muppets (well, almost all of them are anyway).

That was why I advised

Masteriser wrote: »

Try an independent car radio installer. Hirshmann make good bee sting aerials.

Good luck

ulsterlistener · 10/02/10 - 12:38

ok to everyone who assisted me with my problem many thanks indeed,
update , last friday i phoned a audio team who i found out operated in my area, he suggested that the amp at the back had broken down ,but booked me in for monday as i was off work, when i arrived they listened and said i perhaps needed a new amp from bmw or if that didn't work
a new radio, they didn't even test the amp.not cheap from bmw, i told them i couldn't understand how fm was very good as i thought a broken amp would effect all,
i went home a googled as to where the amp was , and found it was back window panel on passenger side, i removed it and found the amp , it had a loose connection on am input , now working excellant. i hope this helps anyone who has had similar problems. also if required you can buy an amp on e'bay for under 23 pounds

Hey there!

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