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Radio reception

G

Guest

Guest
Hello all
I have a wonderful Pioneer cd/radio in my vehicle which proved to be a good
investment on our blast through n africa last year. The CD is great, plays
all formats etc but back here here in Blighty, I=B9ve been blighted by truly
poor radio reception on FM. I tolerated it before but am now fed up with
frying eggs and drop out. I have the original fit aerial, mounted in the
near side wing, powered up and down by the two buttons on the dash (which I
quite like...) and I have checked this as much as is possible, cleaned it
etc etc but still the FM reception is poor.
I have seen somewhere that aerial grounding has always been something of an
issue with the 80s series radios but I'm wondering how much of a challenge
it is to replace the aerial with another that fits in the same place, or
maybe I should go for one of the flat jobbies that runs round the edge of
one of the windows.
Similar experiences and so9lutions would be most welcome.
By the way... Message to Jon on the canal... No radio is secure but I think
the head units with the detachable front piece are about as good as it gets.
Jeremy
HDJ81 with built-in frying pan...
 
Radio receptionHi Jeremy
I have replaced the arial several times because they have been torn off by a branch of a tree or bush. the last time I did this I went for one of those rubber totally flexable arials which is still there . It is a tight fit to replace the arial if your hands are any way big and your arms are thick or short. The best thing I found was to remove the little box at the entrance to the hole on the inside of the wing. this gives you more room. Its then a question of getting the old off and putting the new in. It can be a pain expecially if you drop a nut or somthing inside the wing. But as I say if I can you can. My reception is also crap but because I dont know about earthing etc I didn't know in what order to place the screws or washers etc. So maybe there is a particular order to this but .
John C
92HDJ 80 1HDt rep of Ireland
 
Hi Jeremy,
My reception is pretty miserable as well, although it seems to vary
with the weather (wet/dry).
Getting at the factory arial is a bit of a pig, going in via gaps in
the wing inside the engine bay, you need to be a bit of a contortionist
- not for the ham fisted among you!
I have been considering either upgrading to different electric arial
that will go down when the radio isn't in use (that I can hopefully
override with the switches) or go for a stubby rubberised flexible one
that you often see on tractors, etc.
One of the things you need to be aware of when replacing the arial is
that the cable runs joinless all the to the radio - on my last 80 the
lazy sod that had replaced the ariel had just cut the wire near the
ariel and poorly spliced it.
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
Mobile: 07971 540362
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift
 
Thanks John and Julian
Didn't think it was going to be easy after a first glance the other day.
Maybe I'll just go ahead and get a flat ribbon fitted to the rear side glass
and run the aerial lead to the front.. I have fixed windows at the back...
Jeremy
On 18/1/06 13:00, "Julian Voelcker" <[Email address removed]> wrote:
--
Jeremy Llewellyn-Jones
07831 458 793
 
Radio reception on our 93 was crap with the standard aerial as well.
When it got snapped off by a passing tree I took the stainless steel
whip from a defunct CB aerial and jammed it into the hole. Radio
reception is suddenly very good! Maybe I got lucky but next time you
break an aerial give it a try. I think the whip I used is about 1.2
meters so perhaps a bit longer than the standard one. It doesn't go up
and down of course but then again it doesn't mind hitting trees either.
Best regards,
Jon.
-----Original Message-----
From: [Email address removed] [mailto:[Email address removed]]
On Behalf Of Jeremy Llewellyn-Jones
Sent: 18 January 2006 11:19
To: [Email address removed]
Subject: [ELCO] Radio reception
Hello all
I have a wonderful Pioneer cd/radio in my vehicle which proved to be a
good investment on our blast through n africa last year. The CD is
great, plays all formats etc but back here here in Blighty, I've been
blighted by truly poor radio reception on FM. I tolerated it before but
am now fed up with frying eggs and drop out. I have the original fit
aerial, mounted in the near side wing, powered up and down by the two
buttons on the dash (which I quite like...) and I have checked this as
much as is possible, cleaned it etc etc but still the FM reception is
poor.
I have seen somewhere that aerial grounding has always been something of
an issue with the 80s series radios but I'm wondering how much of a
challenge it is to replace the aerial with another that fits in the same
place, or maybe I should go for one of the flat jobbies that runs round
the edge of one of the windows.
Similar experiences and so9lutions would be most welcome.
By the way... Message to Jon on the canal... No radio is secure but I
think the head units with the detachable front piece are about as good
as it gets.
Jeremy
HDJ81 with built-in frying pan...
 
Hi Jeremy and a very Happy New year to you all.
I had the same problem as you, plus the 'AF' (searches Alternatives
Frequencies on a long run) did'nt work.
I fitted a new telescopic insert from Toyota (quick but not very cheap) and
found the original was cracked at the base.
The radio now works (dare I say!) perfectly!
Cheers.
Dermot Allen
'97 1HD-FT
Norfolk
 
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Can you explain in more detail Dermot...?
How did you get the old one out? Is it easy to get the old one out ?
Jeremy
On 18/1/06 17:44, "dermot.allen" <[Email address removed]> wrote:
 
Hi Jeremy.
Undo the chrome nut that tightens the top of the assembly onto the top of
the wing. I used a couple of bits of plastics to fit into the slots in the
nut and undo it-I replaced the nut as the previous owner had obviously used
mole grips at some point!
There (if I remember correctly) is a chrome collar/guide that lifts out, it
is then a matter of pressing the 'up' button with one hand and catching the
aerial as it jumps out at full extension with the other! Or get the Missus
to help!
Unscrew the cable from the bottom of the mast and screw in the new, I used a
dab of copperslip to ensure a good contact. The rest is the reverse of
disassembly as they say in the manual (only it doesn't say anything about it
in mine!), no need to go inside the wing.
When I remember I clean/lube the mast with WD40.
I used to think the 'up/down' buttons were a pain next to an auto setup but
at least you can listen to a cd when there is a risk of loosing your aerial.
Good luck
Dermot Allen
'97 1HD-FT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeremy Llewellyn-Jones" <[Email address removed]>
To: <[Email address removed]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 6:27 PM
Subject: Re: [ELCO] Radio reception
 
Dermot
| Unscrew the cable from the bottom of the mast and screw in
| the new, I used a dab of copperslip to ensure a good contact.
| The rest is the reverse of disassembly as they say in the
| manual (only it doesn't say anything about it in mine!), no
| need to go inside the wing.
Aha! I think that's the magic sentence. My aerial stalk was missing
when I bought the truck, so I stuck in a new one. But I didn't have the
toothed thingy to make it go up and down, nor - crucially - did I have a
cable to connect to the bottom of the new mast. I imagine the previous
owner just yanked it all out.
I should think my poor radio reception is due to that missing
connection.
I've tried fishing in there with no luck, and getting the assembly out
altogether looks next to impossible - any ideas anyone?
Christopher Bell
____________________________________________________________
Electronic mail messages entering and leaving Arup business
systems are scanned for acceptability of content and viruses
 
Cheers Dermot.
I like the up down buttons. I'll gor source myself a new aerial.
Jeremy
On 18/1/06 19:10, "dermot.allen" <[Email address removed]> wrote:
 
Jeremy,
Does the reception improve if the aerial is fully up? When the reception
is bad and the aerial is up, if you waggle the aerial gently in its
base, does it crackle more? If it does it might be a bad contact between
the aerial tube and the aerial base and you can replace the whip from
the outside on an 80 without removing the full cable (not sure about an
81?). This may make a better ground connection. Similarly if you can get
the front fascia off the dashboard, and get your hand round the back of
the radio the plug that goes into the back may be a little loose (I
can't do this, I have to remove the four screws and pull the whole unit
slightly forward). These have a pin in the centre for the main
connection but also rely on the outer ground and these can be bent out
slightly to get a better connection.
Might be worth trying the above first if it avoids having to change the
whole aerial.
David
 
Whoops, sorry all. Thought I'd got to the end of the new mail and
replied but then saw this "slider bar thingy" on the right side of the
computer window and lo and behold, sliding it up shows me that there
were loads more emails and the question had been answered! Doh!!
n
 
Thanks David.
Further investigation will have to wait a bit due to the inconvenience of
the day job...
Jeremy
On 18/1/06 19:55, "David Roulson" <[Email address removed]> wrote:
 
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