crap signal

dubtom

I posted about the very very crap reception on the radio in my Rodius before, it's due aparently to the aerial being in the back window. I've gotten used to losing reception,like everytime a bus pulls up beside me etc.Ssangyong replaced the radio, no fix. I just got one of those recievers that let you listen to an mp3 player via the radio, you guessed it though, crap reception because of the bad aerial.Is there any way I can booste the signal without drilling and putting a basic aerial in the car. Taking the radio out is a dash out job,I'd rather not go there.Maybe something I could place aroung the back of the car somewhere, a miracle fix, some invention you have that's a secret and nobody knows about yet, I wont tell anyone,I swear. I can live with losing joe duffy occasionally,but listening to my treasured mp3's garbled and sounding crap isn't nice.
Any help,ideas,inventions?

gobby

You would probably be better off with a direct connection from the mp3 player into the headunit rather than using one of those small transmitters but that woiuld require removing the unit!

How old is the car btw?

As for a miracle fix. Hmmm... Nothing that I can think of that would fix your problem easily I'm afraid...

legs11

i dont even know how you manage to drive that thing........ahem:eek:

as for the radio, just put in a after market one, you might have a dodgey co ax antenna wire or something...

dubtom

A direct connection Gobby,how would that be done.Cars a year old ,as I said,humongus job removing the radio.Can a connection be bought and wired directly into the radio,an mp3 player lead type thing. It's a creative btw,do new radios with mp3 connections cater for them or is it usually just ipods.

The car drives lovely, legs, I manage admirably, their becoming very popular now;)

Fey!

DubTom; is the Rodius a taxi? Is there ANY chance that the interference might be from the meter/printer/nav unit? Or is this a common Rodius fault?

Just trying to halp isolate the problem before it becomes a dash-out job like a radio change. As someone else said, it may be a faulty aeriel lead, or maybe the connection on the back of the radio is loose; can you get your hand to the back of the radio to check that the aeriel is plugged in right?

gobby

dubtom wrote: »

A direct connection Gobby,how would that be done.Cars a year old ,as I said,humongus job removing the radio.Can a connection be bought and wired directly into the radio,an mp3 player lead type thing. It's a creative btw,do new radios with mp3 connections cater for them or is it usually just ipods.

The car drives lovely, legs, I manage admirably, their becoming very popular now;)

Well I didn't realise that the car was so new. Direct connection would defo be easier in a car where the headunit is easy to remove. Newer cars all seem to have the radios fairly well integrated into the interior mouldings.

Even if you could remove the headunit you would be looking for an input on the back of the headunit. Maybe you could find out if one exists in the manual for the car or for the stereo.

If there is an input then you would be talking about removing the headunit and plugging in a cable (the type of cable would depend on the connections on the headunit and the mp3 player) and then routing the cable to somewhere like the glovebox.

Again, this would only be possible if there was a spare input on the back of the headunit

Actually, it may be worth looking around the inside of the car. My girlfriends car has a jack near the handbrake and its actually an input for the stereo. She plugs her mp3 player into it a lot!

Fey!

This may sound just dumb, but is the stereo cassette or CD?

dubtom

Yes it's a taxi Fey,but I've talked to several other taxi users and they don't have issues with theirs, so it's defo not a common fault. The radio was changed before so it's not the unit itself. My idea for a cheap fix was based on the fact that in my kitchen radio has a crap fm signal which can be fixed by placing a metal object near it (actually i have a headphone jack stuck in the aerial outlet) and it works fine. i was hoping that by perhaps putting a magnet or something close to the back window it might help, probably a stupid idea:o

dubtom

Fey! wrote: »

This may sound just dumb, but is the stereo cassette or CD?

It's cd fey, with a 6 changer beneath it. It's a blaupunct (SP)london something or other.

Fey!

When the radio was changed, was the aeriel plugged back in properly?

Or is the bad reception the reason the radio was changed? If it was, how long ago was it done?

Possibly try burning a few of your mp3s onto a cd and see if your head unit will play it. Then try the same thing with your changer. It's a longshot, but if it works it could save you some grief.

TychoCaine

My Volvo S80 has it's aerial in the back bumper, which would seem to be an even worse position and I've no complaints about reception. I'd say you've got some interference or a dodgy connection somewhere.

But those transmitter yokes are crap even when you've got a perfect aerial. I had an Griffin iTrip for my iPod and I tossed it and replaced the head unit altogether.

kikel

I had a similar problem lately on my car. Turned out to be a dry joint on the wire that connects to the rear window. Do you know anyone with a soldering iron?

colm_mcm

just fit an aeriel to the roof. I doubt you're worried about resale value or about detracting from the looks!