My radio is not good.

[Kern Dog]

Hey guys,
Remember when we restored our cars and along the way, we though of how cool it would be to listen to songs from the era from which our cars were new?
I sure did.
I am not one to abide by originality with everything. I was not going to stick with an AM radio in the car, that is for sure.

I have an AM-FM-CD player with a USB port to attach to the phone.

The CD player plays well. The external port to the phone does play well too but the radio reception is spotty. The antenna cable and mast were reproductions that I bought in the early 2000s.
I know that listening to commercial over the air radio is old fashioned but I still like it. Maybe it is the random nature where I don't know which song will come up next, maybe it is simple nostalgia, I don't know.
I am wondering if the poor reception is due to the radio deck or the antenna. I get decent radio reception from the late model cars but that is an apples and oranges thing.
The only other old car I have here is a beater Power Wagon but even it gets better radio reception with it's AM-FM-Cassette player. I'm not skilled in radios and such but I was curious if it makes sense to unplug the existing antenna cable and slip in one of the many spares I have in the shed. I'm assuming that the mast does not need to be grounded, right?

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Most radios have a screw on the back to match the antenna to it in the older ones not sure if that one has it or not?

 

[451Mopar]

You might want to try a Bluetooth to FM Transmitter?
My CD player broke in the 2005 Ram 3500, but the radio still sounds great, so off of Amazon I got the Syncwire Bluetooth 5.4 FM transmitter car adaptor 54W that connects to the cell phone through bluetooth so I can wirelessly stream music, and it also doubles as a hands free connection with built-in microphones with the sound over the radio. It cost $26.
Works well.
Only thing is if you get a phone call and your tuned to a regular radio station, need to remember to switch back to the frequency you set the unit to transmit to.
I will try pasting the link, but usually Amazon links don't work here?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQN3YB1...?sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9ocXBfc2hhcmVk&th=1

 

[70 sublime]

Is the antena you are using a telescoping one or a solid one piece one or one of those short black ones ?
Think I would try one of your spare ones and just throw it on the dash to see if it makes any diference when you are out driving around

 

[Lefty71]

I was told after buying an aftermarket radio for the van a couple years ago, and getting stuck with a total downgrade in terreristrial radio performance as opposed to the factory Bang & Olefson sp? that came in it, that there is a total incompatibilty between the new radios and the plain old antenna connections ( and maybe even the mast) that we are used too. I cant remember the specific details.....van is a 2013 btw, and the new radio is a Kenwood, but im told Sony and Pioneer are the same issue.

 

[PurpleBeeper]

I’d check your antenna and antenna cable first since you have spares

 

[pnora]

One quick way to see if the antenna is decent is to try AM stations. A poor or bad antenna will not pull in the AM stations.

 

[MarPar]

I was told after buying an aftermarket radio for the van a couple years ago, and getting stuck with a total downgrade in terreristrial radio performance as opposed to the factory Bang & Olefson sp? that came in it, that there is a total incompatibilty between the new radios and the plain old antenna connections ( and maybe even the mast) that we are used too. I cant remember the specific details.....van is a 2013 btw, and the new radio is a Kenwood, but im told Sony and Pioneer are the same issue.

I was thinking the same thing. With the advent of "HD" terrestrial radio, the old antenna might be incompatible.

 

[69Bee]

Hey guys,
Remember when we restored our cars and along the way, we though of how cool it would be to listen to songs from the era from which our cars were new?
I sure did.
I am not one to abide by originality with everything. I was not going to stick with an AM radio in the car, that is for sure.

View attachment 2045610

I have an AM-FM-CD player with a USB port to attach to the phone.

View attachment 2045612

The CD player plays well. The external port to the phone does play well too but the radio reception is spotty. The antenna cable and mast were reproductions that I bought in the early 2000s.
I know that listening to commercial over the air radio is old fashioned but I still like it. Maybe it is the random nature where I don't know which song will come up next, maybe it is simple nostalgia, I don't know.
I am wondering if the poor reception is due to the radio deck or the antenna. I get decent radio reception from the late model cars but that is an apples and oranges thing.
The only other old car I have here is a beater Power Wagon but even it gets better radio reception with it's AM-FM-Cassette player. I'm not skilled in radios and such but I was curious if it makes sense to unplug the existing antenna cable and slip in one of the many spares I have in the shed. I'm assuming that the mast does not need to be grounded, right?

No, the mast is not grounded, it is one half of the vertical dipole, the car is the ground plane which is the other side of the dipole. The mast attaches to the antenna base which is the center of the antenna system and attaches to the car body and the mast. The problem you have is either the base connection to the fender is poor, or the cable to connector that goes into the back of the radio has a problem. People yank the cable out of the radio and can damage the wires in the connector. If you lose the ground plane connection, the radio can still receive via the antenna mast, but signals will be down as you lost one side of the antenna. Hope this makes sense...

 

[twecomm]

Hey Kern Dog, You should be able to stream from your cellphone to your car radio pictured via Bluetooth. Just pair phone to the radio.
Most older car radios had a trimmer capacitor one the rear to optimize antenna unto radio. Might need to adjust that if your modern
radio has one. Sometimes they were accessible by removing the knobs.

I think the only time I have ever heard AM in the past 20 years was by accidentally pushing the wrong button in my Honda Accord daily driver.. IMHO, nothing to listen to on AM... Certainly it not like back in the 60's and 70's when AM radio was king of then airwaves and few folks even knew what FM was. We have had XM / Sirius radio in the cars we have owned since the early 90's, so we have an account that currently covers her 2019 Buick LaCrosse, but I rudely discovered when buying my 2023, Honda Accord, Honda no longer offers XM radio, so I was out of luck on my 23 Honda purchase... but Bluetooth streaming is an option, as most cars nowadays.
With my 66 Charger I got in 2010, I decided that it would be kept as original as practical. First thing I did when I got the car was to find and install a year correct Mopar AM-FM ( mono ) radio on E bay to replace the AM only radio. Before I installed the AM-FM radio, I modified it adding an external under dash mounted 1/8" ( 3.5 MM ) stereo jack so I could play music off my I-Pod thru the car radio. The 1/8" stereo jack had ( normalizing ) contacts internal that passed the radio thru if nothing was plugged in. The modification consisted of an added a summing amplifier to properly combine the external devices stereo L & R channels together, at proper level, to match the level of the AM-FM tuner section of the radio. The combined mono output of the summing amp feeds the high side of the volume control of the cars AM-FM radio (which is where I interrupted the audio path with the jack) retaining use of the radios amplifier and volume control as well as original dash mounted speaker.
About 4 years ago, I discovered these small modules were available ( link below ). Mine is slightly different than the link, but function is same. This was exactly what I wanted to replace my jack to expand my listening options. On an E bay, you can search " FM Bluetooth audio module " you will find many variations available depending on features you want or need. Some even have Class D amps on board to drive external speakers. Since I had already did the mod described to the radio, it was quite easy to install and replace the 1/8" stereo jack I had added with this module. This little device features Bluetooth, an FM tuner, USB port for thumb drive or charging your phone, a TF memory card port, as well as an 1/8" aux input jack on front that can still be used. The aux input also appears on one of the connectors on then rear for whatever audio device you want to connect, which is how I get the audio from the cars AM-FM radio's tuner. section I don't use the modules FM feature though, but could by connenting cars fender mounted radio antenna. Heck, even has an infrared remote control. I'll add that I separately fused the 12 V to this device. All these features for $ 8.45 ?? crazy cheap..
When ever I'm in the 66 charger, I'm typiciallly listening to XM/Sirius radio and to my favorite channels via Bluetooth connection from my I phone to the small module shown in the link. If you have an XM-Sirius account, you can stream audio using the XM/Sirius app on your phone. What you can access to stream is some as the XM-Sirius package you have.
If you have the electronic chops, or know someone qualified, this small module and could be added to any AM radio found in our cars to expand audio features.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/236082126254?_skw=FM+Bluetooth+audio+module&itmmeta=01KT6M8PBZTFYVM18Q1QJ1HSX6&hash=item36f7975dae:g:nswAAOSwpCZoFHVo&itmprp=enc:AQALAAABAGfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xD5JQGE/vYGiLD54XmsOy8+mL7oKKfb6MQOs7HgyC7aElksxJiNMXhNvWEpCKp8ik4nt9MoFE6VKCdPP2zxZIOudIdXfYpDnStrAyTxcERWZ2XmueoxNByUZTnq4KJorzApBvajKmkPkatqja3sLp6cIYccvwt8K2ExqFqUB1yuHfCx77gE0YBj9cu1iV8vQP+GDwFPpEqhW4qivVOCk6meBBzQhhGJCFAVbtrQXceibEk2JtMIvfdLL1zY3mE7ZCbSMQj11NyCgzjFgWQYsS1bRL0coO9HWT/lhfHmgKXqEhbtzXSbmgS2gF0k1pusyZ8=|tkp:Bk9SR6bmotTRZw

 

[MarPar]

Honda no longer offers XM radio, so I was out of luck on my 23 Honda purchase... but Bluetooth streaming is an option, as most cars nowadays.

My girlfriend just bought a 2023 "Certified Pre-owned" Honda CR-V and it has the Sirius built in.

 

[Bird 426]

I had S M Electro in Blaine, Minnesota convert my stock AM radio over to FM Bluetooth, but I have never tried to go through the procedure to pair the radio to my phone. If it is like my Chrysler or Ram, my phone is the the antenna so to speak, because it is the source. So my source is Iheart radio. Or am I looking at this wrong?

 

[BeepBeepRR]

Kern singing is an option tune up those pipes and just belt out whatever you feel at the moment.

 

[Billccm]

Most radios have a screw on the back to match the antenna to it in the older ones not sure if that one has it or not?

That antenna trimmer is for the AM band.

 

[Kern Dog]

One quick way to see if the antenna is decent is to try AM stations. A poor or bad antenna will not pull in the AM stations.

AM will not play on this unit, I have tried.
I do like the local AM talk radio programs so AM does have value to me. I'll look at snaking another antenna cable up in there to test it. I have the telescoping mast which I thought would have helped with reception.

 

[Kern Dog]

Kern singing is an option tune up those pipes and just belt out whatever you feel at the moment.

I used to sing along to the radio at work...L O U D and the Mexican guys found it to be quite funny.
There are things I miss about the old job.

 

[twecomm]

Hi Bird 426,
Your radio is the "Bluetooth receiver" if you will. Bluetooth is a bi directional thing. Your phone and radio, once paired, should both remember the settings, so you should only have to go thru the process once. Your converted radio should have some sort of name / number combination that was supplied to you when purchased that identifies the Bluetooth modification within. If you go to Bluetooth settings on your phone, if you know your radios code identifier, it should be on the list of Bluetooth devices that show up on the phone, you need to be sure your phone is "discoverable" for pairing and Bluetooth is on and select the radios identifier to pair to it. I would assume the process is similar as whet you do on your Ram.
If you have music loaded on your phone you can play it to the radio. If you are streaming I Heart radio or XM-Sirius, your phone is using data retrieved off the internet via your cell service to get it to your phone, then that data it's sent via Bluetooth to your radio which decodes it into an audio signal within the radio. Hope this makes some sense...

Kern Dog, If you have a piece if wire, like 10 ft. or so connected to center pin of your antenna jack, you should get some sort of signal on AM or FM.

 

[twecomm]

My girlfriend just bought a 2023 "Certified Pre-owned" Honda CR-V and it has the Sirius built in.

I believe some Honda models did, but the 2023 Honda Accord Hybrid did not. Other thing it did not have was the stock garage door opener on the mirror that previous years had. It was now a dealer add option..

 

[MarPar]

I believe some Honda models did, but the 2023 Honda Accord Hybrid did not. Other thing it did not have was the stock garage door opener on the mirror that previous years had. It was now a dealer add option..

I would think for an Accord they would offer both options as opposed to say, a Civic. Odd.

 

[Billccm]

The Motorola connector are failure prone for the center conductor opening. I like to unplug the antenna and measure the center conductor of the Motorola connector to the mast with an ohmmeter. Should measure continuity. Then measure the center of the connector to GND and confirm no shorts.

I've laid under many a dashboard carefully soldering in a new Motorola connector. This is my favorite replacement.


2321ab motorola plug | elliott electronic supply MOTOROLA PLUG