Radio reception - Griff 500
Discussion
Has anyone had the same problem of the radio reception getting more and more distorted over first 10 to 20 minutes of driving. (After that we have to resort to the cd's or the lovely sound of the exhaust!! but other half not so keen on that.) Suspect the active aerial - or what. Help..........
Chris
Chris
I believe the aerial is above the screen anyway, but that doesn't mean to say a better screen type aerial won't be better.
An auto electronics shop reckoned that good reception would be tough due to the vehicle not having a decent ground plane, on account of it not being metal.
I've looked at various aerials in car accessory stores (sorry, don't go there often!) but never taken the plunge 'cos I don't know if it'll improve matters.
The only working suggestion I've heard so far is to upgrade to a DAB stereo, but they're not cheap, and I haven't seen a DAB+minidisc head yet.
An auto electronics shop reckoned that good reception would be tough due to the vehicle not having a decent ground plane, on account of it not being metal.
I've looked at various aerials in car accessory stores (sorry, don't go there often!) but never taken the plunge 'cos I don't know if it'll improve matters.
The only working suggestion I've heard so far is to upgrade to a DAB stereo, but they're not cheap, and I haven't seen a DAB+minidisc head yet.
I am probably being clueless but if a small portable radio made with a plastic body has good reception then why should a TVR not have good reception too? Does the GRP interfere with the reception or is it electronic interferance from the engine that plays havoc?
Edited by John Bull on Friday 9th November 18:24
Edited by John Bull on Friday 9th November 18:24
Same question as John Bull's. I can see that having a large metal plate relatively close to the ground on a "normal" car would offer some capicitance that could earth a radio signal, but there must be aerial designs that don't need any earthing at all (unless I've missed the 35000 ft earthing strap dangling out the back of 747s
).
Having some kind of an earth would no doubt siginificantly improve the reception of an aerial and make the signal to noise ratio much better in the noisey environment of a car. My main reception problems start when I turn on the windscreen wipers. Noise sources are going to be the spark plugs and any DC motors (like the wipers). Cures are choke coils in series with the radio power supply and capacitors across the sources of noise. Anyone tried this? Any tips?
). Having some kind of an earth would no doubt siginificantly improve the reception of an aerial and make the signal to noise ratio much better in the noisey environment of a car. My main reception problems start when I turn on the windscreen wipers. Noise sources are going to be the spark plugs and any DC motors (like the wipers). Cures are choke coils in series with the radio power supply and capacitors across the sources of noise. Anyone tried this? Any tips?
Hang on hang on, there are some very odd theories flying about here.
The problem with fibreglass cars isn't the grounding. The chassis can easily do that if wired up properly. And this business about the large metal plate close to ground... :-)
There *may* be an issue that the aerial on most steel cars is outside of the bodyshell, and therefore the grounded bodyshell provides quite a good lot of screening from the electrical noise of the engine/electrics. That's it as far as I know.
I've tried an aerial booster... no difference, and a boosted screen aerial. This seemed better, but was either *very* position dependant, or had a bad connection. I'm starting to suspect my radio, but I should point out that since my tracker GPS/GSM module is in there somewhere (not telling!) this could be providing a lot of the noise.
I don't get any engine-related whines/whistles, so it's something else. Either signal strength, poor earthing or heavy high frequency interference.
The problem with fibreglass cars isn't the grounding. The chassis can easily do that if wired up properly. And this business about the large metal plate close to ground... :-)
There *may* be an issue that the aerial on most steel cars is outside of the bodyshell, and therefore the grounded bodyshell provides quite a good lot of screening from the electrical noise of the engine/electrics. That's it as far as I know.
I've tried an aerial booster... no difference, and a boosted screen aerial. This seemed better, but was either *very* position dependant, or had a bad connection. I'm starting to suspect my radio, but I should point out that since my tracker GPS/GSM module is in there somewhere (not telling!) this could be providing a lot of the noise.
I don't get any engine-related whines/whistles, so it's something else. Either signal strength, poor earthing or heavy high frequency interference.
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