Aftermarket radio + VX antenna?

[PitViper]

Anyone have any further input on this? I just swapped out my stock radio w/an Alpine head unit and the AM reception is almost non existent. I used a Crutchfield harness, but am now thinking that the extra wire that was jumped into the factory harness at the connector might have been power for the antenna which the aftermarket harness doesn’t account for. Toughts??

[etlsport]

i dont have any trouble with reception and i didnt even use the factory harness for my wiring, i ran a new power, new ground etc, only wire i used from the factory unit was to dim the faceplate when the headlights are on

[Spike]

Anyone have any further input on this? I just swapped out my stock radio w/an Alpine head unit and the AM reception is almost non existent. I used a Crutchfield harness, but am now thinking that the extra wire that was jumped into the factory harness at the connector might have been power for the antenna which the aftermarket harness doesn’t account for. Toughts??

AM 'should' use a ferrite dipole loop antenna inside the radio itself. I dont think the roof antenna affects AM at all... But I could be wrong.

[PitViper]

AM 'should' use a ferrite dipole loop antenna inside the radio itself. I dont think the roof antenna affects AM at all... But I could be wrong.

Not sure of the specifics, but with the 12v antenna wire connected I now get AM clear as a whistle.

[MustangO4]

I have the same problem with AM. Did you connect it to anywhere in particular or just splice it to the radio input power?

[PitViper]

I have the same problem with AM. Did you connect it to anywhere in particular or just splice it to the radio input power?

I connected it to the antenna power wire on the Alpine head unit. You probably don't want to use the main or acc power since it would be on more then it needs to be. The antenna power line only reads 12v when the radio is on.

[Spike]

Not sure of the specifics, but with the 12v antenna wire connected I now get AM clear as a whistle.

My AM whistles when i am near high tension lines :P

[etlsport]

Not sure of the specifics, but with the 12v antenna wire connected I now get AM clear as a whistle.

huh! guess that shows how much i listen to the radio in my VX.. long live the mp3 DVD!

[MustangO4]

Thanks, now I have a project for this morning. As for the side conversation, I put in SIRIUS and love it. It is the way to go for music. I just like the local talk on AM for the politics, news and traffic.
"Play anything man, just play it loud!"

[kpaske]

A few comments about Satellite radio...

As much as I love music and variety and dislike repetative programming and all that, I don't think satellite radio is all it's cracked up to be. The first problem, and most annoying for me, is that it doesn't work when you're driving through heavily wooded areas. During my daily commute, I might get satellite reception 15% of the time. So I thought it might be good for long trips. I drove 15 hours, each way, to California and back over the holidays, so I had plenty of time to sample everything Sirius had to offer. 184 channels and nothing to listen to. I don't listen to Sports either (there are more of us than you think, Bart!) and I don't listen to very much talk radio unless its NPR or news or something semi-intelligent. So that leaves me with tons of great music, non-stop on the other half of the channels, right? Well, maybe, but I can still never seem to find anything to listen to. The other major downfall with Satellite radio is the fact that it takes too long to scan through stations. Because satellite communication is two-way (unlike radio, which is one-way), it takes a LOT longer to make a connection, authenticate, and get the signal streaming through your speakers. FM is almost instantaneous. Maybe some radios address this problem better than others, but the one I have in my VW is horrendous. And since I like to scan the stations rather than listen to a small number of presets, and it takes FOREVER to move from one station to the next, satellite just doesn't do it for me. I'd be curious to hear if others have had similar complaints with other satellite radios.

[Cobrajet]

I've had XM for a couple years and I too experience dropouts when in heavily wooded areas. This only occurs in a couple areas in my 85-mile daily commute, and only for a second or so. I drove from Northern Virginia to Atlanta over Christmas, and never lost the signal. My daughter did most of the tuning. She likes to pick the comedy channels, and different rock channels. I stick with a few channels that I have pre-set. I've never had a problem with a long lag while scanning. I never listen to FM in my VX any more, and there are no AM stations that I ever listen to.

I got XM because they had NASCAR, and I even bought a boom box so I could listen to the driver radios while watching the race on TV. Unfortunately, there is so much delay in the XM signal, that the radio feed was useless, and annoying. The boom box has been relegated to the garage for those times when I'm waxing the VX.

[Chopper]

interesting, a five year old post, that got like TWO return posts back in the day, has generated two pages of responses in the last few days. I don't know that the AM even works...but then,I've never squirted the windshield washers either. It has ,however, traveled about 200yards in low low