I've got a radio on my boat, AM/FM/Weather, it has a short stubby antenna that's about 9" long. Are there any tricks I can try to get better reception?
My boat is aluminum, I'm wondering if running a jumper wire from the antenna to a bolt on the hull would help - would that basically make the whole hull act like an antenna and help with reception?
Is there some little gadget on the market that boosts radio reception?
There is such a thing as a FM antenna booster, had one years ago worked well
I have come across a few of those while doing my research, apparently there are a lot of generic ones on the market with mixed reviews, I can't seem to find one with good reviews.Quote:
Originally Posted by DEADEYE
I can tell you that running a wire from the antenna on the radio to the boat is a bad idea. When your boat is in the water it is effectively a ground. You didn’t say what type of radio you have, but if it has the ability to attach an external antenna running a wire from the negative terminal to the boat will help tremendously. The two most common connectors for external antennas are the Two Screws type where one is ground and the other is the antenna element. The other type is the Automotive type which looks like a deep hole in the back of the radio. For that type you will need a coax connector.
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The automotive type is what I've got.Quote:
Originally Posted by Clint
My radio is in a box, and I have an antenna on it. What's weird is I have great reception with the radio box lid off, but when I put the lid on the reception goes to crap. I'm starting to wonder if it's just a junk antenna.
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plastic box?
It sounds like the connection between the radio and the antenna is bad. With the lid open the wire that is supposed to be connected to the antenna is acting as the antenna.
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It looks like a standard auto antenna so replacing it should be easy.
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I would say the antenna is your problem..
No, aluminum.Quote:
Originally Posted by shuorc
Exactly what I was thinking too. Those types of antennas are cheap, I'll just grab another one and see what happens.Quote:
Originally Posted by Clint
Antenna is probably grounding out on the box.Quote:
Originally Posted by artcarney_agr
How good is the AM/FM/ tuner on the radio,a good tuner will pull in the signal better, just like it does for a home stereo.Quote:
Originally Posted by artcarney_agr
How would I know? It's a Boss MGR350BQuote:
Originally Posted by Techno2000
I had this same unit on a different boat, a Ranger bass boat, and it did pretty well with an antenna zip-tied up under the dash.
You would have to compare it to other tuners. They have FM tuners for home stereo that go for $1,800 and that's just for the tuner...Lol.Quote:
Originally Posted by artcarney_agr
The aluminum box is shielding your radios internal antenna(or at least the tuner) try a plastic lid for the box. The car radio in my tracker came in a plastic mount.
Not going to do that. Plastic won't last, this boat also gets hunted out of in the winter.Quote:
Originally Posted by shuorc
Clint is on to something, and I must agree with him. The fact that it works with the lid off is a huge clue. It suggests to the RF-savvy that the antenna, or the transmission line connection between the receiver and antenna is bad, such that the transmission line (coax, board traces, etc) inside the box from ant to input is picking up the signal, not the antenna. When the lid is put on, the line acting as an antenna is now inside an RF shield (or at least inside a wave guide below cut-off frequency of FM which is 87-108 MHz), so no signal. This is what I'm thinking. It is probably quickest to try another antenna first.
I bought a different antenna yesterday afternoon, and the guts of it look a lot beefier. I installed it last night and it appears to have solved the problem. I feel like this new antenna is better shielded than the other one was.
I think I must of had a Faraday cage thing going on with that crappy antenna.
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