Radio Reception

[pilgrim]

I understand there is a modification you can make to the aerial to improve radio reception, is this correct? What is it and does it work? Cheers

[TIPPER]

Hi Pilgrim. There's been so much written on this topic that it could warrant a forum of its own. A search of the archives will yield a wealth of information. The most common mod involves improving the earthing of the aeriel, the results however seem to vary from car to car. I've found on my S1 that turning the lights on virtually banishes the clicks, crackles pops and apparantly I'm not alone on this. I'm going to be tackling a complete stereo upgrade on my car in the near future so I'll post a warts n'all report on here for anyone interested.
BTW where in the Westcountry are you?

[pilgrim]

Thanks Tipper. I'm in Bristol.

[jonscz]

Hi Pilgrim...this lot is from SELOC. Hope it works. Cheers, Jon


radio reception



After reading all the various topics on the radio, and having little personal success with the suggestions for improving reception.

The best way I have found to improve the S2 with radio reception is to simply get a longer aerial (on the S2 with boot lid aerials), as the standard S2 aerial is very short.

I got an identically looking but 50% longer aerial from a scrap yard off an old rover, and it cost nothing ....

The reception is noticeably better than before, allowing me to receive stations from a few areas where it would previously cut out completely.

I could have got a longer aerial but thought that at any more than 50% longer it may have looked funny. Looking at it now I think I could have got an even longer aerial and it still would have looked ok.


S2 Elise 111S & Pinarello/ Campag. Road Racer
Mood:Where did I leave my car??
posted on 18-11-2005 at 01:15 PM



Tin foil stuck to the underside of the boot lid works a treat.

Just make that you make a connection between that and the ariel.



Quote:
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Originally posted by LondonLotus
Tin foil stuck to the underside of the boot lid works a treat.


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Not with the DAB radios it doesn't. The aerial is under the front clam IIRC



also -
Fit a metal plate to the base of the aerial and then earth it in the engine bay. Wrap the cabling to try and isolate it?


and
if you get a grounding plate (and make sure you earth it) then it helps a lot...silver foil tape around the aerial lead too...this all helps.

and
Try the cheap solutions first.
I wrapped metal tape around the cable from the underside of the ariel for about 2 ft. Lovely crisp sound from hundreds of stations now
This doesn't seem to resolve reception issues on all S2s though, but it is cheaper than a grounding plate.


and this seems to be good -
If you really want to try a ground plane, get some bacofoil stick it to the underside of the boot with blu tack. Make sure it's well connected to the aerial earth nut, i.e. that it's tightened down on it and that's got a good connection to the cabling and make it as big as you can without covering the cooling slots, shape is unimportant. See if there is an improvement. There will be some, but not a lot. This will prove the ineffectiveness of this exercise without costing anything, especially if you bake the turkey in it first!

I wouldn't use a separate earth for the ground plane as if this is earthier than the existing aerial earth it could make things worse (hum loops). However, just get a couple of crock clips and try it, you never know. Don't waste a lot of time and dosh on a proper job until you've done a quick rig to try it out. I drove around with this set up on my S2 for a couple of years. It was a waste of time, but I couldn't be bothered to remove it. I tried everything I could think of, but failed to improve the situation. FM on my 111R isn't great either. Even though there is now a dipole under the front clam, which should make things a bit better and the old Stack system has gone too.

and again -
I have fitted a grounding plate and with metal tape over it(maplins for that)...makes a big difference for me. Also connected the ariel leads properly - about 12inchs from the ariel and insulated the connector.

and -

I've got a grounding plate and I've earthed the aerial to the bolts that hold the engine cover / boot lid on. Have also wrapped the aerial wire up in foil tape.

All that lot took me about 10 - 15 minutes and has worked wonders.

I could keep posting these from SELOC, but if you have a login, then search the forums there. There is also a link with pics, but it won't appear here.
If it's a 111R, with the DAB, then I think that's a different matter as the aerial is in the front.
Hope this help, Jon