Elise S2 - poor radio reception?

[LotusEater666]

Hello,

Any ideas for improving radio reception on the Elise? Whether the antenna is fitted or removed seems to have no effect which leads me to believe it may not be wired to the radio unit properly. On the other hand I believe that Elise radio reception is generally poor because of the lack of a ground plate.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

[bogie]

loads of threads on this - check out techwiki on www.seloc.org for ideas for improvement

[Touffaye]

I guess your radio is not connected properly. It does happen sometimes and can be tricky to re-connect. That said, if you have the original Blaupunkt, that does not help. I have just fitted an Alpine and it is much better (well, when I can hear it - Stage 1 exhaust and Hurricane induction kit...)

[boobles]

Rap tinfoil yes tinfoil around the cables that are below the ariel itself! It does work. Or some kind of metal plate directly underneath the ariel.

[Hollywood Wheels]

4-2-1, Hurricane, decat pipe, Janspeed..............no more need for a radio...

[LotusEater666]

Touffaye said:

I guess your radio is not connected properly. It does happen sometimes and can be tricky to re-connect

Mine's a Clarion. The info says I need a couple of "hook plates" to remove the unit. Had a look on Ebay but none there! :O

[Touffaye]

LotusEater666 said:

Touffaye said:

I guess your radio is not connected properly. It does happen sometimes and can be tricky to re-connect

Mine's a Clarion. The info says I need a couple of "hook plates" to remove the unit. Had a look on Ebay but none there! :O

In the worst case, try to go to Halfords and have one of the guys take the unit out. I've done that before without appointment. Just went there when it was quiet and I gave the chap a tenner. Took 2 mins.

[LotusEater666]

LotusEater666 said:

Mine's a Clarion. The info says I need a couple of "hook plates" to remove the unit. Had a look on Ebay but none there! :O

Do a search for "clarion removal" on Ebay.

[LotusEater666]

Turns out there was no plug at the end of the antenna cable, someone had just taped the cable to the unit and as the signal wire and shield were touching the signal quality was horrendous.

That fixed I can now pick up 2 regional stations excellently and Radio 4 is OK whilst parked on the drive. The others are still missing.

Edited by LotusEater666 on Saturday 18th August 11:38

[LotusEater666]

Well after some more playing around I think I need to buy another stereo that's less susceptible to external interference. The original Clarion unit works perfectly when it's sitting on the passenger seat but when I move it closer to the binnacle or back into its stereo slot the interference kicks in.

[Trixster]

I can get FM channels pretty well but if there are any electrics running other than the radio MW is totally borked, which is a shame as I really enjoy listening to 5Live.

[LotusEater666]

^ I noticed that too. With the stereo back in its slot, the reception is pretty good on FM and I even get RDS text on some of the channels. But this is with the ignition key in position 1 and no other electrics on.

[LotusEater666]

I assume the aerial base is an amplified unit (mine's an S2) and the thin cable coming out of it is +12V? If so perhaps this has packed up cos removing the aerial does not affect the reception for better or worse...

[zebra]

Hollywood Wheels said:

4-2-1, Hurricane, decat pipe, Janspeed..............no more need for a radio...

....and take the roof off!

[Imran-vx]

You have a radio? Lucky lucky barsteward.

Series 1 owner.

[LotusEater666]

I also removed the ground cable between aerial base and battery and isolated it from the aluminium foil on the boot lid (ground plane). The reception is now much improved and listenable.

[Trixster]

Is that the case for both FM and MW?

[sigmamark]

Don't know why or how, but the radio in my 05 111R works fine with the hard top on and is rubbish with the soft top!!!

[LotusEater666]

Trixster said:

Is that the case for both FM and MW?

Yep, AM stations are also better.

Although the reception is improved it's still not as good as on most other cars, and the quality comes and goes with location and atmospherics. However with engine and dash off, the reception is perfect.

[LotusEater666]

sigmamark said:

Don't know why or how, but the radio in my 05 111R works fine with the hard top on and is rubbish with the soft top!!!

There's an electrical component in the back which if I touch the reception becomes perfect even with the dash on... perhaps a grounding issue with that component.

To progress further, I think it's now a case of removing fuses to isolate the main causes of RFI and then trying to shield them.