[Radio] Help with Radio reception

[alanwalne]

Could some owners who regularly travel round the top of the M25 or up the M11 let me know what your radio reception is like.

I am shocked that even round the M25 I can loose all reception in parts (nr St Albans for instance).

In none of my previous cars (Renault & Vauxhall) has it ever been this bad. My car is on its 2nd head unit already and had the wire checked twice as well.

[Kremmen]

I know that TC had problems with her radio and I didn't. Same stations, we live within ½ mile of each other and yet the reception was chalk and cheese.

Has to be the aerial surely?

What radio stations are you tuned into?

[alanwalne]

I have problems with Radio 1, Radio 2 and Capital.

I feel it is the aerial as the 1.8 Sport courtesy car I had during my last service was better.

[Kremmen]

Yep - those stations should be OK.

[DerChef]

Radio reception is the only downer I am having so far with my new EX

My last Golf also had an aerial built into the rear window and it was great latched onto the tiniest whiff of RF.

In fact my Podgear ipod transmitter worked hifi quality in the golf. Now often the radio cant even latch onto its signal

[Kremmen]

So if your 'new' EX has problems then there may still be a problem for some.

My year old EX is perfectly OK and the reception is about the same as my old IS200 that had a rear roof aerial.

I wonder why they decided against an external aerial ?

[mike_civic]

The only thing you can do is to change the aerial with a new external unfortunatelly.....

[alanwalne]

Kremen

Until DerChef said that he was having problems with an EX, I was going to put the differences between your radio and TC's down to the fact they are completely different units.

I did notice that the loan car had a different product code (and very slightly different functionality) to mine.

[Kremmen]

True

I still think it's aerial related though.

I assume that there is still a coax cable running through the car and to the rear window where it's connected to the upper window elements.

Surely this could be intercepted and connected to a rear whip aerial with comparative ease ?

[alanwalne]

I thought the aerial was a multi stranded cable

[DerChef]

Talked to my dealer this morning and he said they would be prepared to change the rear screen under warranty if it got worse. They have done this a couple of times now but that was when radio reception was really poor all the time not simply disappointing occasionally.

[Seasider]

My ES the radio reception is adequate on FM but AM is dreadful. I notice too that the RDS is poor and often I have to retune on journeys - never had that before and my last three cars have had internal aerials ie in the glass

[alanwalne]

I haven't even bothered with AM, only ever found it if I have pressed the Tuner button too many times

It has almost got to the level now that I just listen to my ipod, it saves the frustration with the radio, but I have now decided enough is enough.

[Kremmen]

Find a station that is poor and go to your dealers and park next to another Civic. Then get the dealer to tune the other Civic to same station and see if it picks up the station any better.

They won't be able to argue if it's clearly better.

[alanwalne]

Originally Posted by Kremmen

Find a station that is poor and go to your dealers and park next to another Civic. Then get the dealer to tune the other Civic to same station and see if it picks up the station any better.

They won't be able to argue if it's clearly better.

Annoyingly they are by a train line with third rail current, so all stations (radio) are pants there

[shedbuilder]

Originally Posted by Kremmen

True

I assume that there is still a coax cable running through the car and to the rear window where it's connected to the upper window elements.

Surely this could be intercepted and connected to a rear whip aerial with comparative ease ?

I'm afraid it's not that simple... The cable which runs from the head unit to the rear screen is not directly terminated with the antenna wires in the screen itself. It actually connects to a small amplifier on the left side of the screen. This then has three flying leads coming out of it which connect to spade terminals attached to the antenna patches printed onto the screen.

I've had radio reception issues from day-one, and have had no joy in getting the dealer or Honda to solve the problem ("Your radio is inside the allowable specification sir"). It's been into a car radio specialist in Cambridge (at my dealer's expense), who were amazed when they realised that they could disconnect the antenna patches from the amplifier with no audible change in the signal. However, disconnecting the amp from the head unit (at the amp end) causes the signal to drop, implying that the wire between head unit & amp is OK. Their original plan to diagnose the fault was to do as you say, i.e. connect a normal antenna, and see if it improved things. However they binned that as an idea when they saw the amplifier.

The trim panels to expose all of the above are currently off my car, with a view to doing a bit of experimentation attaching lengths of wire in place of the rear-window antenna patches. Hopefully I might get around to this in the next few days. I don't hold out much hope for it as a solution, but there's not much else left to try.

One thing I seem to remember reading about was that the head-unit to amplifier cable runs up the passenger side A-pillar, and can get trapped/squashed by the trim. Has anyone any experience of this happening?

[alanwalne]

Originally Posted by Kremmen

Find a station that is poor and go to your dealers and park next to another Civic. Then get the dealer to tune the other Civic to same station and see if it picks up the station any better.

They won't be able to argue if it's clearly better.

Unfortunately the 57 plate one they have has a different model number stereo to the 56 plate one I have. I am now on my third head unit (first one had a faulty CD). The third head unit appears to work better with my Ipod connector than the 2nd head unit.

Still not convinced about the radio reception, time will tell.

[pcr]

Alan,
Is that right, a different radio model in the later models ? Have they fixed the problem and not let on ?

[Kremmen]

Originally Posted by pcr

Alan,
Is that right, a different radio model in the later models ? Have they fixed the problem and not let on ?

It's a possibility.

I listen to Heart106.2 in the mornings and in the Lexus IS200, just as I got to the office out in Surrey the signal was just starting to slightly break up so I judged this as about it's extent.

The IS200 had a roof mounted stubby aerial (about 6" long).

The Civic is just the same, just I get to the office the signal is just starting to break up so my rear screen element is no worse than an external aerial.

[electric]

My EX has good FM and AM quality around the M25 J24 (Potters Bar). I have had no problems anywhere and am very happy with it. (Virgin. Capital, Magic, Smooth, Kiss, Radio 2 & 4).

My only complaint is that I can't turn off News reports. Traffic Info can be stopped with the button on the dash but the station locks on during a news report and turning to a different radio station does nothing until the News report has been terminated by the broadcaster.