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Can AM reception in car radios be improved?

S

Santa fe

Does anyone have any tips how to improve AM reception in newer car radios? It seems the newer the car, the poorer the AM. They used to have little rubber duckie whips but now they seem to rely on small windshield antennae. Stations I can hear fine in a 2011 model are unlistenable in a 2020.
Not that the band is full of great programming, but I do use it on occasion.
Apparently, few other people do.
 
Santa fe said:
Does anyone have any tips how to improve AM reception in newer car radios? It seems the newer the car, the poorer the AM. They used to have little rubber duckie whips but now they seem to rely on small windshield antennae. Stations I can hear fine in a 2011 model are unlistenable in a 2020.
Not that the band is full of great programming, but I do use it on occasion.
Apparently, few other people do.
Click to expand...
The windshield antennas have been around for years in many cars as I recall back to at least the 1980's. I think the difference is there is more electronics and computer chips in newer cars and possibly more interference as a result. Also, many AM's are not that powerful to begin with.
 
You could always go with an in-line amplifier, but then you deal with amplified noise, not necessarily amplified signal.

Example: https://tinyurl.com/4jpd57nr

There's sensitivity and then there's selectivity.
 
Probably not much you can do. Usually the radio itself affects reception, depending on placement and how good the tuner is. In some newer vehicles, at least Ford vehicles since 2005 or so in my experience, the tuner is better isolated to reject interference from the ignition module, or designed to fade out the heavy interference. I can also predict that with other listening options available nowadays, that the quality of radio itself may have been cheapen, especially on the AM side.
 
Which station(s) you are trying to listen to? And where are you listening from? Maybe they have an FM translator.
 
My mom listened to an AM gospel/country AM in TN in her car and it sounded like crap and she lived like 2 miles from their antenna. She didn't even know they had an FM translator till I told her about it when I was visiting. She no longer drives so I don't know what she listens to now.
 
The Ford Focus I owned from 2013-last year had just about the worst AM radio I've ever encountered. I know I posted about it in different threads years back, but the wiring just wrecked AM reception between 530 and about 1000. The closest 50K to my residence, WLW, was almost unlistenable during the summer from 90 miles and still took interference during the winter.
No mechanic I ever asked could figure out why. Not saying they put much effort into thinking about it, but nothing ever fixed the problem.
The 2014 Honda Civic I bought last year has an excellent AM radio. No internal interference at all.
 
Most cars now use the rear window defroster grid as the antenna, and it is amplified. But reception may be affected by the rest of the car's electronics. The AM reception in my VW Jetta noticeably improves when I shut off the ignition and use the radio in accessory mode. Some of the interference might be caused by the car's built-in OnStar-like service which is obsolete now that the 3G mobile phone network has been shut down. Maybe someday I'll see if I can disconnect it entirely.
 
The 2007 Hyundai Sonata I had until a year ago had a great AM at first, but a wire came loose and it became far less sensitive, though still picked up 50 kW skywave really well at night. Go figure.

The 2022 Hyundai Elantra I have now has an AM even more sensitive than the Sonata's was at the outset. Could listen to WJR Detroit in Chicago's north suburbs at midafternoon last week, before critical hours. WLW was there too. No interference from any in-car electronics. It all depends on the build quality.
 
I'm sure there's a reason this can't work but what about a large loop antenna, like on the big upright radios in the 1940s? You could have two of them at 90 degree angles mounted in the trunk and hard wired to the radio.
 
semoochie said:
I'm sure there's a reason this can't work but what about a large loop antenna, like on the big upright radios in the 1940s? You could have two of them at 90 degree angles mounted in the trunk and hard wired to the radio.
Click to expand...
It wouldn't work. Your car's body is metal, and blocks radio signals. In fact, the trunk is pretty close to a Faraday cage.
 
kevtronics said:
It wouldn't work. Your car's body is metal, and blocks radio signals. In fact, the trunk is pretty close to a Faraday cage.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure about that as there have been stories of people either stuck in a trunk or placed there and a cell phone was used to call for help. Of course, the frequencies are different but the signals got through.
 
kevtronics said:
Most cars now use the rear window defroster grid as the antenna, and it is amplified. But reception may be affected by the rest of the car's electronics. The AM reception in my VW Jetta noticeably improves when I shut off the ignition and use the radio in accessory mode. Some of the interference might be caused by the car's built-in OnStar-like service which is obsolete now that the 3G mobile phone network has been shut down. Maybe someday I'll see if I can disconnect it entirely.
Click to expand...
Some antennas are in the windshield as well.
 
VintageMac said:
I'm not sure about that as there have been stories of people either stuck in a trunk or placed there and a cell phone was used to call for help. Of course, the frequencies are different but the signals got through.
Click to expand...
Why didn't they just pull the glow-in-the-dark inside release tab, which has been required on all new vehicles with an enclosed trunk since 2002?

maxresdefault.jpg
 
I'm assuming my 04 Impala is having a radio issue but it has the "antenna in the rear window" and I thought that with, as far as AM is concerned, sounded like crap. Used to be able to pick up WCBS & CFZM, now some nights nothing at all and local AM stations WKVX out of Wooster, I can no longer pick up and even though I'm only a couple of miles from the WAKR tower it only comes in clear when I am driving by it. Give me the cars with the old style antenna sticking out of the fender! I'd replace the radio but for some damn reason Chevy decided to integrate the onboard messaging system controls [oil change, low tire pressure, headlight out, etc.] into the radio and if I replaced it I'd STILL have to tie it into the new radio to delete/control/change any of the messages. Besides, as old as the car is, it's not worth putting the effort into changing it out.
 
VintageMac said:
Don't know but that is not the point. A trunk is not a Faraday Cage.
Click to expand...
If it has sheet metal or metal screen on all sides, then it is a Faraday Cage.
 
kevtronics said:
Most cars now use the rear window defroster grid as the antenna, and it is amplified. But reception may be affected by the rest of the car's electronics. The AM reception in my VW Jetta noticeably improves when I shut off the ignition and use the radio in accessory mode. Some of the interference might be caused by the car's built-in OnStar-like service which is obsolete now that the 3G mobile phone network has been shut down. Maybe someday I'll see if I can disconnect it entirely.
Click to expand...
I have noticed this on my 2005 Jeep. Most stations get a noticable improvement if the engine is off, and I can recieve a few extra ones that usually disappear when I'm driving around. My engine produces some spurious noises, like at 740 AM, covering up KVOR completely. But turn the engine off, and there is KVOR!
Santa fe said:
Does anyone have any tips how to improve AM reception in newer car radios? It seems the newer the car, the poorer the AM. They used to have little rubber duckie whips but now they seem to rely on small windshield antennae. Stations I can hear fine in a 2011 model are unlistenable in a 2020.
Not that the band is full of great programming, but I do use it on occasion.
Apparently, few other people do.
Click to expand...
Some car brands make a better effort than others, but some things to try is if you can tie up a loop antenna or a longwire to the antenna , or possibly switch out the interface on the radio. Before you shell out for a new reciever though, do a test with the engine on, and the engine off, but accessories remain on. If you notice a difference, than the car's electronics are at fault, which is increasingly the case with EV's.

From there, consider replacing the antenna. Or, at last resort, consider a different car. If you're test driving on your own, you should consider a short-list of stations that you can test the signal strength on, etc.
kevtronics said:
It wouldn't work. Your car's body is metal, and blocks radio signals. In fact, the trunk is pretty close to a Faraday cage.
Click to expand...
DavidEduardo said:
If it has sheet metal or metal screen on all sides, then it is a Faraday Cage.
Click to expand...
Yes, the trunk is a faraday cage, your entire car is, to an extent, but that doesn't mean that signals can't necessarily get through, especially local ones. You will notice a signal drop in the trunk, though.
 
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