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How would I boost my FM reception in my truck?

J

jras20

Is there a stronger booster out there that I can boost my FM radio? I already have a radioshack booster but its only 10db gain. I would like to have at least a 20db gain if possible, I just wasnt sure where to look, or a good one to get.
Thanks,
J
<P ID="signature">______________
jras20</P>
 
Some comments:

(1) Those boosters usually add more noise than they do signal. Most car radios already have excellent front ends and a booster will only make matters worse.

(2) If you actually got improvement with a cheap booster like the Radio Shack unit, then you need to consider a better car radio. I will get flamed for this, but Pioneer supertuners have more sensitivity than anything else I have tried, and I get close to 300 mile reception, depending on the station and terrain.

(3) Even the Pioneer supertuners can benefit from the narrow ceramic filter modification. If you want to know more,

http://www.mindspring.com/~brucec/select.htm
http://www.geocities.com/rbrucecarter/ceramic_filter.htm

(4) CCrane still sells decent length auto antennas. It is a myth that FM antennas should be only 31 inches long:
http://www.ccrane.com/antennas/auto-antennas/index.aspx
 
I baught my cd player a while back its a JVC I dont know the model offhand.., but I believe its a super tuner 2, what do they mean by super tuners is that more sensitive?
<P ID="signature">______________
jras20</P>
 
> I baught my cd player a while back its a JVC I dont know the
> model offhand.., but I believe its a super tuner 2, what do
> they mean by super tuners is that more sensitive?

Supertuner is a trademark of Pioneer. So a JVC would not be a "supertuner". Supetuners from Pioneer, especially the 3's and 4's out DX any other car radio in the market. If they can't do it, the station is probably not receivable. I remember some guy at work one time was bragging about his top of the line Alpine, and I finally got sick of it. We parked side-by-side and did a station by station comparison. Pioneer ran rings around him. He was amazed when I got a 300 mile DX! (98.3 from somewhere in South Carolina from DeLeon Springs, FL). That 98.3 was a regular catch on my car radio, and where I live now I can regularly get a station 280 miles away. He got rid of the Alpine and got a Pioneer!
 
How does the Pioneer do on AM? <P ID="signature">______________
Greetings from Ohio-where the governor wants everyone to know he's sorry.</P>
 
> Some comments:
>
> (1) Those boosters usually add more noise than they do
> signal. Most car radios already have excellent front ends
> and a booster will only make matters worse.
>
> (2) If you actually got improvement with a cheap booster
> like the Radio Shack unit, then you need to consider a
> better car radio. I will get flamed for this, but Pioneer
> supertuners have more sensitivity than anything else I have
> tried, and I get close to 300 mile reception, depending on
> the station and terrain.
>
> (3) Even the Pioneer supertuners can benefit from the
> narrow ceramic filter modification. If you want to know
> more,
>
> http://www.mindspring.com/~brucec/select.htm
> http://www.geocities.com/rbrucecarter/ceramic_filter.htm
>
> (4) CCrane still sells decent length auto antennas. It is
> a myth that FM antennas should be only 31 inches long:
> http://www.ccrane.com/antennas/auto-antennas/index.aspx
>
yea, i have a booster that i used to use with my outdoor antenna at home, without it, most of the nashville signals come in clear (i'm 90 miles south of nashville) with it, they all are covered with noise and false stereo (where the signal isn't strong enough for stereo but the booster makes it think it is and thus results in a whole lot of noise, they especially aren't good for lower end tuners that have poor seperation such as my boombox, because I am only 8 miles from the WZYP (100kw 104.3) transmitter and 12 from the WDRM (100kw 102.1) both of those signals tend to interfere with everything on the weaker radios, with the booster, that is ALL that i hear on every frequency. So, my only suggestion would to be just get a new radio, my choice would be Pioneer with the super tuner. My dads bronco has one in it and that thing can get memphis stations (180 miles away) on a regular basis (mostly 102.7)
<P ID="signature">______________


<div align="center"><a href="http://wrcf.tk">
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</P></span></P></span>
http://dingo100.tk
http://wrcf.tk</P>
 
> How does the Pioneer do on AM?

Not as good as late 60's era Delcos, but pretty darn good! I worked on my newest model a few weeks ago - it appears that AM is completely done in their chip. Everything - RF, IF, etc. When I put a decent whip antenna on it, it DX's very well. I have had KOA Denver into Dallas daytime, before a local 850 signed on.
 
The am on mine sux, I cant hardly get anything expecally at night, could it be a big part in my 10db amp that I have hooked onto it for FM? I have that old radioshack fm 10db booster hooked onto it.
<P ID="signature">______________
jras20</P>
 
> The am on mine sux, I cant hardly get anything expecally at
> night, could it be a big part in my 10db amp that I have
> hooked onto it for FM? I have that old radioshack fm 10db
> booster hooked onto it.

Definitely. The booster is probably for FM only, it probably has no gain or even attenuation on AM.
 
> > The am on mine sux, I cant hardly get anything expecally
> at
> > night, could it be a big part in my 10db amp that I have
> > hooked onto it for FM? I have that old radioshack fm 10db
>
> > booster hooked onto it.
>
> Definitely. The booster is probably for FM only, it
> probably has no gain or even attenuation on AM.
>
Thanks well gues i'll be pulling out my radio to try to unhook the amp and see how much better it improves.
<P ID="signature">______________
jras20</P>
 
> yea, i have a booster that i used to use with my outdoor
> antenna at home, without it, most of the nashville signals
> come in clear (i'm 90 miles south of nashville) with it


In my dorm room in Blacksburg, VA (surrounded by mountains), I have my FM antenna closed under my window (aluminum frame), running through a heavily shielded coax (RG-6) cable to my desk, where it goes through a Philips 12dB TV amp (50-900 MHz, works wonders), and I can pull in a class A from Wytheville, as well as some of the smaller signals from Roanoke.

I need to get an FM trap for my cable-tv amp, however, (I have a Hauppague PVR USB2 tv/fm tuner, and both my cable and fm are amped on separate amps) with separate jacks for tv and fm, but it seems like there's some bleed over between the two. When I unhook the cable tv (amped only because VT likes to undermodulate every channel on its cable system except for PBS, which it overmodulates to the point of changing the colors - I went through a lot of work to clean up the crap they send through the pipe :p ), signal quality on the weaker stations dramatically improved. Would an FM trap be appropriate, and if so, where? Before going into the amp, or before going into the tuner?
 
G.I. Joes Sports and Auto stores sell a $8 antenna that is about 4' long that *LOOKS* very similar to a C. Crane model in their catalog. I do not know if they are the same. Sorry I do not have the exact dimentions of the G.I. Joes model.

http://www.ccrane.com/antennas/auto-antennas/am-fm-auto-antenna.aspx

The cheapest Pioneer supertuner (cassette deck) w/ this antenna does very well on both AM and FM. It must be extended all the way (about 4') for maximum sensitivity. It does pick up more static from power lines than average.

I wish that the vehicle with the old Delco radio was still alive!

Bruce - thanks for the web sites above.
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by this Tom: on 09/30/05 05:58 AM.</FONT></P>
 
What is it about built-in automobile antennas that enables them to be immune to electrical noise coming from the engine compartment? I have a portable and cannot use it in the car to get distant stations unless it's either near a window or at least as far back as the gear shift lever. The engine noise is barely noticeable on the built-in radio however.
 
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