Poor Radio Reception

[Jimbo]

AM/FM reception in my new '05 is terrible. Just about all the stations are distorted at times, and other some local stations don't come in at all.

I've searched the threads, and found the following info:

There are 2 antenna connections, plus an antenna amp line. The antenna amp line must be supplied with 12V in order to operate.

My question:

On a factory installation of the base radio (3-in1), is the antenna amp supplied with 12V? Or is the amp line there, but only supplied with voltage on models with other than the base radio installed? (As in, maybe the 3-in-1 doesn't have a 12V output to which the amp can be connected, so Toyota didn't hook it up)

I haven't been able to discern from the forums whether or not this amp line is supplied with 12V from the factory, and I would like to avoid tearing apart my dash with the intention of powering this line, only to find that it's already being supplied with 12V.

Any ideas/info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sharp4runr]

Hmmm, wierd because my 2004 3-1 JBL radio is fine with reception. Its actually very easy to get to the radio. I've done it numerous times now.

Oh yeah, Robotech avatar right?

 

[Hitman]

Yes, there are two different antennas, with two different connections to the back of the head unit.

The radio is supposed to "compare" the two signals and "choose" the strongest for the best radio reception possible. This is known as a diversity antenna system.

I noticed that only one of the antenna leads had 12v supplied (for the antenna amplifier) when I swapped out my factory head unit. The other had no power to it at all.

I noticed a significant reduction in reception with the 12v power removed from the antenna lead.

 

[Jimbo]

Thanks

Thanks for the input. Guess I'll just have to take a peak behind the dash.

Yup, Robotech. Thundercats?

 

[Mark86]

I have heard a few people who have had problems like that. My parents 2005 had the same thing where none of the stations would pick up clearly. The RDS was not picking up either. It ended up being a loose connection in the back of the radio. Everything works perfect now. I found this thread that may help you. Look at the post by spyderdoc.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1169&highlight=radio+reception

 

[lasergil]

AM/FM reception in my new '05 is terrible. Just about all the stations are distorted at times, and other some local stations don't come in at all.

I've searched the threads, and found the following info:

There are 2 antenna connections, plus an antenna amp line. The antenna amp line must be supplied with 12V in order to operate.

My question:

On a factory installation of the base radio (3-in1), is the antenna amp supplied with 12V? Or is the amp line there, but only supplied with voltage on models with other than the base radio installed? (As in, maybe the 3-in-1 doesn't have a 12V output to which the amp can be connected, so Toyota didn't hook it up)

I haven't been able to discern from the forums whether or not this amp line is supplied with 12V from the factory, and I would like to avoid tearing apart my dash with the intention of powering this line, only to find that it's already being supplied with 12V.

Any ideas/info would be greatly appreciated.

I found the antenna amp under the pilar moulding between the rear passenger door and the third row window. I will try to determine if there is power to it since I only have the larger antenna connected to a new pioneer navigation system I installed over the weekend. I too have very poor reception and none for AM. I understand that this is common to diversity type antennas, but I refuse to accept that a HU this quality is to have no feed that will work!

 

[lasergil]

I found the antenna amp under the pilar moulding between the rear passenger door and the third row window. I will try to determine if there is power to it since I only have the larger antenna connected to a new pioneer navigation system I installed over the weekend. I too have very poor reception and none for AM. I understand that this is common to diversity type antennas, but I refuse to accept that a HU this quality is to have no feed that will work!

No power to the amplifier so now need to know which is positive and which is negative??????

 

[Sonicpilz]

I found the antenna amp under the pilar moulding between the rear passenger door and the third row window. I will try to determine if there is power to it since I only have the larger antenna connected to a new pioneer navigation system I installed over the weekend. I too have very poor reception and none for AM. I understand that this is common to diversity type antennas, but I refuse to accept that a HU this quality is to have no feed that will work!

I noticed you said you only connected the larger antenna in this post. With that being said, your diversity antenna is now only a single antenna. That is probably a lot of the reason for the poor reception. I read tons of threads on this when I installed my Pioneer 4300DVD. This Y connector was able to resolve a lot of people's bad quality reception after installing an aftermarket radio.

I used a -Y- connector and a mini-full size coupling to join both of my antennas together. Then I was able to connect both of the factory antennas into the single port in the back of the radio.

The 2 part numbers I used are :
Metra 40-GM10
Metra 40-UV43

One is a 2 female-1 male Y connector. The other one is an adapter to make your "mini" plug full sized so that it will fit into the Y connector.

I used this on my Pioneer 4300DVD and I have no problems at all with reception. I'm not sure what type of radio you have but you said its navigation ready so I imagine its similar to my 7" touch screen. Mine picks up everything just as well as the factory JBL if not better.

 

[durrell]

I'm experiencing the same problem with my 05 after upgrading the head unit. Going to buy the y adapter and try that.