Community Forums

janandmike · 08-26-2015, 01:43 PM

We get no AM reception and sporadic FM reception on both the Jensen dash radio and the Sony radio. Anyone else have this problem or has anyone found a solution? Folks at Newmar tell me "most people don't want to listen to AM radio".

joes2901 · 08-26-2015, 04:19 PM

My 2012 Bay Star also has poor reception due to the short flex antenna Newmar used.

Steady_Rest · 08-26-2015, 07:09 PM

Mfrs. of radios today put little effort into radio reception. The seek function is useless on the road because the minimum signal level is set to high. I can find stations manually that are perfectly clear, but the seek function will ignore them because they don't meet the threshold.
If you read reviews of automobile radios, the performance of the radio itself is never mentioned, as if broadcast radio is a useless function of the device. The wife purchased an amplifier for surround sound used with our home tv. She complained that the FM would not pick up her favorite local very low output station. Tuning it manually to the proper frequency there was no signal whatsoever. Her chagrin was amplified when I tuned in her station on my 45 year old am/fm receiver that is in my office. My old unit played her station perfectly. We both are using the same antennae. Back in the day much more attention was given to radio performance by the mfrs. and by the reviewers. It is true most people could care less about broadcast radio today, they prefer to provide there own programming and todays radio offerings reflect that.
I only listen to broadcast radio when in the car or rv, the wife much less so.

janandmike · 09-02-2015, 05:50 PM

What baffles us is that this our fourth motorhome (Thor, Fleetwood and Itasca previously) and it is the first that does not get perfect radio reception.
We were led to believe that Newmar was the "cream of the crop". Could you imagine buying a new Cadillac and being told the radio doesn't work?.....and even worse, that they know it doesn't work and they don't know how to fix it.

Steady_Rest · 09-05-2015, 02:18 AM

You describe no am reception and intermittent fm performance, that sounds like a defect. At least mine is adequate in regards to reception.
For the old Bounder my dad built a wood box for a '70s era am/fm car radio and placed it in the bedroom. Most importantly this old auto radio had a dedicated am antenna output, which he mounted on the roof. This setup far outperformed the dash radio the rv came with. The antenna on your rv might be for fm only, with the am antenna inside the radio itself, like the dash radio in our '93 Bounder. A better antenna will improve reception but the radio must also have a robust am section, with good selectivity and filtering, otherwise a better antenna will just help you pick up more noise and interference.
In the eighties 30 percent of listening hours were on am stations, in 2010 it was 17 percent. In the younger demographics 25-34 only 9 percent and under 25 only 4 percent tune in. This is why radio mfrs spend less money on the am section (better filters etc cost more).
If you are looking for a radio with better reception, search for those that are Amax certified. I know some Ford radios are Amax certified and you should be able to find a late model in a wrecking yard, eBay etc. To be Amax certified there are many features that it must have in regards to reception. One of them being an external am antenna connection. I will research the Sony installed in our Newmar and find out if it has a dual am/fm antenna setup.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMAX

I am not overly thrilled about the radio in our 2015 Newmar, but I have not read the manual fully yet. Tuning without using the seek function seems clumsy on the Sony.

lostinfla · 09-05-2015, 07:08 AM

Sounds like there's a problem there somewhere. Our Baystar has great reception on both radios (granted, I don't use am much if at all) Each radio has it's own short flex antenna. Mounted on the roof, they should not have a problem receiving signals that high up. Are the antenna's up or laying on the roof? They have a pivot secured by a Phillips screw.

Steady_Rest · 09-05-2015, 09:20 AM

The radio on the Bounder failed after several years, the symptoms were intermittent. I noticed when I put pressure on the faceplate the radio would work, which indicated a bad connection. Sure enough when I disassembled the radio a bad solder joint was found. Resoldered the joint and the problem disappeared. That old radio has never failed again. Your radio should not behave the way you describe, something is amiss.

janandmike · 09-14-2015, 04:09 PM

The dealer has replaced the dash radio and both flex antennas with no change. If I stand on the roof and put my finger on the antenna we get perfect reception.
In case you're wondering my wife has already suggested that I stay up there.

janandmike · 12-26-2015, 05:17 PM

We have found a solution the poor radio reception. I have connected a $20 internal antenna, which attaches with peel off adhesive, to the bottom inside of the windshield down at the dash level.
With a Y cable connector I am using both the roof antenna and the new windshield antenna....perfect reception of both AM and FM.

tednruthy · 12-29-2015, 04:44 PM

Please provide a little more detail if you would. I am VERY interested in getting AM reception.

Quote:

Originally Posted by janandmike

We have found a solution the poor radio reception. I have connected a $20 internal antenna, which attaches with peel off adhesive, to the bottom inside of the windshield down at the dash level.
With a Y cable connector I am using both the roof antenna and the new windshield antenna....perfect reception of both AM and FM.

wildtoad · 12-29-2015, 05:01 PM

The am side of the radio in my sonic is awful. A station moved from fm to am and now every time I pass power lines, or traffic signals that am station goes bonkers. I've been looking around at radios today as I know the Jensen that comes with my new Bay Star Sport is a low end unit. It appears Newmar upgraded amplifiers and speakers but still have tons of the Jensen junk radios. Really, no Bluetooth, no hands free? A good radio these days only costs a few bucks more.

Milehghcty · 12-29-2015, 05:02 PM

X2 janandmike on details of AM reception ...

janandmike · 12-30-2015, 08:05 AM

Here's a link to the antenna purchased from Amazon (less than $20 Canadian). I'm using an antenna cable splitter (also from Amazon) to allow both the roof antenna and the interior antenna to be plugged into the radio.
The entire antenna has a peel-off backing to keep it in place just above the dash.

Universal Hidden AM FM Car Radio Windshield Antenna: Amazon.ca: Electronics

LCDRAKAllen · 12-30-2015, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steady_Rest

You describe no am reception and intermittent fm performance, that sounds like a defect. At least mine is adequate in regards to reception.
For the old Bounder my dad built a wood box for a '70s era am/fm car radio and placed it in the bedroom. Most importantly this old auto radio had a dedicated am antenna output, which he mounted on the roof. This setup far outperformed the dash radio the rv came with. The antenna on your rv might be for fm only, with the am antenna inside the radio itself, like the dash radio in our '93 Bounder. A better antenna will improve reception but the radio must also have a robust am section, with good selectivity and filtering, otherwise a better antenna will just help you pick up more noise and interference.
In the eighties 30 percent of listening hours were on am stations, in 2010 it was 17 percent. In the younger demographics 25-34 only 9 percent and under 25 only 4 percent tune in. This is why radio mfrs spend less money on the am section (better filters etc cost more).
If you are looking for a radio with better reception, search for those that are Amax certified. I know some Ford radios are Amax certified and you should be able to find a late model in a wrecking yard, eBay etc. To be Amax certified there are many features that it must have in regards to reception. One of them being an external am antenna connection. I will research the Sony installed in our Newmar and find out if it has a dual am/fm antenna setup.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMAX

I am not overly thrilled about the radio in our 2015 Newmar, but I have not read the manual fully yet. Tuning without using the seek function seems clumsy on the Sony.

I find the seek on the Sony unit in my coach to be quite effective, I used it traveling through Northern Cal, and it worked wonderfully. The only complaint I have about the sound system are the OEM speakers, which I have replaced. The OEM are really inadequate.

As for AM stations? I haven't listened to any AM since Paul Harvey, (RIP) Are AM stations still available? [emoji3]