i30 Owners Club

MODIFYING OR DETAILING YOUR I30 => ELECTRICAL | ELECTRONIC | AUDIO => Topic started by: Doggie 1 on November 24, 2013, 08:53:54

Title: AM Reception
Post by: Doggie 1 on November 24, 2013, 08:53:54
I listen to AM radio.
I am an individual.
I have mentioned before that the reception on my GD radio is average at best.
If I travel 80 kms south of Perth to, say, Pinjarra, I lose good reception at about 40 kms and all reception at about 60 kms.
Is there anything I can do to improve this?
Yesterday, I drove to Bunbury (about 200 kms south) in a Mazda 3 and could listen to AM radio almost the whole way down.
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: Phil №❶ on November 24, 2013, 09:08:30
AM radio is highly affected by the sun and active sunspots. The sun is quite active at the moment.

I don't think the AM radio is up to the standard of the rest of the car.
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: Just Rick on November 24, 2013, 09:10:31
What we got AM Radio in the I30's have we,but even any radio reception is crap in these cars,thus the reason I have over 30,000 tunes on a huge memory stick
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: Doggie 1 on November 24, 2013, 09:27:39
Unfortunately, I only have a very small stick.  :disapp:
But I do enjoy listening to AM radio because (1) it keeps me up to date on current affairs and (2) I don't like most FM radio stations.
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: The Gonz on November 24, 2013, 09:46:16
Your options are somewhat limited. The first nil cost option is to keep the antenna oriented vertcally if not already.
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: Doggie 1 on November 24, 2013, 09:53:02
My wand points at 45 degrees, so I will try raising it.
Thanks.
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: rustynutz on November 24, 2013, 09:54:27
Unfortunately, I only have a very small stick.  :disapp:

Why don't you lash out and buy an aerial like the one I fitted to my i30?  :undecided:
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: Doggie 1 on November 24, 2013, 09:55:42
Did it make a difference?
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: The Gonz on November 24, 2013, 10:00:07
The practice is never quite as straightforward as the theory, especially in urban areas where you have reflections but theoretically, moving it from 45 degrees to vertical should get you a 42 percent improvement, perhaps more if the change makes you less receptive to solar radiation. :wink:
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: Doggie 1 on November 24, 2013, 10:01:46
Thanks Gonz.
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: rustynutz on November 24, 2013, 10:45:40
Did it make a difference?

I don't normally listen to AM but I did try it when Martin (mjt57) was having trouble picking up Melbourne stations in Traralgon and it was working ok.
Traralgon is probably 150-160 k's away from Melbourne....

No idea how far as the crow flies though...  :undecided:
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: Surferdude on November 24, 2013, 11:25:39
Rusty, the Accent has a much longer aerial. As my daughter is now in Darwin I can't check but do you reckon you could unscrew the one on your daughters (?) car and see if it fits on the i30. I wonder if the longer aerial on the Accent is Hyundai's attempt to overcome the problem.
My AM reception is similar to Dave's whereas in my wife's older Corolla it is much more clear.

Apart from all that. Where did you get your aerial from again?
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: rustynutz on November 24, 2013, 12:40:37
Here's the aerial I bought: :link: (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/120911680301?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649)

I just ran the model check and it says it doesn't fit the Accent....so I'm assuming the Accent one won't fit the i30 then...  :undecided:

If I remember, I will check my daughter's Accent next time I see her though.
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: Dazzler on November 25, 2013, 10:15:32
Hey, I just took Rusty's Bike and Dave's i30 for a spin (not a bad effort from my arm chair)  :happydance:
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: Just Rick on November 25, 2013, 11:24:15
Here's the aerial I bought: :link: (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/120911680301?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649)

I just ran the model check and it says it doesn't fit the Accent....so I'm assuming the Accent one won't fit the i30 then...  :undecided:

If I remember, I will check my daughter's Accent next time I see her though.
I'm assuming from your posts this aerial fitted Rusty,the more I look at the base fitting,it looks different to mine,if it did fit how good is the reception,unless I am in the Metro area my AM is garbage,check it today and even then it is not the greatest.
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: rustynutz on November 25, 2013, 11:36:15
If it fitted mine, it will fit yours, Rick....
You do get a couple of different sized threaded adapters or whatever you'd like to call them which allows it to fit a few different cars....

As for AM reception, I can only repeat what I said previously as normally I only listen to FM or the music that's on my flash drive.
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: Shambles on December 03, 2013, 21:17:12
Hey, I just took Rusty's Bike and Dave's i30 for a spin (not a bad effort from my arm chair)  :happydance:

A belated "well spotted" to you sir :goodjob:
Title: Re: AM Reception
Post by: Surferdude on December 04, 2013, 00:17:48
Hey, I just took Rusty's Bike and Dave's i30 for a spin (not a bad effort from my arm chair)  :happydance:

A belated "well spotted" to you sir :goodjob:
Ha.
I discovered that a few days ago. Meant to post something and forgot.
Then I couldn't make any sense of Dazz's post, until I saw your reply.  :disapp:
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