aj1soad Posted September 18, 2015 Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 recently bought a seat arosa tdi and the radio reception is terrible in it. ive tried a few different head units and all of them are the same. im lucky to even pick up any radio stations. any idea what i can check to try and fix it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket. Posted September 18, 2015 Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 Could be the aerial maybe try an amplified one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehey Posted September 18, 2015 Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 My tdi is the same mate. I thought it was just the head until but you have me doubting now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted September 18, 2015 Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 FM or AM? I've wrote quite a lot about radio reception on this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aj1soad Posted September 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 only really checked FM. any idea what it could be? does it have an earth cable or something i can check? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aj1soad Posted September 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 forgot to mention i dont have the original head unit to try that. wasnt sure if there was some kind of signal booster built into the standard one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickster Posted September 19, 2015 Report Share Posted September 19, 2015 You need to buy something like this:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001JP0N6G?ref_=cm_cr-mr-titleThe OEM head unit provides the amplification itself so this just replicates that when using an aftermarket. That said, I still don't find the signal to be as good as when I had the original headunit, I'm tempted to replace the roof aerial with a DAB kit in my car tbh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted September 20, 2015 Report Share Posted September 20, 2015 Mick, that's a signal separation filter. Not an amplifier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickster Posted September 21, 2015 Report Share Posted September 21, 2015 Either way it's what's needed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted September 21, 2015 Report Share Posted September 21, 2015 Not necessarily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted September 21, 2015 Report Share Posted September 21, 2015 Right, first opportunity I've had to sit down and write anything. A couple of things I've wrote in the past on the topic of radios in Lupo's:Radio Interference: http://forums.clublupo.co.uk/index.php?/topic/97408-radio-interference/#entry1124676More on signal separation filters: http://forums.clublupo.co.uk/index.php?/topic/91810-aerial-booster-switched-live/?p=1061511Even more: http://forums.clublupo.co.uk/index.php?/topic/93665-stubby-aerial-suggestions/?p=1088023On stubbys: http://forums.clublupo.co.uk/index.php?/topic/97304-head-unit-upgrade/?p=1124042How ariels work, scientifically: http://forums.clublupo.co.uk/index.php?/topic/100085-stubby-ariel/?p=1146108First thing to say, FM doesn't have an issue with earth, unlike AM. If you're doing FM only, then forget about grounds and all that. With FM, you should simply think of the antenna as a piece of wire, with nothing else. Grounds only matter when AM is involved. There's no electrical intereference with FM either because it's modulated.You need to do a bit of diagnostics here. I'm going to go out on a wim and say there's something wrong with your antenna, because FM is such a straightforward system that picking up any kind of signal is borderline trivial, unlike AM.So, first thing to do is rule out your head unit (although it sounds like you already have). You need to make a localized antenna. Disconnect your vehicle antenna from the back of the HU, take a piece of long wire and run it from the back of the head unit antenna socket and drape it outside your window. This should give you ample FM signal, as in borderline perfect. If you're still experiencing horrible signal quality, it's possible that your head unit is defective or you're in a seriously **** location.Now that you know your head unit is fine, you need to work out where your antenna is broken. The common points of failure are the plug that connects into the head unit and the base of the bee sting antenna on the roof. A good way of testing the base (imo) is to unplug the bee sting aerial,wrap piece of wire around the screw then screw it back in. Then start wrapping the wire around your bee sting aerial. You should get very good reception with this. If you do, then you know that your bee sting aerial is dead, although the base could still be problematic. You can also remove the base and connect a piece of wire directly to the connection that runs through your vehicles roof and make a long antenna that way.Don't forget, if the plug is broken then you'll need to repair it. I've done a really easy way somewhere on here so I'll find you a link to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stator Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 Forget FM, get yourself a DAB radio with proper aerial Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 1 hour ago, stator said: Forget FM, get yourself a DAB radio with proper aerial Sounds grim. DAB is awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj1 Posted January 3, 2016 Report Share Posted January 3, 2016 On 16 December 2015 at 8:51 PM, Skezza said: Sounds grim. DAB is awful. Really? I have to say the quality of DAB is easily 10x better than FM, not to mention the availability of many more stations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 1 hour ago, cj1 said: Really? I have to say the quality of DAB is easily 10x better than FM, not to mention the availability of many more stations! **** on the move. Bit of a requirement in a car..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mobieus_uk Posted March 13, 2016 Report Share Posted March 13, 2016 wifes car is a 15month polo with the new entertainment centre, the dab drops in and out like a yoyo, lupo with FM dont miss a beat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted March 13, 2016 Report Share Posted March 13, 2016 1 hour ago, Mobieus_uk said: wifes car is a 15month polo with the new entertainment centre, the dab drops in and out like a yoyo, lupo with FM dont miss a beat All depends on location but the general opinion is DAB simply doesn't hold up on the move. It's no different to digital TV in that regard. Where I live, it simply doesn't hold up at all, a strong wind is enough to knock it out. The quality is good but no better than MP3. It might sound daft but the real winner is online radio and I called it years ago. We've invested millions in DAB and yet it's completely failed at replacing FM. Back when smartphones weren't at all common, I was able to stream last.fm (now considered obsolete lol) via a traditional 3G data connection. Yeah it sometimes dropped out, but with clever buffering algorithms you could minimise the drops to just a couple. We now have HSPDA covering about 99% of England and 4G in basically all the cities. Nowadays I can listen to online radio without a single drop, in better quality than DAB could ever achieve and simply by using my phone. Invest in a head unit that supports connectivity to your phone or has online multimedia support, get yourself an unlimited data plan and enjoy the freedom to listen to high quality without the signal problems. If you are waiting for DAB to work, you'll be waiting forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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