Crappy FM radio reception

LordBritish · Oct 7, 2018

I have 2005 Mustang GT and it gets pretty poor FM radio reception compared to other cars.

I would have thought with that huge antenna that it would pick up stations in other states but such is not the case.

Would a new head unit fix that?

FYI, I still have the original Shaker 500 unit.

07gts197 · Oct 7, 2018

Whats the terrain like around you? Check all the grounds around the radio but the head unit could be at fault.

I have the stock shaker 1000 and used to have a I think 12 inch shorty antenna and never had an issue with bad reception. I know people have had issues with the shaker 500 so it could be at fault. I was actually quite impressed with the shorty antenna because I had no appreciable loss in signal strength. Then a rogue tree snapped it off yet I still get one or two stations in perfectly haha! Now take that with a grain of salt because I live in flat Florida but do have a lot of trees around.

Sorry for getting of topic lol.

LordBritish · Oct 7, 2018

07gts197 said:
Whats the terrain like around you?

Not too hilly. Average I guess.

I have another car that has much better reception.

tjm73 · Oct 7, 2018

How anyone listens to FM anymore is beyond me.

About 12 years ago I moved over to Sirius (now Sirius-XM). I split my time between 4 or 5 music channels and Howard Stern.

For a full year I was literally angry with terrestrial radio as I heard one great song after another that never got airplay that was 10 times the song "Bad to the bone" (which I had heard at 1 or 2 times a day for at least a decade) ever was. If I am in a car without satellite radio, I don't listen to the radio unless I have my old iPod or hook up my phone for Pandora.

In those 12 years since leaving FM behind, I have a combined total of less than probably 8 hours of FM listening. FM is a steaming crap hole with more commercials than content. And those commercials, shit..... I can't take them.

Sorry to go off on a rant.

cavero · Oct 7, 2018

Too each their own I guess, I cancelled Sirius after 2 years because I was sick of how repetitive the playlists were. FM is worse but not by much. Stories
Sirius just repeated different songs than FM. The one thing I miss about Sirius is their programs. They had some great stuff weekly depending on the station (Bluegrass Junction even had banjo lessons on Sunday afternoons). I canceled in favour of Amazon Music, more variety but you'd have to put together your own playlists.

Op- other than checking the socket the antenna screws into hasn't rusted, you might want to look into an aftermarket unit. My pioneer had great reception with the stock antenna. Better than the Skipper 500. The 8" shorty antenna I have now is worthless though

Juice · Oct 8, 2018

tjm73 said:
How anyone listens to FM anymore is beyond me.

About 12 years ago I moved over to Sirius (now Sirius-XM). I split my time between 4 or 5 music channels and Howard Stern.

For a full year I was literally angry with terrestrial radio as I heard one great song after another that never got airplay that was 10 times the song "Bad to the bone" (which I had heard at 1 or 2 times a day for at least a decade) ever was. If I am in a car without satellite radio, I don't listen to the radio unless I have my old iPod or hook up my phone for Pandora.

In those 12 years since leaving FM behind, I have a combined total of less than probably 8 hours of FM listening. FM is a steaming crap hole with more commercials than content. And those commercials, shit..... I can't take them.

Sorry to go off on a rant.

X2, I can't stand all the commercials and the same handful of songs over, and over.....

I'm already paying for data on my phone. I just stream High def, commercial free stations over the interwebs.

Norm Peterson · Oct 17, 2018

LordBritish said:
Not too hilly. Average I guess.

I have another car that has much better reception.

I have an '08 with the Shaker 500, still with the OE whip antenna. FM reception has always been decent out to 60, maybe 75 miles, or about the same as it's been for the other cars we own or have owned.

Checking the connections seems like the easiest place to start.

On the matter of satellite radio, for the relatively short trips that make up nearly all of my driving, I'll refer everybody to a line or two in Tom Petty's 'The Last DJ'

"... all the boys upstairs want to see
How much you'll pay for what you used to get for free"

For the longer trips I'll pick from my CD library.

Norm

Pentalab · Oct 17, 2018

I have the oem 6 x disc CD changer in my 2010. I shovel in 'new' discs from my collection once in a while...since I never get the chance to listen to em at home. Wife watching TV etc. At least in the car, you get to pick what cd's u want in there, then crank it up..and no commercials.

kazman59 · Oct 17, 2018

I changed the head unit out and run a 64G micro stick (6800+ songs). I don't know or even care if the radio works.

Crappy FM radio reception

LordBritish

forum member

07gts197

forum member

LordBritish

forum member

tjm73

of Omicron Persei 8

cavero

forum member

Juice

forum member

Norm Peterson

corner barstool sitter

Pentalab

forum member

kazman59

King of Kazmania

Similar threads

Latest posts

Support us!

Sponsor Links