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Mark 7 Ford Transit aerial issues?
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Tim+
Apr 1, 2017, 2:54:12 PM4/1/17
to
Our motorhome radio is more than a bit crap. On FM the we get a very poor
signal with the sound being hissy, crackly and sometimes breaking up.
Frequent retuning generally make no difference.
Yesterday I drove 110 miles from west to east across Scotland and it was
pretty much unlistenable the whole way. Today I returned (at the same time
of day) and was amazed to have clear reception with excellent sound quality
and no need to retune.
There was only one significant differences. Today it was raining (it was
dry for the whole journey yesterday). Could the rain be in any way
responsible for this improvement in function? Is it suggestive of a
particular type of fault?
I would change the aerial if I could but it's a bit of a bastard on the
Transit requiring destruction of the cowling around the base of the door
mirror stem and drilling out security bolts.
Tim
--
Please don't feed the trolls
signal with the sound being hissy, crackly and sometimes breaking up.
Frequent retuning generally make no difference.
Yesterday I drove 110 miles from west to east across Scotland and it was
pretty much unlistenable the whole way. Today I returned (at the same time
of day) and was amazed to have clear reception with excellent sound quality
and no need to retune.
There was only one significant differences. Today it was raining (it was
dry for the whole journey yesterday). Could the rain be in any way
responsible for this improvement in function? Is it suggestive of a
particular type of fault?
I would change the aerial if I could but it's a bit of a bastard on the
Transit requiring destruction of the cowling around the base of the door
mirror stem and drilling out security bolts.
Tim
--
Please don't feed the trolls
Dr Proctor
Apr 1, 2017, 3:24:51 PM4/1/17
to
probably rusty. You're going to have to bite the bullet or it might be
easier to fit another aerial on the roof.
Another thought. You will probably find the rust/fault is at the aerial
end of the cable so if you can get the aerial off you could splice the
cable and just fit an aerial instead of the cable too.
Tim+
Apr 1, 2017, 4:22:48 PM4/1/17
to
aerial mount and where the cable attaches to it is a complete and utter
arse of a job. As you say, may just need to bite the bullet though.
MrCheerful
Apr 1, 2017, 5:02:06 PM4/1/17
to
On 01/04/2017 19:51, Tim+ wrote:
travel, but has line of sight when returning the other way? I agree
about rust where the aerial meets the body, but I haven't seen it for years.
Tim+
Apr 1, 2017, 5:21:37 PM4/1/17
to
along the M8 which passes east/west north of the Black Hill transmitter.
Maybe it's just that. Motorhomes can be tricky for aerial siting I
believe. Combination of glass fibre bits an extra bodywork. You don't tend
to see roof mounted ones on them.
Graham J
Apr 2, 2017, 3:33:28 AM4/2/17
to
it is unusable. By contrast in flat East Anglia it is very good. The
problem is the hills and mountains in Scotland - the radio signal just
does not pass through them.
However, I have known car radios equipped with inadequate aerials - then
even in East Anglia reception is poor in areas on the boundaries between
the ranges of the larger transmiters (Wrotham and Tacolneston, for
example). So when passing Cambridge on the A11 the radio struggled for
a bit then re-tuned automatically.
DAB should be better, but in my experience is actually worse (which I
believe is a design failing - too many programs on one carrier, so the
channels have insufficient noise immunity).
--
Graham J
tony sayer
Apr 10, 2017, 7:07:53 PM4/10/17
to
In article <obq9ai$bp4$1...@dont-email.me>, Graham J <gra...@invalid.com>
scribeth thus
>> I would change the aerial if I could but it's a bit of a bastard on the
>> Transit requiring destruction of the cowling around the base of the door
>> mirror stem and drilling out security bolts.
>>
>> Tim
>>
>
>
>My experience of FM radio in a car in Scotland is that over wide areas
>it is unusable. By contrast in flat East Anglia it is very good. The
>problem is the hills and mountains in Scotland - the radio signal just
>does not pass through them.
Yep..
>
>However, I have known car radios equipped with inadequate aerials - then
>even in East Anglia reception is poor in areas on the boundaries between
>the ranges of the larger transmiters (Wrotham and Tacolneston, for
>example). So when passing Cambridge on the A11 the radio struggled for
>a bit then re-tuned automatically.
Local TX at Madingley but rather low power 125 watts per plane on the
national channels
proprogation wise here and there;!.
Did you hear the local Cambridge MUX we have on a trial licence at the
moment that does get out very well for what it is, barely a 100 watts
but down on 194 MHz...
--
Tony Sayer
scribeth thus
>Tim+ wrote:
>> Our motorhome radio is more than a bit crap. On FM the we get a very poor
>> signal with the sound being hissy, crackly and sometimes breaking up.
>> Frequent retuning generally make no difference.
>>
>> Yesterday I drove 110 miles from west to east across Scotland and it was
>> pretty much unlistenable the whole way. Today I returned (at the same time
>> of day) and was amazed to have clear reception with excellent sound quality
>> and no need to retune.
>>
>> There was only one significant differences. Today it was raining (it was
>> dry for the whole journey yesterday). Could the rain be in any way
>> responsible for this improvement in function? Is it suggestive of a
>> particular type of fault?
>>
Most likely water in the co-ax cable..
>> Our motorhome radio is more than a bit crap. On FM the we get a very poor
>> signal with the sound being hissy, crackly and sometimes breaking up.
>> Frequent retuning generally make no difference.
>>
>> Yesterday I drove 110 miles from west to east across Scotland and it was
>> pretty much unlistenable the whole way. Today I returned (at the same time
>> of day) and was amazed to have clear reception with excellent sound quality
>> and no need to retune.
>>
>> There was only one significant differences. Today it was raining (it was
>> dry for the whole journey yesterday). Could the rain be in any way
>> responsible for this improvement in function? Is it suggestive of a
>> particular type of fault?
>>
>> I would change the aerial if I could but it's a bit of a bastard on the
>> Transit requiring destruction of the cowling around the base of the door
>> mirror stem and drilling out security bolts.
>>
>> Tim
>>
>
>
>My experience of FM radio in a car in Scotland is that over wide areas
>it is unusable. By contrast in flat East Anglia it is very good. The
>problem is the hills and mountains in Scotland - the radio signal just
>does not pass through them.
>
>However, I have known car radios equipped with inadequate aerials - then
>even in East Anglia reception is poor in areas on the boundaries between
>the ranges of the larger transmiters (Wrotham and Tacolneston, for
>example). So when passing Cambridge on the A11 the radio struggled for
>a bit then re-tuned automatically.
national channels
>
>DAB should be better, but in my experience is actually worse (which I
>believe is a design failing - too many programs on one carrier, so the
>channels have insufficient noise immunity).
>
No not that just higher frequencies and a tad more demanding
>DAB should be better, but in my experience is actually worse (which I
>believe is a design failing - too many programs on one carrier, so the
>channels have insufficient noise immunity).
>
proprogation wise here and there;!.
Did you hear the local Cambridge MUX we have on a trial licence at the
moment that does get out very well for what it is, barely a 100 watts
but down on 194 MHz...
--
Tony Sayer
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