Radio reception is rubbish

Downside of having antenna on top of roof of motorhome, it can hit low bridges, branches etc

Look up cloverleaf antenna, low profile but takes up huge amount of roof space or cross dipoles (these aren't available to buy before anyone asks!!)

They are onmidirectional and don't require a ground plane either!!

Did try out a stub mast from the tow bar with a mini rotator and a couple of Quick Release yagis great for 6m to 23cm but no use for 10gHz!!

But for ordinary FM/AM radio my wing mounted one works just fine!!
 
Bigpeetee said:
Downside of having antenna on top of roof of motorhome, it can hit low bridges, branches etc
!
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I would agree but in my case the aerial is about 1 foot long and it's near the sat dome, so if I wipe out my aerial at £ 30 it would be nothing compared to the sat dome at £1000. And I have clipped it moving near some trees but the centre section is flexible enough to cause no damage to roof or aerial,
But basically you get nothing for nothing in this world so if you use a Micky mouse aerial then it doesn't matter how top quality your radio is you will still have receiving problems,
You are much better having a cheap Sanyo/goodman radio at £20 from halfroud and a decent aerial then at least you will receive a signal In between the static
 
Maybe I should go for a stubby aerial on the roof? So if I clock something, it will bend back without any damage?
 
What about an antenna with a magnetic base that you can install/remove when you want? The only con would be that you'd have to run a wire through the window. The trade-off is that you don't have to drill through the roof. £3.99 on Amazon UK.
 
Starfire Aerial

big billy said:
Just the thread I need, I need to replace the aerial on my Autocruise Starfire 2002, it's mounted on the o/s front wing, how do I get to underneath to remove it and fit the new one, any help appreciated.
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No need to go underneath aerial can be accessed from door when it's open
 
profiterole said:
What about an antenna with a magnetic base that you can install/remove when you want? The only con would be that you'd have to run a wire through the window. The trade-off is that you don't have to drill through the roof. £3.99 on Amazon UK.
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Aluminium & Fibreglass roof. methinks it also may come off when I do 70 mph ish?
 
But thats very similar to what I have & where it already installed, and its signal is forever coming & going when I'm driving! :cry:
 
Pendel said:
I use my status tv aerial - it will receive very weak signals esp if power is switched on. Ok when driving as well.
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I also use the amplifier on my status ariel, it has an input for FM and it works great. I don't know how Swift ever got away with fitting radios to their vehicles that you couldn't get a reception on.
 
profiterole said:
Amplified internal antenna are all rubbish. However nowadays even external antennas can't reach a proper signal.

FM coverage has worsened over the years. Broadcasters don't invest in FM repeaters and in some cases switch to web-only (Jazz FM is one case). DAB is even worse.

I am not mobile at the moment but I get a good FM reception by plugging a rtl-srd device like this:
Amazon.com: RTL-SDR, FM+DAB, DVB-T USB Stick Set with RTL2832U & R820T. Great SDR for SDR#, HDSDR: Electronics

into my laptop and the install SDRSharp. The included antenna is just ok, but one could attach a longer piece of wire. With a decent antenna, even a couple of metres of wire hanging out your window, and that dongle, I can get good signals.

If instead of SDRsharp you install the included software (BlazeVideo), then you get a few digital radios and many digital TV stations.
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Have now installed the drivers for the plug in DVB-T+DAB+FM device and BlazeVideo but it keeps saying "No Signal" when scanning for channels. I also bought an aerial adaptor lead for it so I can attach my Status to it but still getting no signal.

MCX To Coax Socket Adaptor Lead Convertor TV Card DVB-T To Coax Aerial Female | eBay

What am I doing wrong?? :mad2:
 
Excuse me

I thought analogue radio was gonna be killed off in the next year or so.

Do not put any money into it now
 
iv had similar probs too. iv a wing mounted rubber duck in swift suntor . the radio keeps going into pi seek and only station that seems to kick in is classic fm . i upgraded radio and still getting same problems. i was thinking the overhead cab causing as said before (
 
Are you keeping the small antenna fully outside the vehicle? Have you tried at home from the 1st/2nd floor? How rural is your location?

But have you tried scanning also for dab and fm, or only for digital tv? I have always had problems with dab scanning, but you can get digital radio on freeview (digital tv).

The supplied antenna should be enough to receive at least 50 channels.
 
profiterole said:
Are you keeping the small antenna fully outside the vehicle? Have you tried at home from the 1st/2nd floor? How rural is your location?

But have you tried scanning also for dab and fm, or only for digital tv? I have always had problems with dab scanning, but you can get digital radio on freeview (digital tv).

The supplied antenna should be enough to receive at least 50 channels.
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I tried to get it working in my house, out in the garden, even bought a lead to connect the dongle onto my house TV aerial and still says No Signal. :sad:
 
I ran a coax from the radio direct to the Status amplifier and it works a treat wherever I go, I did check with the tech people at Status and they said it would only work if you had the Status with the pull out telescopic aerials , I have mine pulled out just a couple of inches to get the good signal

STATUS.jpg
 
hurricane said:
I tried to get it working in my house, out in the garden, even bought a lead to connect the dongle onto my house TV aerial and still says No Signal. :sad:
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How do you scan for channels? What is your PC set up? Have you installed all the drivers?
 
profiterole said:
How do you scan for channels? What is your PC set up? Have you installed all the drivers?
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Apologies for delay in replying, just back from the Oystercatcher meet with not much internet signal. I down loaded the Blaze HDTV 6.0 software and drivers from the supplied disc. I am using Windows 8.1 and also tried it on an old laptop with xp but still same result.
As soon as I open the Blaze it asks if you want to scan for channels when it can't find any due to no signal. Does the dongle need a driver? What else can I do?
 
yeoblade said:
The same as me I think, couldn't get mine to work either. Win7 or 8 compatability probs?
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As I said above, mine was the same, scanned for channels but none found. It was for win 8 but didn't work on win 8. Used house ariel too. Returned it to ebay seller and got refund.

Years ago I had a XP based one that did work OK
 
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