Toyota Prius: AM Radio

"humin32" <com> wrote in message
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Generally, AM reception problems are from increased noise and the usual
reason for that is deterioration of the ground connection at the antenna
mount. Dunno about the 2004, but certainly for the first generation it
requires getting past the headliner to do anything about that.

The fix for a bad ground is pretty straightforward. The antenna mount is
removed from the body and the body is scoured with Scotchbrite (or
sandpaper, but in my experience Scotchbrite is quicker) where the conductive
part of the mount contacts the body. The shined area is then coated with a
thin film of petroleum jelly, dielectric grease or silicone grease to ward
off rust and the antenna remounted, making sure it is tight on the body.

Years ago I worked on avionics (aircraft electronics) in general aviation. I
was always impressed by how sensitive ground connections for ADF sense
antennas - which work in the AM band and somewhat lower - were to ground
quality. We had a pair of really nasty chemicals to clean and passivate the
aluminum skin where the antennas mounted, and I quickly learned that made
the difference between mediocre performance and exceptional performance.
When the antenna was mounted on a painted area without any scouring, as we
sometimes saw, the performance was *really* miserable.

Mike

Recent advances in HD radio etc has seemed to degrade the AM signal
something fierce - seems the radio stations are just giving up trying to
offer high wattage, high quality AM stations - any other thoughts on this?
My AM reception is pretty poor too.



"humin32" <com> wrote in message
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The only other comment I have is that I don't have this issue with my
1999 Maxima. So I don't think it's the radio station.


Tweecer wrote: 

"humin32" wrote ... 

Today, I tried out the AM reception northwest of Boston in my 2005 with the
standard radio. I used the seek button to find stations and counted those
that I considered to have clear, "listenable" sound.

Driving along I-495, seek found about 20 decently listenable stations in a
pass across the AM band. I was surprised to find a slightly smaller number
(maybe 16 to 18) of similar quality while driving along Rte 128. The number
was somewhat reduced by static when driving some local roads with power lines.

Al

"humin32" <com> wrote in message
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The Prius radio, the JBL model at least, has an effective shit filter. You
weren't trying to tune-in Rush Limbaugh were you? Sean Hannity?

Bill wrote: 

No - I'm trying to listen to WEEI - sports talk radio and station that
the Red Sox games are broadcast on.

I drive from Billerica to coastal New Hampshire. I'm trying to listen
to WEEI (850AM), I consider it unlistenable now. The reception is
deteriorating, it used (6 months ago) be much better. When I first
purchased the car in 2004 one of the things I checked was AM reception,
it was very good when it was brandy spanky new. 50K miles later, it
sucks.


A Sherman wrote: 

usually the problem with am radio is that there are far too many republi
"con" talking point shows with hosts that are filled with too much hate,
anger and vitriol and these loudmouth republi cons like hackhead hannity,el
druggo limpballs, and vibrator boy billy o :lie" lly from fox non news spin
network. thats the problem with am radio



"humin32" <com> wrote in message
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