Bad FM reception - can you help?

I live in a moderately sized city with plenty of strong FM stations. But my radio reception is absolutely embarrassing - static on almost all stations, even in town and no reception once I get 5+ miles out of the metro area. I've replaced the antenna wire but it made no difference. I have a roof rack that completely surrounds the shark fin and I suspect that's the issue. I haven't had any testing of any of the individual components done, but the head unit doesn't seem like the likely culprit.

I haven't found a replacement mast that would look good and raise my antenna above the level of the roof rack. Does anyone have a source for a decent looking unit that will solve my problem? Or, do you have a better suggestion? I'm all ears!

Thanks!

 

I have a roof rack and the shark fin is completely covered with steel. I still get great FM reception in city and country. I would say you have another issue other than antenna exposure.

 

Have you changed anything electrical in your truck?

I notice a ton of FM interference when the third brake light on my bed light bar illuminates. You might have something similar going on potentially.

 

Fixed the stupid Entune FM radio antenna for good- added a 2nd 2m NMO mounted VHF antenna to my roof rack that I can use as an APRS beacon antenna when not connected to the radio.

It works so well I get clean stereo and even digital HD signals for the first time from a FM station over 100 miles away!

To do this, you will need all four of these items plus a NMO VHF 2m antenna.



$33 Tram NMO Mirror Mount Kit with 17' Coaxial Cable
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IDTJ1VY



$8 Ancable 2-Pack SO-239 / PL-259 UHF Female to Female Coax Cable Barrel Adapter Connector PL259 Coupler Plug for CB HAM Radio Antenna, SWR Meter
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9N2C3Q


$15 Best Kits BAA45 OEM Radio Antenna Adapter for Select Lexus Vehicles
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JR218X0



$8 Eightwood PL259 UHF Male to DIN AM/FM Male Plug Extension Lead 12"es Coax RG58 for Radio Antenna Receiver
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071DV23W1

NMO mount on the rear bar of my Prinsu:



PL259 male from antenna to a female /female PL259 barrel to the PL259 male to RCA female antenna adapter. From there it goes to amale/male RCA antenna cord up to the back of the head unit is where the RCA female to Entune adapter is. I have extra slack in order to connect the antenna (tuned for 2m VHF) to my APRS radio when needed off road (don’t useAPRS on daily drives):


100 miles away with HD reception, baby!

 

Thank you all for very quick responses. I've made no recent changes to the truck and the reception is sucky with or without the brake light illuminated. It's good to know that the roof rack isn't likely to be the culprit. And, with the fantastic (and detailed!) info on the antenna upgrade, I think I see my path forward. Thank you again!

 

wow, I never knew this! Thanks for the info!

 

I was just looking up parts and do you know what? I was wrong!!! The shark fin is a combination antenna for both satellite and radio- I believed it was separate all this time as a tech told me this when I first complained about my FM reception. Seeing the two cables for each going to the back of my radio led me to keep assuming this… sorry for the wrong info- I edited the post to correct it.

 

Even with no changes made by you, have you checked all the connection in the back of the head unit? Sometimes they work loose.

 

Do you have anything powered off 12v truck power that reduces the power to 5v USB? I had a dash cam that absolutely ruined my FM reception that used a 12v cigarette plug that converted it to a USB micro plug. I couldn't figure it out and even swapped a new stereo and antenna on the 4Runner. I found the problem the day I traded it for my Tacoma.

 

Radio interference is tough as hell to chase down without an RF sniffer.

I had a slight interference problem for over 6 months, where I would notice stations dropping sooner than they should whenever I left town, and constantly flipping between HD and analogue signals when in town. The brief pause whenever it clicked into HD mode drove me bananas. It was every 10 seconds or so.

It turns out, the power supply for my dash cam was producing the problem. Replacing that unit cleared it up. It was one of those weekends where I was bored as hell, and started unplugging and uninstalling things one at a time then going for drives while tuned into a weak station.

 

Have you installed any aftermarket lighting? Diode dynamics crap created huge interference issues for me. Removed their stuff and was back to good.

 

If you only plan to use FM and not a two-way radio with the antenna, you can cut a regular 2-meter antenna (any Amazon 2-meter NMO mounted one will work as I described above), or you can also get them with cable and connectors attached. In order to tune it you have to just shorten it by cutting it for the best FM radio reception. The best quarter wave length for the FM band is 2.5 feet.

I now have mine mounted on a hood mount on the passenger side where real AM/FM radio antennas used to be on the real Toyota Trucks!

 

let me guess. dealership tech? I had such a bad experience last time, the tech should have been the customer...

 

Yeah- a lot of them make silly assumptions- I did also just by believing him!

 

@OnHartung'sRoad you might want to consider either shortening your coax cable or not coiling it in a nice neat loop like that. It acts like a choke and can actually attenuate the signal. Not picking, just a friendly suggestion because it is a common thing everybody does without thinking.

 

You are right. I actually did get a short one as I changed over to a hood mounted FM antenna (a modified VHF one), but I still have the long one and just store it like that as when I am doing APRS, HamSAT or other comms, I uncoil it for a remote antenna on the ground while I’m parked.

For others who are only using a long coax to reach a roof mounted FM radio antenna, it is good advice to use just the length you need as the signal gets more attenuated the longer the coax.

 

My FM has always sucked in my Tacoma’s. I either stream using my phone or use the Sirius.
I was gonna cancel but telling them that lowers price a lot. Just about up on 6 months for 5$. I’m gonna call and cancel we shall see what they offer!
Shit even the FM converter in my 69 Chevy seemed better.
I do remember a modulator even back then. Too much tech!!!

 

FM reception on my Tacoma sucks compared to every other vehicle I've had with a normal (¼-wavelength) FM antenna mounted on the fender, however I don't think I would call it out as bad as OP put it. Nonetheless, I do plan to experiment with a standard whip antenna on it since I'm driving it in the outskirts more now (there's a nice flat spot right at the base of the A-pillar that looks the perfect spot for an antenna... If it works out, I got no issue popping a hole and hard-mounting an antenna there (yes I realize I may need to put a reinforcement inside the fender since it is a bit flimsy there).


Some clarifications:

Coiling up a coaxial cable does NOT attenuate the signal energy traveling through it, but will make it act as a choke attenuating any extraneous (unwanted) RF energy traveling on the outside of the shield. This makes a coiled coax cable potentially useful for RF interference suppression, as well as it acting as a balun for feeding dipole and j-pole antennas (reduces antenna pattern distortion caused by feedline radiation). The only bad part about coiling up excess coax is that it is excess coax cable, and will have an additional line loss associated with it compared to a shorter (uncoiled) piece of cable.
I do agree that if there's no need for it to be coiled, a shorter straight piece of cable would be better.

A 2M antenna is ~19" tall... FM broadcast being 3M, would need a longer (~28" tall) antenna for that use... What am I missing?

Edit:
Or were you referring to cutting down a ⅝-wave 2M antenna to ~28" for ¼-wave FM use? That I can see working as long as the ⅝-wave doesn't have a shunt coil in it's base (it will show a DC short to ground if it has a shunt).

No HD icon... Not HD reception

 

My FM is great. No mods. No rack. Just stock.

 

Spotify - listen to exactly what you like with no commercials.

But even now I hardly use it ( i'm on the family plan ) .... I'm just not interested in hearing anything much these days.