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AM stations sound SO far away[ALL/1988] posted by vince on
Wednesday, 18 February 1998, at 10:18 p.m.
Re: 1988 240GL
Can anyone help me? The other day - almost overnight - the AM reception on our 240's radio cassette deteriorated. The AM stations now sound as if they are broadcasting from Mars, the reception is so poor. Yet the FM stations remain as strong as ever. Any thoughts would be welcome. Thank you.
Re: AM stations sound SO far away[ALL/1988] posted by Stan on
Wednesday, 18 February 1998, at 11:59 p.m.
Vince, when I experienced that problem I replaced my antenna with one that I picked up in a wrecking yard and it solved the problem. Like you, I was getting FM great, but lost my AM. Good Luck
Re: AM stations sound SO far away/broken antenna cable[ALL/1988] posted by Stoney on
Thursday, 19 February 1998, at 12:37 p.m.
Sounds like the shield or center conductor is broken or just there with several strands left. The cable will appear perfectly AOK from outside yet it's broken conductor/shield inside of insulation.
Stop by U-Pull-A-Part the going rate is $10, all you need is crescent wrench and a phillips head screwdriver. If it's a sedan mot have a disconnect at the rear antenna mounting point if it's a wagon and it's front pillar mounted remove the radio annd under dash panels and snake the wire back towards the pillar. Before you try and slide it out of the hole in outer body,put a wind of tape around the Motorola connector as the "wing" of the connector can get hung up in the edge of the hole, snap off and you are back to square one. *|(ask me just how I know this jewel of information!)
When you reconnect to your stock or aftermarket radio take a sec and clean both the male and female connectors with TV Tuner cleaner. Don't run the radio without speakers attached as this can FUBAR the output amps and they you have to go looking for a radio as well.
Re: AM stations sound SO far away[ALL/1988] posted by todd burke on
Thursday, 19 February 1998, at 12:20 a.m.
i have two thoughts: 1) the antenna or lead-in wire has a short in it. AM reception is very dependant on a good long antenna, whereas FM is more tolerant of a poor antenna (mostly because of the wave length of the signal). FM stations will often come in great with an antenna retracted, but AM stations only come in well with the antenna fully extended. or 2) the AM tuner section of your radio has died, most likely on of the rf preamps. the electronics of the AM tuner is completely separate from the FM tuner so it is possible for FM to keep working but the AM to be gone. i had a portable stereo that the FM section was what went bad. try the antenna first because it is the least expensive thing to try first.
hope this helps,
todd b.
Re: AM stations sound SO far away[ALL/1988] posted by Paul S. on
Thursday, 19 February 1998, at 12:07 p.m.
Does your radio have a DX (local vs. distant transmitters) button? Is it pushed?
My radio in the 262C did this (very very poor AM, FM fine) and thank God, I had accidently unpushed the DX button. Pushed it in and talk radio is great again!
Paul S.
Re: AM stations sound SO far away[ALL/1988] posted by Brian T. on
Thursday, 19 February 1998, at 8:44 p.m.
Drive out from under that bridge! ---Brian