# Is there a stronger antenna?



## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Only way you could improve the stock antenna's FM reception is to make it a bit longer. I haven't looked if there is anything available with the same thread size. 

The FM reception in my 2012 cruze is abysmal, worse than any other car I have owned.


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

Research DVB-t , Good Luck .


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

spacedout said:


> The FM reception in my 2012 cruze is abysmal, worse than any other car I have owned.


And I thought there was something wrong with the radio broadcasts in this town...


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

At least it's not in the window! 

My parents Honda can't pick up anything on FM stations outside of large metro areas...

The Cruze does fade out a lot when at a stop, then continues music as soon as you move again, even a few inches. Very weird. There are a lot of stations that I like that are from ~2 hours away in Maryland and the signal is very weak down our way.


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

I have no issues with my reception. 


Sent from the sexy electrician


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

Yo ...I get TV in Me cruzen ,,,,,FREE ,,,,O love the Blackhawks Games at Night .


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## Vetterin (Mar 27, 2011)

brian v said:


> Yo ...I get TV in Me cruzen ,,,,,FREE ,,,,O love the Blackhawks Games at Night .


Well....looks like you will be a cruzen at 7:30 tonight when they play Winnipeg. 
Just remember..................NO ccasion14: till your cruzen is over!


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

money_man said:


> I have no issues with my reception.
> 
> 
> Sent from the sexy electrician


I have all sorts of issues with my reception - can't receive anything but junk over the air.


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

I think that's just radio nowadays. Even Sirius sucks. 


Sent from the sexy electrician


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

money_man said:


> I have no issues with my reception.


Same here. It's better than my old car. 

One minor word of warning - too good of an antenna can make things worse - local stations will over power the radio and then you can't hear the station you want. So you need to assess if the problem is if the signal is too weak or if the local stations are overpowering what you want. The clue of "too powerful" is when the same station appears in multiple places.


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## LizzieCruze (Feb 17, 2014)

"I think that's just radio nowadays. Even Sirius sucks."

Sirius-ly! 

I listen to a college channel's rebroadcast of WGBH from Boston. It is a classical channel and it's _seriously_ all that I like...a bastion of sanity in this crazy world.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

College channels tend to be low power so reception can be iffy, even with the best antennas.


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## LizzieCruze (Feb 17, 2014)

brian v said:


> Research DVB-t , Good Luck .


Thanks, Brian, I will.


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

There are antennas that Can be set up to reach the rf signals .


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

obermd said:


> I have all sorts of issues with my reception - can't receive anything but junk over the air.


That's why I have a 60gb iPod that lives permanently in my console. If I'm not listening to a playlist of things I like, I'm tuned in to a local AM News station to get my latest fill of how the world is or isn't doing.


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## LizzieCruze (Feb 17, 2014)

someday, I WILL take the plunge and get a smart phone, but for now... dumb it is!


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

LizzieCruze said:


> someday, I WILL take the plunge and get a smart phone, but for now... dumb it is!


I thought everyone was forced into a smart phone by now


Sent from the sexy electrician


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

money_man said:


> I thought everyone was forced into a smart phone by now
> 
> 
> Sent from the sexy electrician


My mom JUST upgraded to an iPhone after using the same LG flip phone for the last 6? Years...


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

That's crazy to me


Sent from the sexy electrician


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

money_man said:


> I thought everyone was forced into a smart phone by now


I work with computers every day and have many tablets, with that said I do not want a so called smart phone. Way to small of a screen to actually be useful form my needs & cost over a basic phone is ridiculous. I have two different 4G mifi devices(US Cellular and Verizon) so I can use internet anywhere still, but on a much larger screen. 

I always wonder is it still a smart phone when a dumb person owns it? Is the phone smarter than the owner?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

spacedout said:


> I work with computers every day and have many tablets, with that said I do not want a so called smart phone. Way to small of a screen to actually be useful form my needs & cost over a basic phone is ridiculous. I have two different 4G mifi devices(US Cellular and Verizon) so I can use internet anywhere still, but on a much larger screen.
> 
> I always wonder is it still a smart phone when a dumb person owns it? Is the phone smarter than the owner?


The gap between the two is closing quickly! *holds iPad to ear*


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

spacedout said:


> I always wonder is it still a smart phone when a dumb person owns it? Is the phone smarter than the owner?


In many cases Yes.


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## Green (May 14, 2014)

jblackburn said:


> My mom JUST upgraded to an iPhone after using the same LG flip phone for the last 6? Years...


For the moment I'm still using the flip-phone thing, Don't really have a *need* or desire for it never mind anything else


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

Green said:


> For the moment I'm still using the flip-phone thing, Don't really have a *need* or desire for it never mind anything else


Once you have it, you need it and can't go back... it's a trap!


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Lizzie,
As stated earlier in the thread, only a longer antenna can help FM reception, but not by much.

The FM broadcast signal is essentially a straight line from the broadcast tower......a comparatively weak one at that.
Because it is a straight line, and we live on a globe, as we travel away from the tower we begin to go under the signal.....that is where you hear it start to warble and then as you continue, it reaches a point where you have completely dropped below the signal........so, antenna 'Strength' if there really was such a thing, can't help in this circumstance.
Same thing happens to the FM signal in cities with tall buildings.....the buildings obstruct and sometimes absorb the signal....try driving downtown Chicago listening to FM......it'll drive you insane.

Since we're talking radio, the AM signal is entirely different and has a much larger range even though the station may be broadcasting at a lower power. AM grow......a side view would be sort of like a megaphone.....the end you speak into represents the top of the broadcast antenna, the big end represents the signal growing......this continues to follow the curvature of the earth (as well as off into space) so you have far more range.
Add to this, AM signals can 'bounce' off of thick cloud cover, sometimes doubling the range of stronger stations to almost 1000 miles.

Satellite radio is as stated....the signal is broadcast down to earth using satellites as repeater stations......this is why, when obstructed from above such as a bridge, the signal is lost momentarily.

Use AUX to minimize aggravation heh heh.

Be careful out there.....happy holidays,

Rob


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## LizzieCruze (Feb 17, 2014)

spacedout said:


> I always wonder is it still a smart phone when a dumb person owns it? Is the phone smarter than the owner?


I wish that I could like this twice!! :bowdown:


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## LizzieCruze (Feb 17, 2014)

jblackburn said:


> The gap between the two is closing quickly! *holds iPad to ear*


I'm laughing out loud here!


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## LizzieCruze (Feb 17, 2014)

Robby said:


> Lizzie,
> As stated earlier in the thread, only a longer antenna can help FM reception, but not by much.
> 
> The FM broadcast signal is essentially a straight line from the broadcast tower......a comparatively weak one at that.
> Because it is a straight line, and we live on a globe, as we travel away from the tower we begin to go under the signal.....that is where you hear it start to warble and then as you continue, it reaches a point where you have completely dropped below the signal


Thanks, Rob. I understand now how a longer antenna is the only way to get better reception.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

LizzieCruze said:


> Thanks, Rob. I understand now how a longer antenna is the only way to get better reception.


A longer antenna may or may not help. The relationship between radio wavelength and antenna length is critical. You want an antenna length that is a whole number divisor of the wavelength. For example, if the wavelength is 50 meters you want an antenna length that is a multiple of 5 meters for best reception. Ideally it would be 50 meters.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

To those folks metric challenged that would be a 150 foot tall antenna.

YIKES!

Rob


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

1/4, 1/2, 3/8, 5/8 wave are all popular sizes. Even then, the electrical size can be changed by adding a coil to it. 

100MHz is 3m so a 1/4 wave is 2.4 ft - kinda long to put on top of a car.

Generally, a "stubby" isn't going to help. But like a lot of things in life, what works best is based on a number of factors - including how well designed and built it is.


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## UlyssesSG (Apr 5, 2011)

spacedout said:


> The FM reception in my 2012 cruze is abysmal, worse than any other car I have owned.


*Ditto here. The absolute pits.
*
Shamed by every make and model car I've ever owned, ridden in or driven and so equipped. I gave up counting years ago, but a conservative estimate would be well over a hundred different vehicles starting with my Mom's '66 Plymouth Belvedere station wagon.

If I didn't know better, that the Cruze we drive is the proud product of the square shooters at the new GM, I'd say the sucky FM radio thing smacks of the old GM cutting a deal with SiriusXM.


*Merry Christmas!*


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## UlyssesSG (Apr 5, 2011)

ChevyGuy said:


> 100MHz is 3m so a 1/4 wave is 2.4 ft - kinda long to put on top of a car.


Okay, consider this: Assuming the Cruze's FM receiver is of adequate quality to be able to acceptably process a FM signal, why not put an upright quarter wave antenna on the right front fender and be done with it? Worked well for decades on just about every make and model car and truck built in the USA.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

UlyssesSG said:


> Okay, consider this: Assuming the Cruze's FM receiver is of adequate quality to be able to acceptably process a FM signal, why not put an upright quarter wave antenna on the right front fender and be done with it? Worked well for decades on just about every make and model car and truck built in the USA.


It did indeed work well......trouble is, every element of carmaking involves reducing drag.......even that stick on the front fender creates measurable drag and, quite possibly, wind noise.

The price of progress????

Rob


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

ChevyGuy said:


> Generally, a "stubby" isn't going to help.


My pappy always said, the size of your antenna doesn't matter, it's how you use it.

Cmon, you didn't see that one coming???


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

ChevyGuy said:


> 100MHz is 3m so a 1/4 wave is 2.4 ft - kinda long to put on top of a car.


I would assume then any increase in antenna length could possibly improve reception? Heck I kinda like the remote control car look, 2.4ft antenna wouldn't bother me one bit.


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## LizzieCruze (Feb 17, 2014)

This could be me...:music:


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

If one screwed a longer antenna into the stock base, how much weight could it actually support? 

Satellite and FM are the same quality for me. Cheapest decent "Smartphone" would be my backup Nokia Lumia 635. I couldn't do a flip phone for half a day and the next up faux blackberry style GoPhone was no better. So far the 6 Plus does not like my radio and at times the USB stick decides it doesn't like the radio either.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

spacedout said:


> I would assume then any increase in antenna length could possibly improve reception?


If you're going to qualify it like that - sure! It could. It's worth a try. Likewise an amplified antenna could improve things as well (if you can find one that fits.) Then again, an amplifier can make things worse. It depends on how strong the local stations are and if the amplifier has a better noise figure then the radio.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

UlyssesSG said:


> why not put an upright quarter wave antenna on the right front fender and be done with it? Worked well for decades on just about every make and model car and truck built in the USA.


Works? Yes. Stylin'? It's so un-European....


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