Two questions regards radio

[steveandlisa]

Help needed please,

 

2012 Bailey Approach 740 se

 

1st question: I`m wondering if the radio reception can be improved by fitting a signal booster.

2nd question: How do you remove the radio to access the rear, I`ve tried several times using the proper keys but it just wont budge!!

 

Any help appreciated

Steve

 

[Billggski]

What radio? The reception is awful in most mohos because of the amount of body work and the pathetic aerial.

The pins need pushing in hard until you can feel the lugs click, it's sometimes easier to remove the cage holding the radio from the dashboard, which has little metal tabs like wings holding it in.

[gdf]

Or maybe even 'give in' and have a decent auto electrician fit a short aerial to the wing and disconnect the standard aerial.

 

This was the only thing that worked with our 2009 Roller Team Low profile.

 

Dave

[steveandlisa]

gdf - 2018-06-15 10:26 AM

 

Or maybe even 'give in' and have a decent auto electrician fit a short aerial to the wing and disconnect the standard aerial.

 

This was the only thing that worked with our 2009 Roller Team Low profile.

 

Dave

 

Ours already has an aerial fixed on the wing :-(

[plwsm2000]

To answer your first question, a signal booster will not improve the reception unless it has a filter before the amplification stage.

 

The standard fm antenna on most coach built or A class motorhomes are a bit of a joke IMHO. They are mostly based on a monopole design which relies on a certain length of antenna mounted perpendicular to a ground plane. The antenna length should normally be equal to a quarter wavelength of the frequency that you are trying to receive. For standard fm radio, the mid frequency is around 100MHz so the antenna length should be around 75cm. The first problem is that unless it is mounted on a metal roof, there is no proper ground plane. It also needs to be perpendicular which is unlikely to be the case. The other problem is that are not usually the correct length. In theory, this can be compensated for by adding a small coil at the bottom of the antenna, but this relies on a proper ground plane. Monopoles are also a resonant antenna so need proper "tuning" which is very difficult as the impedance of the antenna is not predictable.

 

The overall effect is that the antenna will pick up all sorts of other frequencies as well as a small bit of the real fm signal. The radio does a reasonable job of filtering the real signal, but it is not perfect (Think about trying to hold a conversation next to someone digging up the road with a pneumatic drill. In this case, a standard hearing aid would not help unless it has a filter in the voice band).You need to filter off most of the noise before you try to amplify the real signal.

 

I have an A class with a GRP roof and the antenna is mounted on a small metal plate about the size of an A4 sheet of paper. Unfortunate!y this is not big enough of a ground plane, and my radio reception is also rubbish. This is another job on my list!

 

[thomsonjuk]

2nd part assuming its a pug/fiat with the curved top radio. Insert the 2 removal tools into the holes, then gently pull, this will give a small gap that will allow a flat bladed screwdriver to be inserted on each side - lower down are a pair of lugs that also clip in the radio in addition to the release clips, and you do need to put some effort into the levering but will feel a clic when they disengage

 

did this today to reconnect the arial that had become disconnected

[Adiebt]

First of all make sure the aerial is attached, the connections are fragile at the aerial end , secondly ( as I’ve done ) replace the radio itself with an Alpine Apple CarPlay unit ( or Android equivalent ) , internet radio is the way forward ( DAB is dead ) . Great for GB radio abroad .

Re removing it , I’d go to a car audio specialist , many do a mobile service.