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Poor reception with OEM head unit

Just wanted to update this thread for the sake of future searches. I fixed my poor reception problem. I purchased a short mast amplified S2000 style antenna and installed it in the OEM location. The antenna came with a new lead but I used the OEM lead and there are no problems with the reception at all anymore. I am very happy with it plus I no longer have the super tall RC car look OEM antenna. In the future I may plug the new lead in and try it out if I have the dash out but I doubt the reception will get much better. Hope this helps someone else out.
 
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Coincidentally I went the other route (replacing extension lead) this weekend while I had my console out & it made absolutely no difference! Fortunately I had just hooked it up as experiment, running outside the car door & into the trunk for a test. Worth a try for $10 from Good Guys.
Mr. Freeze is second person I know of that has stated the "fuba" amplified style antenna has resolved the reception issue without replacing the extension.
I guess that's my next route.
 
Thanks D'Ecosse for that information. I guess I won't waste my time with trying the new lead then. I would definately recommend you try some form of amplified antenna. I am very very happy with the results of ours.
 
MRFreeze said:
Just wanted to update this thread for the sake of future searches. I fixed my poor reception problem. I purchased a short mast amplified S2000 antenna and installed it in the OEM location. The antenna came with a new lead but I used the OEM lead and there are no problems with the reception at all anymore. I am very happy with it plus I no longer have the super tall RC car look OEM antenna. In the future I may plug the new lead in and try it out if I have the dash out but I doubt the reception will get much better. Hope this helps someone else out.
Click to expand...


Great info. I'd love to do this same thing. Can you provide some specifics/details on the S2000 antenna? Part #'s, costs, etc. I'd like to try this route out before I pay big bucks to replace the antenna lead and find out that it may not be the problem... (I really hope that my mechanic is wrong about this one...)

Thanks in advance!
 
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Kato - I purchased my antenna from www.locustom.com. The guy there's name is Mike and he is a really nice guy.
The S2000 antenna is $60 shipped but he is currently out of stock on them. They Shark Attack 2 antenna is basically the same thing but the base is a little bigger because the amp is in the base as opposed to external. That one is $30.
He has a nice install walk through on an NSX on the web site. No, it's not my car and I am not affiliated with him. The directions there allowed me to complete my own install in about 45 minutes. This is the second antenna I have bought from him though and he has always come across as very knowledgeable and friendly. I ordered my antenna on Monday and had it by Wednesday. Definately recommend you contact him if you have any further questions or concerns.
 
Thanks! I'll try and pick one up when he gets one in stock. If you have any pictures, please post them. I'd love to see how it looks.
 
OK Bad news guys. The other night after installing the antenna I drove the car around the block and reception seemed to be fine. However, after driving around town all day yesterday, I can safely say that the antenna by itself has not resolved the reception issue.

This morning, I ran the new lead from the head unit to the new antenna and no change. I even put the OEM antenna back in to try that out and there was no change in reception quality.

We have an OEM Prelude CD head unit in our Civic. I took that out and plugged that into the NSX as they have the same plug. Well, reception was fine with that head unit. I took about a 30 minute drive around town with the console pieces left out and just the Prelude head unit in there and never had a problem with reception.

In conclusion, it looks as if the head unit is bad. That sucks. Looks like I'll be spending a bit more than I had planned to get this problem fixed.......
 
Hav you tried disconnecting the window antenna to see if it's contributing to your reception at all? I have my mast antenna completely disconnected (stupid fugly thing) and still get pretty decent reception, so the window antenna is definitely a significant contributor. If yours is not working, you might be missing out on a big part of the signal.
 
I ran through the entire TSB HERE a couple of weekends ago which troubleshoots both antennas and both leads and none of that was the problem. I took the head unit out and started playing around with the lead and plug that goes to the retractable antenna and reception would fade in and out. I have a new lead which I tried as well to make sure it is not the lead end that was bad which it wasn't. It looks like the plug socket on the back of the head unit is where the signal loss is at. It almost seems like the antenna is not being grounded properly. I took the head unit apart but I don't see where anything is broken off or disconnected so I don't know what the problem is. I may see if I can have an electronics shop around here take a look at it if I can find one......
 
Thanks guys for the reply. Yes the black with light green stripe ground wire is securely attached so the head unit itself is properly grounded.

jlindy I am not sure if there was a head unit in that thread but it looks as if the seller is just selling a blower motor for the HVAC system. Thanks for looking out though.
 
MRFreeze said:
Thanks guys for the reply. Yes the black with light green stripe ground wire is securely attached so the head unit itself is properly grounded.

jlindy I am not sure if there was a head unit in that thread but it looks as if the seller is just selling a blower motor for the HVAC system. Thanks for looking out though.
Click to expand...

It was on there before. He must have sold it. Sorry.
 
Resurrecting an old one...

I did a search and it didn't seem like there was much of a conclusion on improving the FM reception. I have the same problem and everything is new. I wonder if the aluminum body impedes reception somehow, or if in regular cars, a steel body acts as an antenna as well. Any thoughts?
 
Briank said:
There is no difference between steel or aluminum in regard to radio reception or lack there of.
Click to expand...

Seriously? :confused: I'm just amazed that between the flagpole antenna and a second one in the window, the OEM system (even new) gets weak reception. Too bad if there really isn't a fix for this.
 
Hi,

Resurrecting this thread yet again as I'm a bit frustrated with this reception issue. I just replaced all the Bose amps and was looking forward to hearing some great music and now notice I cannot get any reception on all of the stations that I get perfect reception on my 89 Acura Legend in town. I've read through the thread and it appears nobody has had a surefire way of curing this problem.

Any updates on this issue that somebody can help me with? I actually don't mind the stock antenna, so I have no interest in replacing that. But perhaps there is an amplifier that can be added to the stock antenna and head unit to help with reception?

Thanks,
T.
 

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