AM RADIO in a 156

[len105]

Hi guys

This topic probably sounds a bit soft - however, I am looking for some input from fellow owners of 156ers.......or someone who has experienced a similiar problem.

Basically, the AM radio reception is useless - depending upon what suburb or street you are in - any AM radio station is the same - it makes such an intelligible noise that you flick straight back to FM - which works just fine. Most of you will say.......who cares ??!! However, it just bugs me that when I bought this car, the only fault was the AM radio reception. And I bought it anyway........

The guy I purchased it said it was never good - and he had paid several hundred dollars for an external mid-roof aerial because he had been advised that it would improve the reception. I don't have the comparison but it still sucks......

Another fellow 156er has verbally confirmed with me that he had the same problem..........which is why I know its not just my car !!

Any suggestions would be appreciated.......

[John Hanslow]

I agree that the reception is poor.  The previous owner had a internal Bosch aerial installed on the inside of the front windscreen.  The sould is inconsistent and cuts out from side to side & moves around the car. Also the CD player rejects CD Disc formats randomly.

I would have thought that the new aerial on the roof would solve your problems.

[Andrew156]

I found the same with my 156 but solved it by installing a HARADA on-glass antenna and mounting it inide the windscreen along the top left side.

It made a world of difference, cost $55 from Freeway Car Audio in Malvern and took me @ an hour to install. Worth every $$!!

Speak to Tim at Freeway, who advised me that that this would be the best way to go.

[John Hanslow]

Thanks for that. Good to hear of a positive result.  Will check it out myself as $55 is not much to spend on a 1 hour fix.

[len105]

Thanks to you all for your input !! I'll follow up Andrew156's suggestions..........and advise !!

[156southpaw]

As strange as this will sound, if you turn on your rear-demister whilst listening to AM radio, you get a boost in power to the rear aerial and better reception.  I have to admit it is a pain-in-the-butt to do this everytime, but it works.

I'm really interested in more feedback re the Harada aerial.  Can it be placed on the rear windscreen?  Looking at their website, there is precious little detail.

[Andrew156]

I am still to take a photo but the aerial is a Harada AM200 from memory. As I suggested call Freeway Car Audio in Malvern (Vic) for the details. They did tell me at the time that they can be hard to come by.

Anecdotally, I wanted to mount mine on the rear side window of the wagon, but was advised against it as it tends to work best on the front of the car.

[Doug Gould]

This answer is not going to help at all, but Australia is nearly the only country left in the world that uses AM radio for mainstream stations / long distance reception. As a result there is very little attention paid to AM reception. I've done test trips with engineers  evaluating FM reception. They pay unbelievable attention to detail for this, but you can't get their attention on AM issues at all.