Weak radio signal compared to the VW autoradio

Posted Sep 20, 2011 · 13:50 UTC#1

Hi,

I want to know if anyone have met the same problem... When installing the AppRadio, I have a weak radio signal compared to the one I had on the previous autoradio (the one from VW).

Thanks for your feedback, it will help me understand if I did something wrong in the installation.

Jerome

Posted Sep 20, 2011 · 15:47 UTC#2

I'm a VW/Audi guy... What kind of car and year do you have? It's very likely you need to buy a small adapter that injects power up the FM antenna lead to power the factory antenna amp.

Posted Sep 20, 2011 · 16:07 UTC#3

I have an EOS 2007... and the previous autoradio (RCD 500) the one had a very good reception... I could listen to my favorite radio in my parking...

Do you have an idea of what kind of stuff I need to add to make it work ? (brand, name)

Thanks,

Edited Sep 20, 2011 by jayrom

Posted Sep 20, 2011 · 17:18 UTC#4

Metra is a pretty good source for this kind of stuff, they are one of the main suppliers of aftermarket radio installation parts. Specifically I think you are going to need the following:

http://www.metraonline.com/part/40-EU55

The motorola male connector goes into the appradio and the other end plugs into your car's antenna wiring, this will probably replace the antenna adapter I suspect you had to install with the radio. The power lead coming off of it needs to be attached to a +12v power source that is swtiched with the key, this should be the red wire coming out of the radio. That can easily be connected with a wire "t" tap. This should be very easy to install if you have even basic electronics knowledge.

If you had your radio professionally installed, I would go back and shame them into installing this for you free of charge since this is something any radio installer should be aware of.

Posted Sep 21, 2011 · 04:41 UTC#5

I'm a VW guy as well and I would have to concur with what PJH has said. This should fix you right up.

Posted Sep 24, 2011 · 08:38 UTC#6

jay, je trouve aussi que la reception est moins bonne...even compare to the avic F700 i got before....

c'est nel

Posted Nov 19, 2011 · 13:54 UTC#7

Hate to bump an older thread but im also having issues with radio reception. I have an FJ Cruiser which has a regular antennae and since switching to this radio unit I get a ridiculous amount of static.. anyone have any ideas ? The stock antennae plug fits perfectly into the appradio antennae connection so I do not think its that..

Posted Nov 19, 2011 · 14:41 UTC#8

Some Toyotas have a power wire in the wireing harness that powers an antenna amplifier. My Vibe/Matrix is like this.

Posted Nov 20, 2011 · 06:43 UTC#9

Did some checking and apparently the power wire is used to power the factory subwoofer when using an aftermarket radio. i think sadly its just a poor OEM antenna as others have stated its an issue.

Posted Jan 26, 2012 · 04:15 UTC#10

I'm having the same problem with weak or no fm radio signal some times. The app radio is installed in a 2010 Nissan frontier.

I emailed pioneer and this is what they had to say.

Good Day,

We do not have any reported issues with the reception on the App Radio, if

possible try connecting a different antenna, alternatively

Please take your unit with a valid bill of sale from a Canadian authorized

dealer to any service center below for evaluation.

Could the gps antenna interfere with the fm antenna?

Posted Jan 27, 2012 · 02:18 UTC#11

Sorry for the stupid post. I didnt install the power wire for the antenna which was included with new metra antenna wiring harness.

Posted Feb 17, 2012 · 15:08 UTC#12

I'm have the same problems with weak signal since I switch from my stock radio. I have a 2000 Audi A4 and it used to have the Symphony 2 Radio in it, which worked perfectly and picked up reception that other cars wouldn't. Now I get some stations and really poor reception. I have the Metra connector (Stock No. 40-EU55) that PJH was refering to in this post. I got it professionally installed but took it out to bypass it and I'm pretty sure the blue wire on the Metra wasn't connected anywhere. Would this cause the problem? If so where do I connect it? TIA!

Posted Feb 19, 2012 · 18:37 UTC#13

I'm have the same problems with weak signal since I switch from my stock radio. I have a 2000 Audi A4 and it used to have the Symphony 2 Radio in it, which worked perfectly and picked up reception that other cars wouldn't. Now I get some stations and really poor reception. I have the Metra connector (Stock No. 40-EU55) that PJH was refering to in this post. I got it professionally installed but took it out to bypass it and I'm pretty sure the blue wire on the Metra wasn't connected anywhere. Would this cause the problem? If so where do I connect it? TIA!

The blue wire needs to be connected to power.

Posted Feb 20, 2012 · 02:56 UTC#14

Wow, so much for a professional install! Good thing its an easy fix, thanks Falkey 77!

Posted Feb 23, 2012 · 05:39 UTC#15

make sure you have all the options in the radio menu to "OFF" it now picks up all the stations as well as any of the other headunits i had...

Posted Feb 27, 2012 · 15:06 UTC#16

Hay Falkey77 and Audi88, did the metra adapter solve this problem of weak radio reception for you or just amplify the static?

Posted Feb 27, 2012 · 18:43 UTC#17

Hay Falkey77 and Audi88, did the metra adapter solve this problem of weak radio reception for you or just amplify the static?

I dont find the radio quailty to be the best with app radio but the metra adapter did make the stations Stronger.