REally Poor AM reception with 1997 f-150 supercab V6 2WD. Only with key "ahead", or with key "back" and door open. Check antenna connection, ok Changed Radio, still same problem. Anyone offer me some help??

Also, through the forum and links I was able to find an owners manual for a 1999, but not 1997, are they the same?? And where could I get a wiring diagram online???

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

 

I get horrible reception when my door is open or any other time the associated buzzer is buzzing, which causes a lot of static on the AM band. Is that what you are talking about?

AM radios shouldn't be using the external antenna.

 

Yep, but not only when the buzzer is working, just by turning the ignition ahead, it gets so abd you can't hear it. I thought that as well about the external antenna, and thought maybe it was the radios antenna. However when I changed out the radio I had the same problem. Got a wiring diagram???

 

Look for electrical sources of interference. When you power everything up with the key forward there are stray currents and stuff everywhere that play havoc on AM radio. Probably the same problem with the door open.. the light comes on right... Any time there is electricity moving around there will be static on an AM radio unless all the wiring is very well shielded. My guess is that your noise is really coming from the power source for the radio not the antena hence why if there is a draw on the battery besides the radio it is worse. Might try a filter on the lines if you are so inclined to take the time and effort.

Hope that helps

 

Which type of filter are you speaking of?? I was thinking of changing the connections so that the switched power was actually power full time. THis would result in the radio being on all the time, possibly a nuisance I know, but thought maybe it would clear it up.... If you could tell me the filter I need I may try and hook that up. It's pretty annoying not having the AM reception, especially since there are so many AM stations in my area.

 

Two things I'd try to check. Resistance of the shielding on the antenna cable to ground, and while you are at it, does the deck work (turn on) with the antenna disconnected.

Lots of chevy trucks would leak water through the firewall and the antenna connection would corrode at the amp, as well as at the fender - Regrounding the antenna mast fixed SOME of these problems. FM can often be picked up just by the cable alone, unlike AM.

Is your deck ground poor, then the power is returning to the battey VIA the antenna, that could also induce significant noise, especially when the truck is running its accessories!

I know it's easy to blame it on the ground but - there really are a lot of bad ones out there...

 

I'll check out the grounding of the antenna. The connection was rusted into the radio, and I re-newed the connection and thought it would fix the problem, but the problem was there, even with antenna disconnected, there was still a fair bit of induced noise, which is what led me to replace the radio. Correct me if I'm wrong (I often am), but I thought the AM antenna was inside the radio, so when I noticed the corrosion on the antenna connection and radio, I thought maybe the "internal" antenna was the problem. My next attempt to correct it will to be install a RF filter on the power supply side of the radio, and see if it helps. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Go to a local stereo shop and tell them whats up. Ask them if the have an antenna that you can use to try to rule out the one on your truck (it doesn't need to be the specific one for your truck, just any antenna). You don't need to go through all the trouble of running the cable, just pull the radio and plug it in the back temporarily. you may need to touch the base to a metal part, but if that is the problem, the improvemnt should be obvious.If the shop is not busy, you will probably get some good, cheap help fixing it. These are the kinds of problems that bored installers like to fix. Also, the AM tuner in most radios is really an afterthought these days. Of the aftermarket companies, Alpine and Panasonic both have excellent AM sections...I would suggest that the OEM tuner is crap on the AM side.

(I was an installer for 10 years...)