I live in the country so getting radio reception is dodgey sometimes.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get better reception?

I have a 2nd GEN TS Magna Wagon (roof antenna).

I have heard people say "power antenna" and "high-gain antenna" but not sure if anything can be done.

I'm in this boat too, really average radio reception with a good quality h/u. Country driver too. Other cars have fine reception, and the house has great reception.

Perhaps the 2nd gen arials/connections aren't that great?

Heh, with my arial down I can put my hand over the top of the arial and on to the car body and get a signal boost. Yeesh, is that meant to happen? :shock:

I'm in this boat too, really average radio reception with a good quality h/u. Country driver too. Other cars have fine reception, and the house has great reception.

Perhaps the 2nd gen arials/connections aren't that great?

Heh, with my arial down I can put my hand over the top of the arial and on to the car body and get a signal boost. Yeesh, is that meant to happen? :shock:

Yes


I live in the country so getting radio reception is dodgey sometimes.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get better reception?

I have a 2nd GEN TS Magna Wagon (roof antenna).

I have heard people say "power antenna" and "high-gain antenna" but not sure if anything can be done.

power antenna just means goes up and down lol...doesnt affect the reception.

wat u want is something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Good-quality-short-mini-amplified-car-roof-mount-aerial_W0QQitemZ8008839123QQcategoryZ36676QQrdZ1QQ cmdZViewItem

an amplified aerial...its like tv aerials, amplified ones r way better than bunny rabbits...same deal. usually diff is amplified ones will need power, to boost the signal gain.

could try this 2:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Amplified-BEESTING-Aerial-VW-MK1-MK2-MK3-GOLF-Vento-etc_W0QQitemZ4584118398QQcategoryZ9889QQrdZ1QQcmdZ ViewItem

u can buy signal boosters from most car audio shops or electrical shops

get some wire from antenna to car body...dunno if tht would work or weather static electricity would half kill you whenever you touch the car...

worth a shot...

when you say "would love a manual airbagless 3.5 "

you saying you dont want your magna airbaged??? or you talking about the safety airbag.... :confused:

when you say "would love a manual airbagless 3.5 "

you saying you dont want your magna airbaged??? or you talking about the safety airbag.... :confused:
I read that as not wanting safety airbags. Possibly doesn't want them because they add to insurance or something where he lives?:confused:

...power antenna just means goes up and down lol...doesnt affect the reception. lol - yeah I know what Power (up/down) Antenna are. The ones I saw on a website were called Power Antenna's but were realy the Power Amplified type. But thanks for the links anyway.


u can buy signal boosters from most car audio shops or electrical shops yeah, that's probably what I need - that way I can keep the original roof arial.

Someone I work with also suggested we just buy a new replacement/stock antenna (if the car is getting older) as this sometimes helps - doesn't know why but it does :confused: .

or check the connections to the aerial, sand them back if they look rusty.

Puck, I have had the same problem with cars I have owned, where the antenna isn't damaged but the reception is poor.
2nd gens with stock radios and aerial in good condition will have good long range FM reception.
I have found that if the aerial is dirty or corroded then this will affect reception.
for better reception try the following, (I have done this with a few cars and have had mixed results):
make sure all the sections of the aerial can move freely, if they don't then free them. fully extend the aerial and clean it with a pot scourer (or similar) then dry it and work some WD40 or contact cleaner into all of the slip joins in the aerial and especially the base contacts in the roof, when the aerial is wet with WD40 slide the aerial section in and out of the contact below to loosen any dirt or corrosion in the contacts, wipe the black crud off the aerial section and do it again with fresh WD40 till the WD40 stays clean.

another thing to check for is corrosion or poor contact on the aerial ground contact to the body, this is in the aerial base and uses one of the retainer screws as the contact.