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sgfan3
Guest
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 Posted:
Sat Oct 22, 2005 1:31 am Post subject:
Re: Ultimate radio reception in an e46 |
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Does anyone here have XM radio? I love it and the reception issue is
moot...most of the time! :)
"sgfan3" <sgfan@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:t9B5f.609$fm7.56@fe06.lga...
| Quote: | Here's another option if you REALLY like radio. I recently got an XM SKIFI
2 and I'm loving it! 200+ stations to choose from and you can pause,
rewind, fast forward. The normal digital features. It will cost around
$175 USD for a nice, clean install (did mine myself). The reception is
great but if the "line-of-site" is blocked, the reception may fade for a
second, but is tons better than any FM radio. It does require a
subscription (what doesn't these days!) of around $13 USD/month but the
reception is nation wide. At least in the US48.
Hope this helps.
Chris
"Floyd Rogers" <fbloogyudsr@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:11ldej0vlapsfa@corp.supernews.com...
"RP" <poteetr@sbcglobal.net> wrote
So is the diversity antenna really that inadequate?
IMO, any time you need an in-line amplifier between the antenna and
receiver,
it's inadequate. It's also inadequate in that every connection between
the antenna
and receiver has to be perfect: that's why *REAL* receivers use BNP,
Coax or
other connectors that aren't as subject to corrosion, broken wires, etc.
Floyd Rogers
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Malt_Hound
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Oct 22, 2005 1:31 am Post subject:
Re: Ultimate radio reception in an e46 |
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RP wrote:
| Quote: | My car before this one was a 1995 318i, so I probably had that exact
same cassette unit. :)
I'd noticed that Sony series, too... It seems hard to find a unit that
has orange or red lighting right now, but those do. If I really want a
Pioneer that looks okay, I might have to get a discontinued model I saw
that has it. But it's good to hear that the Sony's FM specs seem to
be realistic.
|
Well, not all of the Sonys have the same receiver because the FM
sensitivity specs vary.
Also, I saw where Blaupunkt has brought back the Montreal which a lot of
folks have used in BMWs because they are good decks and match the dash well.
--
-Fred W |
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RP
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Nov 16, 2005 10:45 pm Post subject:
Re: Ultimate radio reception in an e46 |
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I thought I would update this for anyone who might be interested...
The Pioneer I was thinking about was on sale at Circuit City, so I went
ahead and had it put in last Friday. After a few days of careful
listening, I'm somewhat disappointed. Reception isn't really better,
and in some cases is worse. My sense is that raw sensitivity is
somewhat better than the Blaupunkt Business CD that was in there, but
losing the diversity and having two antennas to "choose" from has hurt
performance. At times I'll get stations that I didn't get before, but
my target station that is 90 miles or so away comes in even more
erratically than before. And a couple of stations about 45 miles away
that were very solid are now a more sporadic. I *suspect* this is
because I now have a narrower reception range than I had before.
So now I wonder if a whip would help, especially since I've essentially
lost half of the antenna I had (with the new radio only utilizing one
of the available in-glass antennas)...
Does anyone have any more thoughts on that? Or what I could try next
to improve reception?
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Malt_Hound
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:25 am Post subject:
Re: Ultimate radio reception in an e46 |
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RP wrote:
| Quote: | I thought I would update this for anyone who might be interested...
The Pioneer I was thinking about was on sale at Circuit City, so I went
ahead and had it put in last Friday. After a few days of careful
listening, I'm somewhat disappointed. Reception isn't really better,
and in some cases is worse. My sense is that raw sensitivity is
somewhat better than the Blaupunkt Business CD that was in there, but
losing the diversity and having two antennas to "choose" from has hurt
performance. At times I'll get stations that I didn't get before, but
my target station that is 90 miles or so away comes in even more
erratically than before. And a couple of stations about 45 miles away
that were very solid are now a more sporadic. I *suspect* this is
because I now have a narrower reception range than I had before.
So now I wonder if a whip would help, especially since I've essentially
lost half of the antenna I had (with the new radio only utilizing one
of the available in-glass antennas)...
Does anyone have any more thoughts on that? Or what I could try next
to improve reception?
|
What is the sensitivity of the radio you bought? Did you compare it to
other available models? Not all decks are created equal.
But, all other things being equal, a whip antenna will outperform the
diversity antenna.
By the way, are you powering the diversity antenna's remote amplifier?
You typically use the switched 12V power that would go to an amplifier
or power antenna for that.
--
-Fred W |
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RP
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:50 am Post subject:
Re: Ultimate radio reception in an e46 |
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The Pioneers are at 8db sensitivity, which is the best you can get
except for the Blaupunkts, which are listed at 6db. (And that number
is so low, I doubt it's real.)
The question of whether the amp was still powered was something I
thought of, too. I assume it still would be, as the amp is back in the
c-pillar. But I guess it's possible that the other end of the power
line to it is up by the radio, and the installer somehow disconnected
it. |
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