radio reception problem

["A. Foster" <monkeypuzzle1@xxxxxxx>]

Richard;
 It sounds like your car's radio may have a capacitor going bad. Early, and
even later, transistor radios are full of little electrolytic capacitors
that can dry out with age; I would advise having them all replaced with
units of the correct capacity and voltage (and physical mount if possible.)
Believe me I have had some old portable transistor radios do this after 40
years of use. Alternately it could be a cold solder joint that has become
extra sensitive to temperature changes or a even a breaking wire. Find some
old radio junkies in your area and one will likely know how to work on such
things. See if you can find a circuit diagram for the set first.
Best Regards
Arran Foster
1954 Imperial Newport
Needing A Left Side Tailight Bezel and other trim parts.


Dick,

 My reception problem is only with FM, not AM. The station drifts in and out
when the radio is warmed up. My antenna is at 31." I read something about
this before.
Rich Woolf

-----Original Message-----
From: Dick Benjamin [mailto:dickb@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 1:13 PM
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: IML: radio reception problem


Christopher is right, mostly, with this, but in the radios I've worked on,
this adjustment is only for peaking the antenna for the AM band.  Just in
case I've missed some, double check in your owner's manual or FSM.

I believe the antenna trimmer on our cars is usually visible when you remove
the right side tuning and fader knobs, and is to be used to correct poor
reception on the AM band only.  The usual instructions say to tune the radio
to somewhere toward the high end of the AM band, where there is no station,
maximize the volume, put the antenna all the way up, then tweak the tiny
screw for maximum sound level out of your speaker.  Even though there's no
station there, you will hear background noise, and other crud - when it is
as loud as you can make it with the little screw, you've optimized the
setting for your antenna and radio.  There is no equivalent adjustment for
the FM band, although for optimum FM reception, the antenna length should be
set at 31 inches, not all the way up (although it is damn hard to tell the
difference, in my experience).  If your AM reception is good, there is no
need to fiddle with this delicate and easily broken little trimmer
capacitor.

However, none of this will do any good in the case of multiple stations
coming at the same time on the FM band, this is a failure inside the radio,
and the set needs to go to a competent repair shop for a major alignment
with the right equipment.

Dick Benjamin (who used to do this as a sideline, but wised up years ago).
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christopher Middlebrook" <delamothe@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 7:10 AM
Subject: RE: IML: radio reception problem


>
> On most cars of this vintage there is an antenna trimmer that is located
somewhere on the radio near the antenna connector.  This is a capacitive
device that nulls the insertion loss of the antenna.  Look for a hole with a
small screw head looking adjustment.  Set your radio's FM dial somewhere in
the mid band
> 96-98-101 MHz and tune to a station in that range.  Adjust the trimmer
until you hear minimum crosstalk.
> This shouldn't affect the AM scale since it is tuned to a different
wavelength of the antenna, and is a different modulation scheme.
>
>
>
>  --- On Wed 12/10, Mark McDonald < tomswift@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > wrote:
> From: Mark McDonald [mailto: tomswift@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 18:37:53 -0600
> Subject: IML: radio reception problem
>
> Folks,<br><br>I was driving my '68 Crown today (the 4 dr. hdtp) and I
noticed that I <br>have perfect reception on the AM side, but when I go to
FM I cannot <br>seem to receive only 1 station at a time.  I hear several
stations all <br>at once, with 1 or 2 stations all across the dial.  Anyone
have any <br>ideas what's wrong?<br><br>I recently (3,4 months ago) replaced
the antenna on this car.<br><br>Thsanks,
Mark<br><br><br><br>----------------- 
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