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The radio gets worse reception than my CRV did. Probably due to the lack of a whip antenna. Any way to improve that reception?
Radio Reception
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I have noticed that AM radio reception is nowhere near as good in my Ridgeline as it is in my Subaru Baja or Dodge Caravan. I have not reported this to my dealer yet, but plan to have in on the list when I take it in for service.
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491 Posts
I have a "hidden" antenna on a Volvo. It basically sucks and any vehicle i have had with a mast has seemed to get much better reception.
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Have you tried satellite Radio? You might consider putting the XM unit in your RTS. In the past I thought paying for radio was crazy (I'm too young to know what is was like before pay cable TV). People pay for TV so radio is not that crazy. Once you hear satellite, it will be hard to go back to traditional radio.Rocker said:
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I can not recall where I read it but I remember seeing a mention of an amplified hidden antenna in the Ridgeline. Adding another amplifier would make the problem worse. The key to improving reception is to improve the signal (radio station) to noise (man made interferance) ratio. Amplifiers will amplify both, therefore making man made interferance, crackling, whine, hiss, etc, louder. If the poor reception is caused simply by weak signal and man made noise is not an issue, then an amplifier may be of some help, sometimes. I have been in the electroncs business and radio has been more than a hobby for me since high school (almost before dirt) and have yet to find an AM amplifier that did any good at all. That is not to say that there is not one out there that I do not know about or have not tried. I live in a very rural mountanous area and both AM and FM stations have always been a problem if you are more than thirty-five miles from the transmitter. There are a few FM amplifiers that seem to help somewhat but, all in all, I have yet to find one that really helps. The bottom line is, a good properly installed antenna is the best bet. I am curious to know if anyone has tried a conventional mast type antenna on a Ridgeline yet. Since I enjoy local morning talk radio on AM and local sports, AM reception is important to me. I expect to take delivery of the truck (RTL-Navi-XM) in about three weeks. If I am as disappointed as others seem to be with the AM reception I will experiment with a mast antenna and compare the difference. If it improves as much as I think it will, I will permanently mount one and post the results. Meanwhile, if anyone else has any suggestions I would appreciate knowing what they are.
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10,043 Posts
I also enjoy AM radio as well, and I find the AM section of the factory radio to be very good. It's a LOT better than the AM section in my last aftermarket system (Sony ES). I guess it depends a lot on what you are used to, where you live, and the stations in your area.
The XM reception, on the other hand, is interesting. I live in a river valley area which is hilly, but not mountainous. When driving alongside a ridgeline the XM will drop out for seconds at a time. This can get annoying. I do not think that FM or even AM stations would drop out under these conditions. I also find that the sound quality varies a little more than I'd expect from station to station. Even with these warts, I still prefer XM. I freely admit I'm addicted to Ethel
The XM reception, on the other hand, is interesting. I live in a river valley area which is hilly, but not mountainous. When driving alongside a ridgeline
the XM will drop out for seconds at a time. This can get annoying. I do not think that FM or even AM stations would drop out under these conditions. I also find that the sound quality varies a little more than I'd expect from station to station. Even with these warts, I still prefer XM. I freely admit I'm addicted to Ethel 
Well I guess I'll throw my complaint in here also. The reception for the stock radio in my Ridgeline RTS is horrible. I haven't used AM yet but FM is the worst I've had in any car. There are a lot of strong radio stations in my area but now I usually can't listen to my favorite stations because of to much static. I thought the reception of the radio in the 04 Accord I traded in was just ok but it was several times better than the Ridgeline.
I had XM in the Accord but I just didn't care for it except for some of the news channels. I'd rather listen to my local stations if I could just get them in clearer. Maybe the only fix for this is an after market antenna. I'm ready to get one if someone has good results with it and can find one that will look nice on the truck.
I had XM in the Accord but I just didn't care for it except for some of the news channels. I'd rather listen to my local stations if I could just get them in clearer. Maybe the only fix for this is an after market antenna. I'm ready to get one if someone has good results with it and can find one that will look nice on the truck.
I find the FM radio reception just as good as my former toyota tacoma and wife's sienna--both with mast antenna. I can't say I have even tried AM on it yet but my 2003 tacoma had very poor AM reception anyway so I wouldn't be able to compare it. The FM sounds just as clear to me as the XM
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297 Posts
The reception on FM channels aren't as good as my Suzuki XL-7 with mast antenna, but equal to my Accord. That's not to say it's terrible, just not as good.
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