radio question

[AuroraGirl]

And FINALLY I know why the gmt800 trucks had that ground strap that often corrodes and falls off. Thank you.

when you put the hood in service mode the strap gets pulled tight too

Also , if there had been dissimilar metals, that would help with galvanic corrosion

I am not running my gmt800 antenna right now, i find the fm reception tolerable and its not in the way.

 

[DoubleDingo]

I believe 31" is right for an FM antenna. The cable to the antenna is coax cable. (ground shield around the wire) This is important too. When the antenna is bolted to the vehicle that ground is common with the body.

The hood on these squares is massive. The hood can loose it's ground through the hinges. FM reception is the only reason GM and others bolted a small ground lead from the hood to the firewall.

NOTE: The windshield antenna on a square is really tuned for AM radio, but it works okay.

Crusty is my 65 c20, and all three that I've had, didn't have ground straps from hood to firewall. Doesn't mean they didn't leave the factory without them.

I need to see if the 81 has one. I know my 91 cherokee does and 05 tahoe does too.

I never thought about fm wavelength and antenna height when I extended that antenna up, but it also didn't matter what height it was, no or very poor reception was all it got.

You pointing out ground, that antenna was mounted on the cowl extension, but that doesn't mean it had good ground. And that loose connection at the base of the antenna didn't help matters either.

Will check all of that on any future radio and antenna upgrades, regardless of vehicle make.

Normally would assume it will all work well, but need to verify nowadays and not assume anything.

 

[Ken B]

so what I am starting to hear is that without a good ground maybe that is effecting my reception. Hanging the antenna 6 feet in the garage, not being grounded is playing into my lack of reception

 

[Steelbuddha]

[Deleted for redundancy.]

 

[Oldbear42]

Are you in a metal building (the kind your truck is made of, not the kind you rock out to)? Radio doesn't work well inside an all-metal building, even if you are trying to listen to Ozzy. At the shop space I rent, phones don't even work well inside because its a big (and grounded) steel box. We have an older stereo receiver but mainly use it with iPods because of the indoor reception.

I had a Pioneer with the SuperTuner in a Jeep years ago (still have it but it won't even power up anymore - very sad because I'd love to have one in the Suburban) and it would let me tune in to stations I couldn't even get in the house.
It could be something wrong with the unit, but a metal building will definately make it harder to test.

I also can not test the radio inside my shop, and the cells don't work well. I'm in a metal-clad, ICF (1ft-thick walls of concrete, rebar, and foam block), with a metal ceiling, too.