Radio static

Go to any radio/alarm installer and you'll be sorted out. The unit must be costing about R30 or R50 or so. Installed could be up to R150 maximum.
 
MR.C said:
Go to any radio/alarm installer and you'll be sorted out. The unit must be costing about R30 or R50 or so. Installed could be up to R150 maximum.
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Or he could just place a 10 uF cap between the stereo's 12 V and the chassis GND ;)
 
@UnUnOctium how bout I just get you to look at my car and give me a quote? :D
 
bdt said:
You seem better versed than I am so, could you point me to/point out to me how putting a ferrite core around the antenna cable would affect impedance matching?
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You're effectively adding parasitic inductance. And a ferrite bead's inductance is not negligible [its whole point]. The radio is designed (most likely) for a 50 Ohm antenna (or some other standard impedance). If you start adding reactive loads to the line, you get 50+jX ohms (if inductive) and therefore the radio needs to have an input impedance of 50-jX ohms for optimal power transfer. Obviously, unless you open the radio up and add a matching network to counter for that, this cannot be changed since it's discrete components in the radio. Though, I don't have experience in how they design head units, but there could be an 'active' matching network of sorts, but I have never heard of one.

@d7e7r7 haha, just try first solving the grounding issues because I'm very doubtful it's anything more than noise on the power or on the ground. I'm pretty sure that the manual will say how to avoid ground loops etc. But definately 'occams razor it' ;) i.e. try the simplest solutions first.
 
UnUnOctium said:
You're effectively adding parasitic inductance. And a ferrite bead's inductance is not negligible [its whole point]
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...*sigh* yea, yea; I should've made more effort to recall the old radio transmission stuff I was supposed to have learned (in my defence, all those years ago!) at Tech. Call it being overzealous while still at the cheap end of fixing things...! :o
 
Sorry to dig up an old thread...

UPDATE:
Someone just told me to try holding the aerial when the car is running to see if that does anything and lo and behold the crackling seems to stop when the car is running and I'm holding the aerial standing outside the car... Probably means it's a grounding problem then? Can one fix something like that themselves easily or do I need to take it in?

p.s. I now have an amp... (if that changes anything?)
 
In most cases holding the antenna improves reception a bit (you're a conductor yourself ;)). If it's really sensitive to it, I'd say grounding issue. Just trace the path/wire and look for rust (especially where the antenna attaches to the chassis).
 
I'm a big fan of LG Car Audio and often I am made fun of because I suggest it as an option, but the one thing I can say is that the FM reception is not as good as VDO/Philips/Sony units I have used before.
 
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