Antenna Adjustment?

[itzbinnice]

Receiving lousy AM reception, lots of static and weak stations. The FM works fine. I remember from years ago ther was an antenna screw adjutment on the radio's that you could trim to get better reception.
Well I pulled the radio out and the only thing I could find were two Plastic philips screws on the right side of the radio. In the old days you had to use a non metalic screw driver to make the adjustment.
I can only assume these are the trim screws, but why 2?
Can anybody tell me if this is in fact the correct screws for the adjustment. Is one for AM and the other for FM?
Please advise exactly how I should make the adjustment. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[grf0608]

I have same problem, pulled the unit and looked for an adjustment screw accessible from the outside. No luck, and I hope someone out there can tell us if there might be something inside we can try. I'm curious as to which system you have -- mine is the Mach, which I would expect to perform well. In comparison, my '99 Windstar with the standard system and in-the-window antenna works much better.

 

[itzbinnice]

The system is the Premium system. It is not the original radio. I bought it on ebay and came out of a 97X and has the CD controller button on it for the 6 CD unit I have mounted in the armrest console.
I think it is antenna related since the original unit that came with it also had piss poor AM reception.
I did try adjusting those two plastic phillips screws on the unit but it made no difference. I am convinced these are the antenna trim screws since the screws only turn one complete revolution before it hits the stop.
I only listen to am for stock reports on the way to work, God only knows why I do that, in this market maybe it's better the am doesn't work at all so I won't hear how much I'm losing.
The heck with it, I put enough time in, not gonna waste any more. If you grt any info please post it, always willing to learn. Good Luck.

 

[David Suesz]

Have you

ever found an answer to your question about whether your radio has an AM antenna trimmer? I found your post while looking for an answer to this very question. I don't get very good AM reception, either, and when I borrowed my wife's car for a couple days discovered stations I can barely get in my truck came in loud and strong in hers, and the antenna in hers is the left rear window for cyin' out loud. I have the premium radio with the DSP button, if that makes a difference. The radio itself is in the right rear side of the cargo bay. The thing in my dash is just a control head.

 

[scucci]

New radios don't have the antenna trimmer capacitor adjustment. I think that went out in the 60's or so. Maybe the ground at the antenna is getting rusty or the cable connection.

Scucci

 

[David Suesz]

Hmmm...

FM reception is still apparently excellent - does that make a difference in your assesment?

 

[scucci]

FM is less prone to noise caused by high resistance connections. There could be a problem in the am section of the radio, but I would work with the antenna first.

Scucci