Crappy fm radio reception

warrantyvoider

 Since we bought our 2011 310 express cruiser in April,  i've been plagued with lackluster FM radio reception.   The radio is never crystal clear. There is always some amount of intermittent static.  Then, when I turn one particular cabin light on, the radio basically  becomes unintelligible due to the increased static.  
  I don't know if I have a ground issue, or an antenna placement issue, or something else.   The intermittent nature of the problem leads me to suspect an antenna/antenna placement issue, but I'm no RF expert. 
 Some specific questions:  where does the antenna run? Does it run up into my radar arch? Does it stop somewhere in the cabin? Could it be laying on a power line for one of the cabin lights? 
If anyone has any thoughts, I'd appreciate the input. 

Cableguy Greg

Some antennas are connected to the TV antenna on the arch. Some just have a wire that plugs into the back of the radio. If it is connected to the TV antenna, make sure all of the connections are tight on the splitters. You might have to open up a compartment or two to find them.

Michael T

I love Rinkers but the factory connections for their TVs used to be notoriously bad. The connections were often terrible quality - in some cases it looked as if the terminals had just been shoved into the co-ax cable. Simply re-doing the connectors often corrected the situation and resulted in a great picture.

Dream_Inn

MT, as much as I agree, I believe he is asking about his FM radio reception. 

I agree that you probably need to dig to the back of the radio and follow the antenna.  Would not surprise me if it doesn't go very far.  You may have to run a new antenna cable that you can pick up locally.

BellevilleMXZ

Mine looks like a flat ribbon style that u would tack on a wall, but disappears in behind the cabinet. I'm going to swap the TV ant. this winter anyway as reception is crap, so hopefully that will help, if it has a FM output

Michael T

@DI talking about the rigs that @Cableguy Greg mentioned wherein the TV antenna was linked to the radio receiver. Those types often had bad terminals all the way across the system. some have the "portable" ribbon band type, still others ran through splitters - and hey too often had horrible terminal connections.

Dream_Inn

I agree with Al.  I've known a couple people that switched over to dual use of the Shakespeare antenna with good luck.

Handymans342

Ok so you Get the proper splitter and how does cable hook up to back of radio????

Cableguy Greg

Handymans342 said:

Ok so you Get the proper splitter and how does cable hook up to back of radio????

There is a cable that has an F connector on one end and the radio connector on the other end. Any high quality splitter will work. I saw that Lowes offers a Legrand branded splitter that is made by Antronix. Those are very good splitters that multiple major cable TV system operators use.

onislandtime

@Cableguy Greg I looked for the F connector and the radio connector and can't find it. If you have a link pls post.

rasbury

Well, Greg has recently made me an expert on tv but so far no radio issues. I would only add as I just installed a new tv and Shakespeare antenna, none of the connectors were put on the cables properly. I have some sort of bad **** amp which sits over the tv cabinet- the antenna runs to the amp ( I think) and a wire comes from the amp to the booster box and then to the TV. Point is, I think my antenna drives both. I did not have a tv antenna mounted yet the radio has not been an issue. I have not seen any other antenna for the radio but since it has worked, can't say I have spent much time figuring that out...yet. Did I just curse myself?

Cableguy Greg

@onislandtime, here is a link to one...  http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/DISTRIBUTED-BY-MCM-10TV110-/28-2145

Cableguy Greg

Here is the same one on Amazon. It cost more, but could be cheaper if you have a Prime account with free shipping.  https://www.amazon.com/Motorola-F-Connector-36-Cable/dp/B00GYLBU4O