Kenwood stereo reception

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Bay Drifter

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All, have the tournament 225 with the Kenwood stereo. FM reception is poor. Has anyone figured out an easy way to improve the reception without drilling holes? I hear the vhf antenna splitter does not work that well but what I hear may not be fact. Gotta be able to pick up those Oriole broadcasts, GO O's! Yes I know they stink but some day, some day javascript:emoticon(':D')
 
Don't know what type of antenna you have now, but I think your best bet is an 8' fm marine antenna, (I know... have to drill holes).

I used the splitter type before and agree, it's not very good.

They have an inexspensive antenna that is simply a lentgh of wire, say 4 or 5 feet long, (maybe this is what you have now?). You could try running the wire in different positions along the headliner in your cabin, to see if your reception improves.

You could also try an fm booster, radio shack might have something. I don't have any experience with using a signal booster.
 
I needed a new Headunit anyway so this was my best alternantive. I'm going to change my head unit this week to HD. HD radio has a $50 Mail in rebate for certain models through August I think. HD digital should come in with a short wire antenna if you're in the Baltimore area. On the bay they list 26 stations in HD on HD's website. I got a JVC headunit from Wally Mart online for $105 delivered. Minus the $50 MI Rebate and I just got a new headunit for $55. I also just added an 8' fiberglass AM/FM from West Marine for $53 as well, so reception should be great for me now. Besides dual antennas looks cool right?

You may try Satellite Radio.
I had XM in their early years and it was nice commercial free content, but my unit went up and they did not want to keep me as a customer by providing any incentive for a new unit (I had been a customer for 2 years from when they had less than 100k subscribers). The week after I cancelled my subscription, they sent me a coupon for $50 to "come back to XM". I laughed, they could have offered me the $50 when I asked on the phone. Bad business model I won't go back.
 
Few FM channels out by me and depending on the position of the boat so was reception. Inconsistent.

Installed the same plug and play Sirius radio head unit I use in the car and FM modulate into the boat's radio, all is fine now. Had to install another mushroom antenna, that's it. Have never lost the signal on the boat.
 
I found something as simple as an antenna plugged in GREATLY improved the reception. Nothing elaborate- a telescoping one from BW or West literally dangling in the cuddy works. You'll be surprised! W/o the antenna, my scan would pick up maybe 1 station, sometimes just going over and over w/o picking anything up. I plugged in a $10 antenna and it picks up stations like it was in my car.
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Notice the antenna laying by the rod.[/img]
 
We have Winner. Thank you Plymouth Grady. Bought a car replacement antenna. I fold it up and place it right behind the Garmin when not in use. Works much, much better. Found that the Kenwood comes with a lead and connector in the radio, was cut off and wrapped by the dealer when installing the Garmin and ICOM. $8 upgrade, not fancy but works.
 
I am redoing the stereo on my Grady and I had planned on doing a VHF ant splitter. Can those of you who have had bad experiences with them explain what the problem is. Poor AM/FM reception? Poor VHF reception? Both? Just curious...
 
Drifter80 said:
I am redoing the stereo on my Grady and I had planned on doing a VHF ant splitter. Can those of you who have had bad experiences with them explain what the problem is. Poor AM/FM reception? Poor VHF reception? Both? Just curious...
Click to expand...

I don't think it effected the vhf, just poor fm reception. Chanels would drift in and out. Installed an 8' marine am/fm antenna, and reception greatly improved.
 
Awesome! Glad it worked for you. It's like doing repairs, start cheap and work up to the expensive stuff!
 
I can't get AM stations worth a crap so I bought a $65 gizmo to use the VHF antenna as the AM/FM antenna and it seriously degraded the VHF transmission so I threw it away! I get FM okay but would love to get a few AM stations.

We are just 70 miles from Freeport on Grand Bahama Island and it sure would be nice to listen to their 810 AM station in the afternoons to enjoy some steel drum music or Bahamian sounds while messing around on the boat! I've read the Kenwood manual but that did nothing to help matters.

Anyone have any suggestions for me for the AM side?

Thanks...................
 
Unlike home stereo receivers, there is no seperate am antenna connection for car or boat stereos, (atleast non that I'm aware of).

Again, imo the best bet is an 8' am/fm marine antenna. Shakespear, digital, etc.
 
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