Radio Reception and Weather

[Chapap]

I live out of town and am pretty far from all the neighboring radio towers. When the weather is clear, I get very few stations coming in without static. I can’t get my fav station at all. When it storms, I get that station perfectly. I know weather is a major factor in radio range… the ham guys can get to the other side of the earth in the right conditions.

my question is if this situation mean’s there’s something off with my antenna (have a new head unit). Other cars can get stations I can’t.

 

[fastpakr]

Did the issue start with the new head unit? You can check their reception ability in the specs. Might be worth a check.

 

[Chapap]

Mine (current model Alpine):
Usable sensitivity: 8 dBf
Selectivity: 75 dB at 400 kHz
Signal-to-noise ratio: 73 dB
Separation: 50

A random Pioneer
Usable sensitivity: 11 dBf
Signal to noise ratio: 65 dB

Not sure how to interpret this. The reception may have gotten worse since the swap, but then again the weather has been beautiful… hence the question.

 

[fastpakr]

8 is a great number (the lower the better). Double check the antenna connection at the back of the radio?

 

[Chapap]

8 is a great number (the lower the better). Double check the antenna connection at the back of the radio?

I’ll pop the radio out and clean that terminal and maybe the same for the antenna itself.