antennea trimming

[Stormcloud]

I've had this same problem with a couple of Rangers I've owned and thought I'd toss out this question.

The problem.
after replacing the stock radio in the first Ranger (86), I lost most of the reception in the truck, the other Ranger (88) I had poor reception with the aftermarket JVC AM/FM cassette that came with the truck.
My brother in-law gave me a Pioneer AM/FM CD player that worked great in his truck (98) Ranger but poor reception in mine.

My question is.
Back in the day (70's) or so you could trim the radio with an adjustment screw on the unit itself, none of the above radios had one of these adj. screws.
I have trimmed CB antennea's on various trucks I drove and was wondering if the stock antennea on the 88 Ranger could be trimmed in the same manor.

I've read some of the posts on here and 4X4fun comes close about the distance from the sorce and adjustments or as I refer (trimming) only applies to transmission but again back in the day, there were signal boosters for this very problem and like on a CB you can peak transmission and reception.
If antennea trimming is a possiblity what type of meter would you need ?

any info would be greatly appreciated

 

[strvger]

you can still find those signal boosters on ebay from time to time. otherwise, i'd opt for a replacement antenna that is longer than stock. if it doesn't work out very well, then you can start trimming it a 1/4 inch at a time to see if that helps with reception. being yours is an '88, it might also be the antenna cable that may be old and bad and needs to be replaced.
just a thought... or two.

and, Welcome to TRS!

.

 

[Stormcloud]

Thanks for the reply stvrger,
never really thought about the cable, seeing as in the first Ranger the stock radio worked fine and the replacement (used) had the poor reception.
And with the second truck the (88) the reception was poor to begin with and the radio I replaced it with the recepion was fine in the truck it came out of.

I think I'll try your sugestion with the longer antenna before I get into replacing the cable.

and thanx for the weclome

 

[gvfd29]

You trim cb antennas for transmit to "tune" it for best swr. As far as receive goes, longer the better.

 

[Stormcloud]

Thanx for the reply about the swr on transmit with the C.B.
usally had around 1/2 to 1 on the meter for most of the trucks I drove
always had good transmission and reception over 11 miles (barefoot)
but with FM once had a 67 Cougar that didn't even have an antenna
just the stub and the FM was fine but the AM kinda faded,
I've tried another radio and still poor reception,
Think I'm gonna try the cable and another antenna
let you know what happens