dvd/cd/radio unit problems - Montana Owners Club

carlb · 03-29-2008, 06:35 PM

I am having problems with the radio part of this sound system. To start with, the reception is very poor. I have hooked up the phony little am ant. and hooked the fm to the rv ant. but still poor with lots of static. yesterday we had Direct TV installed, and now there is no fm reception...just very load static. I can't see what effect the dirct electronics would have, and in fact both turned off and unplugged the direct box with no change. Has anyone else had problems with this unit. I don't know who buys and installs these units(Montana or dealer) so don't know if all are same brand. Has anyone installed outside antennas????Unit is just one year old.

carl b.

JH Sechelt · 03-29-2008, 07:24 PM

Hi Carl,

The biggest problem with the radio part of your system is the fiberglass body that surrounds it.
unlike your all metal skinned TV, your trailer has no ground plane.
think of it like a satellite dish, your metal skin on your car or truck make the dish part of your aerial.
Your trailer has no metal skin to work as the dish.
Your FM should work OK if you use your TV antenna booster.
AM in a fiberglass trailer doesn't seem to work at all.
Installing an outside antenna doesn't help on a fiberglass trailer (still no ground plane).
We use our Starchoise satellite dish for most of our music & radio needs.
It's not just your unit, they are all the same.

Hope this helps
J&D

Jolu · 03-30-2008, 03:30 AM

Carl,
I had the problem you describe you have with your radio part of your combo. You will need to turn on the antenna booster in the bedroom closet. I have a problem receiving a good radio signal where I am parked at home. I live in a small community, when I am near a larger city I am able to receive radio without any problem.
What J&D states makes a lot of sense to me. JB

Waynem · 03-30-2008, 04:16 AM

I also live in a city that has many radio stations. Wife was cleaning the Hanna and said there was no radio reception.

I raised the TV antenna and turned on the booster. Happy lady now. Cleaning finished. If she would just do the the other TV!!!

H. John Kohl · 03-30-2008, 04:27 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by carlb

I am having problems with the radio part of this sound system. To start with, the reception is very poor. I have hooked up the phony little am ant. and hooked the fm to the rv ant. but still poor with lots of static. yesterday we had Direct TV installed, and now there is no fm reception...just very load static. I can't see what effect the dirct electronics would have, and in fact both turned off and unplugged the direct box with no change. Has anyone else had problems with this unit. I don't know who buys and installs these units(Montana or dealer) so don't know if all are same brand. Has anyone installed outside antennas????Unit is just one year old.

carl b.

As described with your current setup with Direct TV you will turn off your TV (bat wing) Amplifier. With that done it means the FM receiver does not get a strong enough signal from the antenna. You can either listen to the FM radio or use the Direct TV, not both.
I have thought about using a "Corvette style" antenna to pull FM stations on this sound system. The reference is the lack of the ground plane because of the fiberglass. Since we do not listen to the FM much it is not high on the "ROUND To It" list.
Cheers,

Emmel · 03-30-2008, 05:48 AM

Carl, with the Direct TV installed, just pick a channel and listen to it. You've got a wide selection of channels with them.

brenkco · 03-30-2008, 07:20 AM

DirectTV has XM, Dish has Sirius, both are great for commercial free radio. You might have to check your basic subscription package to see what you get. We upgraded the Dish subscription to get even more music channels.

One advantage of the fiberglass body is that those of us with just the XM/Sirius service can position the satellite antenna inside the trailer. I keep mine inside the cabinet with the receiver and use one the the Aux ports for the music.

jjackflash · 03-30-2008, 08:42 AM

Same here,What Ken said! We use XM either off the XM receiver or the Directv dish.
Jack

JimF · 03-30-2008, 10:30 AM

I threw that thing away and put in a new (Samsung) surround sound. I get great radio reception on the little wire they provided as an antenna, don't know what that says about the figergalss ground plane. Our old system was as you describe.

I personally think that the system quality has a lot to do with it.

carlb · 03-30-2008, 01:41 PM

Hi folks,
Thanks for the input and the information. System now works as it should. I am embarrassed to admit that the solution was that I only thought I had the unit hooked up to the RV ant. When I did REALLY hook it up the receiver worked.
I was able to listen to NPR.
Again,thanks.

Carl B. exploring the Texas Hill country.

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