AM/FM antenna

[slimchancepistolero]

i have a 2018 Passport RL2520 and of course the am/fm radio did not work up to my expectations so i replaced it with a Jensen unit ... when removing the factory unit i found the radio antennas thin stranded wire balled together behind the radio .... i installed the new unit and unballed the antenna wire, ran it up thru the tv shelf and attached the wires to opposite corners .. at home it works "OK" but in rural Pa, just 20 miles for Harrisburg i can NOT get even one good fm station .. this is mostly the same at the factory unit .. previous Keystone campers had outside am/fm car type antennas but not this one ... so short of drilling a hole in the roof what are some options??

[dblanch57]

I use the bluetooth function on the Furrion Radio paired with my cellphone using iheart radio or something similar. Works great. If you don't have cell service then I would recommend cd's.

[Pull Toy]

In one of my previous fiberglass sided trailers, I took an automotive type whip antenna and hid it in a cabinet near the outside wall. Try this before you drill. It may be all you need.

Good luck,

[WNY Bullet]

I didn't want a hole in the roof either, so I installed through the side wall. Works 100% better than the ball of wire.

[slimchancepistolero]

i got rid of the Furrion Radio since i thought it was to hard to operate with the black labeling on a black background in dim lighting and the remote was even worst in my opinion ... the car antenna inside was one of the things i was thinking about cause i am still not sure about drilling holes thru the walls

[C.LeeNick]

The amplified TV antenna is also an excellent amplified FM antenna. Ours even says its a TV/FM antenna on the antenna's paperwork. I also found a "random wire" antenna balled up in the cabinet behind the radio...and it didn't work very well at all. I, too, tried stretching it out inside the cabinets, and though it helped, I wasn't satisfied either. I love radio!

The first "mod" I did was fish another coax cable through the ceiling from the Furrion radio to the cabinet behind the TV, where the connection for the TV antenna is. I put a splitter in so both the TV and Radio share the amplified antenna, and man, did that make a difference! In a "real world test", we now get excellent FM reception where we barely got some "staticky" radio on our first trip. I experimented while out there by shutting off the amplifier, and radio reception would drop off, so I know the antenna is doing an excellent job.

I haven't addressed AM reception yet. There are places where we plan to boondock with our Passport that don't get any radio at all during the day, but I'd like to mess around with a directional AM antenna for bringing in distant AM radio stations at night.

[slimchancepistolero]

"amplified TV antenna is also an excellent amplified FM antenna" that is just what i was hoping to find out ... i will try hooking up the fm to the tv booster ... thanxs

[slimchancepistolero]

tried hooking the am/fm up to the tv antenna and turning on the booster .. NO good, did not make any difference ... i think the roof top antenna for the tv is just another hole in the roof waiting to leak because i also get ZERO tv stations with this worthless antenna ... my batwing antenna on the 2014 keystone worked wonderful but not this one ... next step is a car antenna

[chuckster57]

If your not getting any TV channels either, then you may have an issue with the antenna or coax from antenna to booster. Even the worst antennas will pick up some channels unless your in a remote location or deep in a valley.

[ChuckS]

The ball of wire being used for an FM antenna 8smactually called a dipole antenna.. if placed in the proper T shape pattern it’s actually a good FM antenna...

However... it does present directivity so depending on how your RV is parked compared to “line of sight” with the FM broadcast station you may in fact get lousy reception..

[C.LeeNick]

Originally Posted by slimchancepistolero

tried hooking the am/fm up to the tv antenna and turning on the booster .. NO good, did not make any difference ... i think the roof top antenna for the tv is just another hole in the roof waiting to leak because i also get ZERO tv stations with this worthless antenna ... my batwing antenna on the 2014 keystone worked wonderful but not this one ... next step is a car antenna

If you aren't getting any TV either, then there is definitely something wrong with the antenna system. The antenna should work real well for TV also.

Mine has a plate in the ceiling where the antenna jack is located, and a tiny switch to turn the booster on and off, and a red LED that lights up when the booster is on. Is that similar to yours?

[Mikendebbie]

Pulltoy said In one of my previous fiberglass sided trailers, I took an automotive type whip antenna and hid it in a cabinet near the outside wall. Try this before you drill. It may be all you need.
WNY Bullet said I didn't want a hole in the roof either, so I installed through the side wall. Works 100% better than the ball of wire.

If I add an automotive style antenna (either inside the RV on a wall or thru the wall with an outside mount) - what type wire or coax do I use to go from the back of the radio to the new antenna? Do the radios have a plug-in socket on the back for an antenna or is it an old school screw attachment? I have not pulled my radio out to find the rolled up antenna - but I am reasonably certain it is there. Our FM radio is marginal at best...AM radio is non-existent.

By the way - the AM radio on our past couple of RVs was also non-existent...2011 Jayco and 2017 Laredo. Radios in an Alpenlite and a Sportsmen we had in the 90s was really good for FM and AM using built-in outside antenna.

[C.LeeNick]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

The ball of wire being used for an FM antenna 8smactually called a dipole antenna.. if placed in the proper T shape pattern it’s actually a good FM antenna...

However... it does present directivity so depending on how your RV is parked compared to “line of sight” with the FM broadcast station you may in fact get lousy reception..

I'll have to look at my factory antenna closer, as I was pretty sure my original antenna up in the cabinet was just a long straight single wire coiled up and wrapped with a twist tie. It has a "Motorola" style plug on the end.

[slimchancepistolero]

well, mine is one of those "omni directional" or as i would say "non directional" saucer style roof top stationary antennas ... i live in a remote hollow and i am sure that is a problem for this tv/am/fm setup .. but the 2014 Passport got 4 tv stations parked in exactly the same spot (less than a year ago) and fm was also very good (using a batwing directional antenna), while am radio has never worked .... but while dry camping last weekend less that 20 miles from harrisburg pa the only fm station i could get was from lancaster (fm 97.3) and that was almost 70 miles away, i was on top of a high ridge camped in a clearing .... this is what is making me dig into this ... i will not take the roof top antenna apart and start my roof leaking .... it just seems hard to believe in this space age the mfgs put this kind of junk on campers

[chuckster57]

As long as you put new Dicor back on the base you can remove the whole thing. Otherwise I think there is like 3 Phillips head screws that’s hold the “saucer” onto the base. Might be worth it to undo the saucer and have a look-see. I’ve seen coax not connected, coax pulled out of connector, antenna lead broken.

[slimchancepistolero]

we cowboy action shoot, therefore very remote ranges and since we always dry camp the tv signal is low priority it has come up because it was suggested to hook up the fm (it's nice to hear the news) to the tv stuff .... that did not work ... i tried an old car antenna inside the rv with some success, but it was very directional(laid it on the floor and it worked good ... set it upright beside wall and not so good, so now am thinking (and that usually is a bad thing) of just taking a loose car antenna along and playing it by ear (so to speak) ...i might just try the 3 phillips screw cause i believe either the coax is not hooked up or the connection is loose or the booster does not boost

[Steveo57]

Every single coax connection I have checked in mine has been barely screwed in a few threads, very loose. So it wouldn't surprise me if the coax isn't connected!

[C.LeeNick]

A couple of things to check that I now remember from my old cable TV installer days 25 years ago. If you put the cables together yourself, with twist-on, or crimp-on ends, make sure the aluminum foil or wire webbing from the outer sheath of the cable isn't touching the center conductor anywhere..that will "ground" it out. Sometimes, when cutting the end, a tiny piece will fold over and touch the copper center conductor.

Another thing: If you are using a splitter anywhere, make sure you pay attention to the "in" and "out" ports. Most can be used as a "splitter" or a "combiner", but I THINK if you put the input cable (from the antenna) into one of the OUTPUT ports, and then try to use the other output as an output, and the INPUT as an output, it COULD cause problems. I could be wrong about this, but I seem to remember having that issue on a multi-splitter on a house once, where I had accidentally put the source (input) cable into one of the output ports. In that case, it was something like a 5 or 6 way splitter.

[flybouy]

I've had pretty good luck using this: http://www.asaelectronics.com/jensen...d-antenna.html I suspect that a proper exterior mounted antenna would garner better results.
Keep in mind a radio antenna intended for use on a car, using the metal of the car as a ground plane, will not work as well on a fiberglass camper or in a cabinet. You would most likely get more results with a marine antenna or a "stand alone, or interior antenna".

[BadmanRick]

That bullet Premier should have had a roof am/fm antenna