The audio problems are still occurring. I have occassional static with the FM as well as local channels overlapping eachother. This never occurred in any other car ive riden/driven for the 20 years I have lived in Cincinnati.

Known
- Pioneer head unit + stock antenna when I bought the car
- Aftermarker speakers installed based on Memphis amp 4 channels in use.
- 10" Diamond sub also installed behind seat
- XM radio + XM antenna installed, Pionner adapter

Updates
- Aftermarket antenna on underside of windshield.
- Replaced Pioneer deck with BRAND NEW Clarion receiver
- Disconnected the XM unit from the head unit when we switched receivers, XM does not come up on my tuner.

Still intermitent static while driving on MOST local stations at some point in time. Day, night, cold, hot, rainy, sunny.. does not effect anything that I can tell. Biggest issue, I listen to the song on 101.9 and switch to 94.9 and I can clearly define the same song playing from 101.9 ON 94.9 in the background. Thats like 6 MHz difference...

Suggestions?

 

My suggestion is to take the aftermarket antenna out,,,reconnect the orig factory antenna connecting the antenna amp as well. See if that helps? Being an aftermarket antenna,,,its hard to offer suggestions without actually seeing the install in person. Unfort,,the best thing to do is trouble shoot everything starting from the headunit and antenna and work your way back. This is just my opinion,,,,I do hope you get everything worked out.

I would love to see photos of your new headunit. I bet it looks great.
Good luck and keep us posted...

 

Sure thing on the photos. It's the newer one that has 728 colors, changing RBG values of course. Well, I know it isnt the head unit since this is a brand new one and it was occurring before I got the aftermarket antenna and head unit.

The Z came with a Pioneer initially and had this static problem. Figured it was the stock antenna so I added the aftermarket. When that didnt help, figured it was the tuner in the Pioneer, which apparently it isn't.

 

Define "over lapping channels".

If you mean that on FM radio you're hearing more than one station at a time there are two possibilities. First, that you're picking up two different stations on the same frequency from two distant cites. As unlikely as this sounds it could happen. Switching to a different station ought to clear this up - as could attempting to hear the top of the hour FCC mandated station IDs.

The other possibility is that the station you're trying to listen to is one that is being stepped on by a station up or down the bandwidth the next channel over. This would happen no matter what radio you listened to. There is a guard band - a narrow region of non-modulation - between each FM station. If the station over modulates they will cause their signal to go through the guard band and into the next channel up and down's signal. The demodulator will see these frequencies and demodulate them too. Again listening for the station IDs would tell you the two stations that you're listening to.

The final theory comes from an episode of Gilligan's Island I saw ... do you have any fillings and have you been hit with a coconut recently?

 

But seriously, I actually concur with Lsmith9523 that perhaps reconnect the factory antenna and antenna amp and see if you still have the issue.

 

Ok, will do on the factory antenna. I am going to have a friend's brother check things out. I dont want to be jerked around anymore by audio stores. His brother knows what he is doing.

Second, these are stations that have been around the 15 years that I have lived in this city. Never had these issues with my mom's, sister's, father's car or ANY other car ive ridden or driven since I have lived here. There must be some solution to this, keep racking your brains.

While driving I have intermitent "losses of reception" or static. Sounds like it is an interference with my car getting the signal. Other times I can CLEARY here a station playing over another. For me, 101.9 is clear and will be playing a song, and I switch to 94.9 and I can hear that same song in the background from 101.9 Those are two local stations, have't change a bit.

 

And you say you had these problems with both the old Pioneer and the new Clarion? hmmmm, sounds like a tuner issue, but would be highly unlikely (or horrible luck for you) to have 2 different manufacturer headulits both with the same problem.....

 

Yes had this problem with the old antenna+pioneer, new antenna+pioneer and new antenna+new Clarion now. I REALLY doubt it is an issue with the head unit. I think something in the car has to be wired incorrectly, but I dont see how really... New antenna is bypassing the factory stuff and going straight to the head unit, so I'm told.

 

Something is really wierd.

To hear 94.9 and 101.9 on two different radios and two different antennas in the same car is really bizzare. That 6 MHz is a big gap and there is no possible way that a station could ever over modulate that much.

There's only a handful of wires and there's no possible way to wire them up wrong to cross modulate signals that far apart! Positive and negative power, a few speaker output wires, and an antenna input wire - that's it. I've installed a couple hundred cars in my day and never heard of anything like this.

My coconut theory is looking better and better.
I'm really interested in what the solution ends up to be. Really.

 

I'd love a solution soon, can't even imagine what it will be though..

 

Surfacing this again, making updates.. Find a solution fellas!