can anyone tell me how to get better reception in my xb i installed a pioneer radio. i have tried to put an aftermarket antenna behind the dash and in the headliner and still bad reception. i have heard a antenna amplifier would help, i am looking for the best reception possible
thanks

 

i have the same problem mine is getting worst and i also get scratch noise in the back ground when listening to the radio,oh and another thing do your door panel vibrate when you turn up your music?

 

When you installed the radio did you hook up the power antenna wire? There is a booster built into the car and if that wire isn't connected, the reception is terrible or nonexistant.

 

I ran a totally different antenna (glass mount amplified) and I still get horrible reception with my clarion.

 

XM or Sirrus !!!!!

 

hey weren't you just bashing nav, but your paying for radio? jk...

I don't listen to the FM radio much... but is your powered antenna getting enough voltage? and did you try hooking up the factory power antenna wire? My radio stations come in fine, but they are not as clear as cd and xm, obviously...

 

Just a suggestion for those that get a weak signal. I'm very rural and don't get crap for radio signals so I'm stuck with having alot of CDs. When I'm in large cities the signals come in just fine. Seems like weak signal problems not antenna problems. On the NAV stuff, Don't see the logic in spending that kind of bucks for such a simple problem.

 

i did non know it had a power antenna wire from the factory. do you know what color it is and what to hook it up to
thanks

 

if you used an aftermarket harness it should be a blue and blue white wire, connect both of those to the blue/white wire from the radio...

 

I am having the same problem. I had good receiption when I had the stock unit in. Now I have an aftermarket Pioneer unit, and in some places where I had reception I have little or none. Im going to try what oneslowxa recommended and see if that helps.

 

I called Pioneer product support today for ideas. Other than a sensitivity setting on my model they just said to ground the antenna. He told me to take a wire and wrap/connect it to the antenna plug at the rear of the radio and put it to ground. I'll give it a try this weekend when I have time to take it apart. If anyone else tries it before then, please post and let us know if it works.

 

I just drove my XB from Fresno CA to Spokane WA and was real happy with the stockers reception. Only a couple of spots in 1200 mi of driving that were weak.

Dass

 

Im fairly certain that chadfo and oneslowxa is correct on this. The xB already has a antenna amplifier that is mounted near the rear of the headliner. On the factory wire harness I believe it's the blue wire of the 10 pin harness and you need to connect it to the accessory wire which is the gray wire I believe of that same harness. After that, your radio reception should be like it was before with your stock HU.

 

Mine was still poor after connecting it. It was pretty much nonexistant until I figured that out. With the stock radio I was able to pick up every station in a large area (I don't know any distances). I have a 70 mile trip to work and I was able to pick a station for the first 50 miles that was near home, then switched to a local station near work. After changing the head unit I can only pick up the station near home when I'm closer to it's tower and not at all on the way to work. The change was tremendous. It's bad enough I've considered getting XM and I never thought I'd consider paying to listen to the radio.

 

I just looked back on my nav install tutorial and saw that the ant wire is the black/red stripe wire and it needs to be connected to the gray acc wire. Here's my post on that. https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...=250994#250994. Hope this helps you out.

 

this is correct these are the factory colors... i am just hoping he used an aftermarket harness... so i told him blue, and blue/white

 

so basically the xB has the amplifier for the antenna.. but the tC doesn't? i've never heard of that.. someone clear this up..

 

To be honest, I don't know if the tC does or doesn't have a antenna amp. However I would most likely think that they do, if the ant is an integral part of the glass. Those integral antennas aren't really the greatest for reception but I guess they do contribute to the aesthetics of the vehicle.

 

oh that's right i forgot the xB has the glass antenna, then yes that's why it has an amplifier.. would make sense... that's why it needs an amp, not able to get the best signal without it.. I'll have to find out if the tC has an amplifier, it has a regular mast antenna on the back end. i kind think it doesn't have an amp.. but something to check out..

 

Has anyone had any luck with this? I might not have a solid connection, but when I hooked up the grey and black/red wires, my receiption was the same. =/