Radio Sensitivity a 2002 LS.

[MLW]

The problem is tuning on a Mark Levinson system. On the 'up/down' button it will only identify the 'strong' stations BBC radio, Classic FM and maybe 1-2 others. I am in East Anglia which is not great for radios but my Prius was much better.

Any ideas how to improve things?

[The Lexus Enthusiast]

Hi MLW, 

I feel your pain. Our 2002 LS in the middle of London (yes- London) will only pick up bbc r2, Classic Fm and one or two others. It's very annoying. Our other LS430 can pick up all the other little ones broadcasting many non main stream genres. I changed the aerial to the spare but it didn't really make much difference. Sorry that i'm not posting an answer but IF ANYONE KNOWS PLEASE ENLIGHTEN US. 

Alex

[steve2006]

With the impending switch off of the FM band in the UK approaching I have noticed recently that reception is not as good as it was. I do wonder if this is being done to encourage people to switch to DAB?

Anyway considering the above it may be a good idea to buy and fit a DAB receiver in your cars.

[Malc]

FM vanishing when ? ......... .  the earliest date I have found on line could be 2018 -  or not !

Any thoughts ....... and also will our beloved Ls400 radios be kaput ?

Malc

[Cotswold Pete]

My experience is that the FM Head End in the Mk4 LS radio is not that brilliant and  it needs a good strong signal.  I believe it is a Pioneer unit in reality, and in my 35 years experience of being a radio nut, Pioneer are not up there with the best (especially with cars), though the Pioneer F656 Home tuner (1986 model) is pretty darned good. It maybe that Mark Levisonson use a Nakamichi FM Head End (they were great a  cassette decks - but not a lot else)

I have always found my LS rubbish at keeping a signal (which is why I have just invested in a Sonichi). I have cleaned all the aerial connectors and it makes naff all difference to FM quaility in those dips on the way to work.

I would say my wifes Jag X-type is nearly as sh*t as the LS.

But I also think that  the BBC have been doing some tweaking on FM, which seems to mean that they have been adjusting the radial beaming of signals.  What (IMHO) seems to be going on is that where DAB has been put in place they tune down the transmitter to not beam quite such a strong FM signal.

As with any high frequency radio, the weather (especially high pressure systems) causes signal to be less strong which when on the margins of range causes more hiss & drop out.

If I could I would upgrade the LS to what is called a SDR (software defined radio) which is way better at extracting signal even when it is weak, but not sure if there are any SDR is car systems, and certainly not from the year 2002.

On my roof I have a large 5 element FM rig plugged into a £300 Sony tuner, I can see that BBC have been fannying about, and I assume it is to save money on powering transmitters, and FM is now seen by the politicians as the way to go, but any engineer worth their salt will say FM is a better compared to DAB.

I would suggest that as Suffolk is sort of flattish, then a DAB unit is better bet for keeping the music flowing, although the DAB bit rates are so low (Classic FM at 80K/bits per sec - which is frankly not much better than playing an old audio cassette through an old sock) at least the music does not hiss and spit. Though you get some weird squelching on DAB when signal is a bit iffy.

[The Lexus Enthusiast]

Hi everyone,

How much would a DAB receiver cost and who could install it?I'm still a bit old fashioned about the whole radio thing and never bother with DAB really.

On the other hand, I suppose an LS430 with a clothes hanger on top wouldn't look too bad now, would it? Great economical fix lol. 

[sorcerer]

26 minutes ago, Cotswold Pete said:

but any engineer worth their salt will say FM is a better compared to DAB.

DAB could be SO much better if they broadcast using proper bit rates but they're just greedy. Lower bit rates mean they can squash more channels in the given space and therefore make more revenue.

[Malc]

............  and there's me still using my tape deck on my Ls400 

Malc

[sorcerer]

31 minutes ago, Malc said:

............  and there's me still using my tape deck on my Ls400 

Malc

So am I on my RX300. That's the problem with 'inbuilt' units like these - because they're shaped and contoured to fit in the dash (both physically and colour-wise) putting any new unit in just looks rubbish.

[The Lexus Enthusiast]

3 hours ago, Malc said:

............  and there's me still using my tape deck on my Ls400 

Malc

Tape decks rule! Just can't beat the sound quality of a tape, can you Malc?

2 hours ago, sorcerer said:

So am I on my RX300. That's the problem with 'inbuilt' units like these - because they're shaped and contoured to fit in the dash (both physically and colour-wise) putting any new unit in just looks rubbish.

Indeed,

I think that Lexus interiors are just too luxurious, sorcerer. It looks like i'll just be putting up with poor FM reception then. At least I can sit back and relax in the original looking interior

[Malc]

.......... to be brutally honest .....  my hearing isn't all it was a few decades ago and distinguishing superb quality from not so superb just isn't within my grasp ............ I'm content 

[mikeyv]

I rarely listen to radio anymore, so easy to carry your own music around, I can't see the point, unless you enjoy non music radio.

Most DJs drive me up the wall anyway.

On long trips, I sometimes put radio 2 on, for the traffic, and driving back from Yorkshire last weekend, I heard Brian Matthew droning on, before playing some  long forgotten record, that was rubbish in the 60s, and hadn't aged well.

I remember thinking he was a boring old fart back then, and was amazed to find him still alive, let alone still droning along on R2 !

 

[Cotswold Pete]

2 hours ago, mikeyv said:

I rarely listen to radio anymore, so easy to carry your own music around, I can't see the point, unless you enjoy non music radio.

Most DJs drive me up the wall anyway.

On long trips, I sometimes put radio 2 on, for the traffic, and driving back from Yorkshire last weekend, I heard Brian Matthew droning on, before playing some  long forgotten record, that was rubbish in the 60s, and hadn't aged well.

I remember thinking he was a boring old fart back then, and was amazed to find him still alive, let alone still droning along on R2 !

 

Agree most DJs drive me nuts (and they have been doing so since 1980) apart from John Peel when he was around.

So I am more a Radio 3 and 4 listener, or play my own music via cassette, MP3(via cassette adaptor), CD.

I use get_iplayer a huge amount - it allows you to copy radio programs direct off the BBC, so listen to whenever you like - they are in M4a format, so you need a MP3 converter if you need to have them in MP3 format.

Link to get_iplayer

You can also rip TV programs, and watch them months later (as this program ignores the time limit BBC places on you watching).

That way I can listen to the best of Radio 4 when I like, and even download some of the (rare) excellent Radio documentaries when music was visercal

Makes my drive to work so much more pleasant.

[The-Acre]

Unless you're below 18 years old I can't understand why anyone would listen to music radio at all, even when they do play something good they talk over the end of it.  When have you ever heard Hotel California without the DJ preferring their own voice before the end?  However, the ML system comes into its own when you put a CD on!

[MLW]

So many relies infers that there is a real issue here. I hardly ever listen to music on the radio apart from Classic FM and Radio 3. However, a £1,800 radio really should be better than a £75 JVC which, if fitted would be infinitely better with USB and ipod connections. Sure, some of that is technology and 14 year's advancement, but I think there is an issue here.

So, is there anyone who has added a £100 black box DAB or whatever, that has changed things significantly. I am looking for a simple non-obtrusive fix that will allow me to get 35+ stations.

[stericker]

I found that the Pure Highway DAB gadget works quite well -  see amazon. I think I only paid about £40 but that was some time ago.