Am/fm antenna

[sip]

ya know .. I've thought about this antenna thing myself. I know there are many reasons to not use AM/FM ... but sticking to the original question of actually trying to use AM/FM, since there is so little metal in RV bodies these days, I have wondered whether I would get better reception with a longer (or different) antenna on the inside of the RV around the front windshield somewhere perhaps. I never tried it though since I ended up mounting a satellite dish on the roof to just get full TV while driving (Dish network also lets you get sirius xm). Works fine except when you lose signal going under bridges or by tall trees etc. Also getting local radio has its benefits if you want some local news etc.

I am using an indoor flat antenna for the TV (amazon link) in the bedroom of the RV to get local TV channels ... I think even placed inside the top cabinet above my bed, it is working better than the roof-mounted powered antenna that came with the Vegas (2016 model year). So this is what's making me think about a better indoor FM antenna rather than trying to make the roof-top work better or wire a new one somewhere on the outside.

Will be interested if you do find something that works better

[ELRobertson]

When my antenna on the roof literally shattered so that I could see the raw spring in the center, I too did not want to go through replacing all the components of the system, just the actual antenna tip.

On Ebay I found the following two items -

Magnadyne RV71 Recreational Vehicle rubber mast AM/FM antenna RV Motorhome 72... Cost $20.54 includes a complete system, but will mount right up to the base that is factory installed. Amazon lists the same item for $15.95

13 inch Car Radio Black Antenna Mast, For 1985-2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500... Cost 14.24 and is just the screw on top portion of the antenna.

I bought the Magnadyne even though I did not need the cable or the base and only used the top portion, I now get great radio reception both sitting still and moving down the road.

hope this helps

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

Considering people have successfully used a metal coat hanger for a car antenna, it's usually something simple.

I had one of those expensive plastic coat hangers and it didn't work worth a crap

Originally Posted by ducksface

Dedicated car Radios are dinosaurs typing on Selectrics.
1,000,000 radio stations on-line and in phone apps.
No warble, no drift, no antenna, no geographics.
Download
Fmradio
For Apple or droid.
(Download policescanner also)

So what do you do if your station is not one of the 1,000,000

But seriously can you play a station streaming from fmradio and have Waze going at the same time?

[Chateau_Nomad]

Originally Posted by dkoldman

...But seriously can you play a station streaming from fmradio and have Waze going at the same time?

On newer Android devices you can use a feature called "split screen". I have successfully used it with Google Maps and YouTube. Not sure if Apple has a similar feature.

Also, I haven't tested a wide range of apps together, but it seems to work with "some" third-party (non-Google) apps. If you use an Android device, search for "split screen" and test it on your particular device. I'm currently using a Pixel, which is a Google device, so it is probably more friendly to these features.

[Chateau_Nomad]

Okay... dk, JUST for you... I installed an AM/FM radio app on my phone. I opened it and started streaming a station. While that app was streaming I opened Waze and set it to navigate. I set them up in the split screen mode as I explained above.

So... to answer your specific question - YES you can stream FM radio (or AM) and use Waze simultaneously... at least on my Pixel Android device.

Here's a deeper dive than you'd likely want...
https://developer.android.com/guide/...window-support

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

Okay... dk, JUST for you... I installed an AM/FM radio app on my phone. I opened it and started streaming a station. While that app was streaming I opened Waze and set it to navigate. I set them up in the split screen mode as I explained above.

So... to answer your specific question - YES you can stream FM radio (or AM) and use Waze simultaneously... at least on my Pixel Android device.

Here's a deeper dive than you'd likely want...
https://developer.android.com/guide/...window-support

This is great; I have Android S20. Two things in life I cannot afford. Gas & Apple

I have not played with Split Screen yet but may get to it this weekend. I do know that while driving I normally play my Samsung Music app and Waze at the same time and no problem. And better yet one day while my Android was connected to Chassis bluetooth radio it also connected to my Visio Sound Bar so I had very powerful sound that was kind of kool; overkill, but I had it. In my case there are no rear speakers in the main cabin area so this accidentally bettered what they could have put their in the walls because my sound bar has very heavy bass.

[ducksface]

If you download the
Policescanner app,
You'll stand a chance if knowing whether to detour or not due to the flashing lights ahead. It runs in the bqckground and will over-talk a radio app.

There's an old post of mine where I used waze to NOT divert the waze users amongst our stalled 1,100 car+- group.
There was a motorcycle fatality on the ramp we could have taken and no Waze user had reported it. If it isn't reported, it doesn't exist.
Better to wait for the truck fire to be put out than 12 hours for a fatality.
(17n and the sedona cutoff. Truck fire on 17n, death on 89An just outside of Sedona. They eventually turned us all around and ran us through Mayer)

[sportcoupe]

Police scanners available to the general public today have a 30 minute delay to protect first responders. This includes internet app based scanners.

Old police scanners of the past don't work anymore as the frequencies have changed.

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by simidrm

Has anyone found a way of upgrading the am/fm antenna that is mounted on the roof , my antenna mast is about 12in. Tall and only gets radio stations that are coming from the front, I go through a city and lose the stations about 10 min out, I really don’t want to make any new holes .

.SiriusXM $4.95 month special we got

[ducksface]

Originally Posted by sportcoupe

Police scanners available to the general public today have a 30 minute delay to protect first responders. This includes internet app based scanners.

Old police scanners of the past don't work anymore as the frequencies have changed.

Double check this and supply a reliable source please.

[Chateau_Nomad]

Originally Posted by ducksface

Double check this and supply a reliable source please.

It's NOT the scanner (or app) that necessarily creates the delay. Many law enforcement agencies have incorporated a delay in broadcasting to the public frequencies. Digital chip/encryption technology makes it possible for officers to communicate with a base station in real time, while the unencrypted broadcast is delayed - the one that people with scanners receive.

Thus, each department with the proper ($$$$) technology can delay their "public broadcasts" with the intent of thwarting criminals who use those broadcasts for an advantage.

[OldWEB]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

It's NOT the scanner (or app) that necessarily creates the delay. Many law enforcement agencies have incorporated a delay in broadcasting to the public frequencies. Digital chip/encryption technology makes it possible for officers to communicate with a base station in real time, while the unencrypted broadcast is delayed - the one that people with scanners receive.

Thus, each department with the proper ($$$$) technology can delay their "public broadcasts" with the intent of thwarting criminals who use those broadcasts for an advantage.

Now why would a police force broadcast to the "public"?
Our local cops went encrypted digital and did not look back to see where the public was... The whole idea is to exclude the eavesdroppers.

They have no obligation to broadcast publicly as far as I ever heard, so why spend the extra dollars to do that? I lost their signal because of new technology, but still get the odd baby monitor.

[sportcoupe]

Originally Posted by ducksface

Double check this and supply a reliable source please.

This isn't high school. The previous posts agree with me also.

[ducksface]

Originally Posted by sportcoupe

This isn't high school. The previous posts agree with me also.

Individual people are part of a network which decode police bands and broadcast them through a network to many on line scanners.
The delay is 3 or so seconds, just long enough for the decode and the packet transfers. My desktop computer monitored and transferred a fire department for a year or so.

Encryption has been challenged and the challenge has won in individual department cases. Media insists on having access.
So yes, oddly, they are obligated. It's weird, but true. If they have a secret, they'll use their cell phones or the text on their prowler computer.

Less than 20% of the 50 largest cites encrypt more than 50% of their signals, including their swat and criticals. 20% of those top 50 have no encryption. 20% have less than 25% of their priority channels encrypted.
Those parts are true+-percentage wise.
A guess is that many less than 1% nationwide encrypt their highway and fire departments. Those are what affect road travel.


But
Dryer sheets are the god of mouse control and a third of a tank is the water level of choice.

[OldWEB]

Well I stand corrected... again.
I just browsed this site https://www.broadcastify.com and in Canada there is only Fire and EMS channels. But go to the USA and there is a lot of police bands. Interesting.


I looked it up and the FM band would normally require a 9 to 11 foot full wave antenna. A ground plane is important too.

[Chateau_Nomad]

Originally Posted by OldWEB

Well I stand corrected... again.
I just browsed this site https://www.broadcastify.com and in Canada there is only Fire and EMS channels. But go to the USA and there is a lot of police bands. Interesting.


I looked it up and the FM band would normally require a 9 to 11 foot full wave antenna. A ground plane is important too.

That's because the Canuck police forces still use HORSES and duct tape just won't stick to horse hair... their 9 foot radio antennas keep falling off and getting lost in the snow!

GOSH! Didn't you ever watch Dudley Do-right of the Mounties?