Improving radio reception

So the wife and I drive mazda protege 5s. The radio reception with the stock roof mounted antennas sucks. Nearest stations we like are 60 miles away. One car has a jvc deck, the other pioneer hd.

There has to be a way to make reception better. My Google is failing me here.

My only thought is to go to the junkyard and find a recent suv with a roof mounted antenna and adapt it, or pick up an amplified roof mount antenna from metra and install it. I'd rather not have to pull the headliners multiple times and try multiple things, requiring me to spend multiple amounts of money.

So I ask, what effective solutions that aren't 20 ft tall are there?

A longer antenna will be better, in general. What kind of antenna is on there now? Is it a rubber ducky type or steel and 2 ft long? Amplifiers may help, or a pre-amp more accurately, but there's no free lunch.

I think haveing a vertical antenna makes a big difference over the slanted ones.

The wife's is slightly rubbery, mine is stiff metal. Both about 18 inches long, and angled towards the back. Problem with getting longer antenna is that it hits the hatch when opened.

What's the deal with amplifier/pre-amps? Placebo, voodoo, reliable?

Someone posted a blurb about making the frame or body of the car the antenna a long time ago but I couldn't find any info on how to do it.

I did this for my MX6 and it gave a definite boost. Was going to do the same for my IS300 but lost the second splitter into the abyss of my garage. Splitter + antenna

A pre-amp can be useful, depending on a lot of things. I think it would be worth a try with your existing antennas. You don't need a specific antenna for it, just put the pre-amp in line with the existing antenna. 18" is a bit short for a car antenna, especially for AM. 100MHZ half wave length would be... 1.5M long. That would be ideal. Half of that would be OK, so 30 inches would be pretty good. 18 is a bit short, even for AM.

Problems with pre-amps: Signal overload. You are real close to a very strong signal, for example.

So, what pre-amp? Or are they all pretty much equal?

Nothing is ever equal, even if you pass a law declaring it so.

Go with a name brand. Try to find the specs. Look for the signal to noise ratio.

A few months ago, I noticed that the AM reception in my Tacoma was dropping off very rapidly. Apparently, it's a common problem due to corrosion of the pot metal at the base of the antenna where it makes contact with the steel fender. You may have something similar going on.

Unfortunately, it was a huge PITA to fix because the locking ring had fused itself to the base and I had to cut the whole thing off with a Dremel.

Tacoma antenna repair

I am going to have to look at that. The design rusts externally in the south. I can't imagine that the insides hold up any better.

And now that I type that, I'm thinking that it may just be a product of age and oxidation causing deterioration, more than an inherent design flaw.

Time for exploratory surgery.

My experience with amplified antennas has not been good. They seem to make poor reception louder not better.

Our car with the best radio reception doesn't even have a antenna sticking out. On SAAB wagons, they use the rear defroster element as an antenna. Perhaps you could paint on a more effective antenna?

I ditched the whip antenna on my Harley, and put a "hidden" antenna in the fairing. ~$20 Metra, amplified.

The original whip was good; the hidden, powered one is better.

I had the little rubber powered antena for the miata. I think it came from moss motors and it worked great.

Most broadcast antennas are vertical IIRC. It would be best to have a vertical antenna to receive these best. A pre-amp could help, but I prefer to start with bigger antennas.

An option would be to get a magnet mount CB antenna, adapt the PL259 connection at the end to a metra style antenna plug if that's what you need. Honestly you'd probably have to fabricate the adapter up yourself.

Options are endless when you only want to RX. I often times switch equipment to random antennas I have just to see if they work any better.

Keep in mind your location may be the end-all. You can't make radio signals stronger when they are just too far away. 100 MHz FM radio isn't known to propagate well.