robertscleaner Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 The AM reception is terrible. This is not the result of being close to power lines or tall buildings. Intermittent static on all stations. The dealership serivce manager had me listen to the AM radio of another Transit on his lot. It also had bad reception. He is unsympathetic to my complaints and just about said "to live with it". Any one else have bad AM reception? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103west43rd Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 (edited) The AM reception is terrible. This is not the result of being close to power lines or tall buildings. Intermittent static on all stations. The dealership serivce manager had me listen to the AM radio of another Transit on his lot. It also had bad reception. He is unsympathetic to my complaints and just about said "to live with it". Any one else have bad AM reception? My AM reception on the stock AM/FM (no CD) model 1500 RDS radio was also lousy. I replaced the stock antenna with the largest one I could find, 18 inches. It did not make a difference. I then replaced the radio with the AM/FM/CD model 6000CD. AM went from lousy to just poor on the 6000CD model. Edited February 2, 2016 by 103west43rd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leprechaun Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 The AM reception is terrible. This is not the result of being close to power lines or tall buildings. Intermittent static on all stations. The dealership serivce manager had me listen to the AM radio of another Transit on his lot. It also had bad reception. He is unsympathetic to my complaints and just about said "to live with it". Any one else have bad AM reception? My AM reception on the stock AM/FM (no CD) model 1500 RDS radio was also lousy. I replaced the stock antenna with the largest one I could find, 18 inches. It did not make a difference. I then replaced the radio with the AM/FM/CD model 6000CD. AM is fine on the 6000CD model. My 2010 6000CD also has crappy AM reception. However, most of my driving is north of Atlanta (GA) where the hills and trees interfere with the few AM stations I tune. I must say that some of the FM stations also are somewhat vulnerable to interference. All of my Mark VIIIs (with antenna embedded in the windshield) always get great reception, as does my '07 VW GTI, with a "rubber ducky" antenna like the TC's. I'm a bit surprised 103west43rd's replacement antenna did not help. But my experiences with the 6000 assure me that good sound (and features) require replacing the unit with a unit from a Fusion (I drove one for a week and my MP3s and radio stations were perfect) or after-market supplier. FWIW Cheers! -Lep- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncranchero Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 I "re-engineered" a replacement antenna staff from a standard Ford antenna and installed it on mine. It improved the reception of my 6000CD somewhat but it still sucks, as do the speakers. So far I've just lived with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Cat Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 I have the 6000CD. The AM side is fantastic! Last year I drove from my home in central New Jersey to the east coast of Florida. I had WCBS-AM New York all the way. The entire trip! It was a true DX listening experience. I know that WCBS-AM is a 50,000 watt monster station, but that was an impressive distance for the signal to travel. With that kind of coverage, the station should also carry all East Coast news, and not just the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Cat Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Since my last post, both the AM & FM bands of my 6000CD have become pretty bad. Now I only get clear reception on a FM station in Trenton, a mere 20 miles away from my home. All of the NYC and Philadelphia stations are totally static. They are impossible to listen to. Is anyone else having this problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtn Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 (edited) Even tho my '12 is an European model the 6000CD reception is just fine, like any other car radio (not counting the crappy OEM speakers) I would check the rear of the head unit, the antenna plug may have fallen out. The roof end of the cable is fixed to the roof by a nut. Edited February 1, 2016 by mrtn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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