AM Radio Reception

Russ, I am with you 100% on XM 6. About 40 years ago I liked the loud, fast talking DJs, not today I find them annoying. XM 6 is still in the AM days, not FM!

As far as the AM reception, if you have an embedded radio antenna in the windows and if you tint those windows with metallic film, you will lose your AM reception. That happened to me in my BMW. After I had the film removed and replaced with non-metallic film that restored the AM reception. The non-metallic is supposedly not as durable, but after 3 years I have seen no degradation.

If none of that applies to you, never mind.

Hi,

Thanks for the advice but I never tint my windows, so that isn't the problem.

For other TL drivers, how is your AM reception?

Thanks,

- Russ

I live in the Mid-Atlantic (Washington, D.C. metro), possibly one of the worst areas for AM reception because of so many stations crammed so closely together. That said, I can regularly listen to AM stations from Richmond, NYC, Philly, and Cincinnati in the evening in my '05 TL. The D.C. AM band is really pathetic, but I have no trouble picking out the 1,000 watt flea-powered daytimers in my TL.

Many AM stations lower power in the evenings (winter is worst because of the short daylight hours) and/or they change the patterns of their signals to accomodate grandfathered "clear channel" AM stations. You can plug your favorite stations call letters into

to get their power, tower location(s), antenna pattern and predicted coverage area. Otherwise I'd say to take it to the dealer and demonstrate the issue. A good dealer will just swap the head unit if there really is a problem. HTH,

Jeremy

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for the input. I live in Santa Barbara and our radio stations are very low power, day and night. I can get the KW stations from Mexico without a problem.

I was inquiring to see if others have noted that the performance of the in-window antenna was poor as compared to the free-standing antennas of old.

I think the lack of answers implies that most people don't listen to AM much anymore. With so many choices on the TL, it's little wonder.

Thanks again,

- Russ

I don't listen to AM much at all. Actually, not even much FM either. I mostly listen to XM and CDs. But the one AM station I do listen to daily -- a 24 hour news station -- comes in just fine.