that is interesting Chief U also get bettr between teh two as well .. & taking note .. so age and model would help to identify ... ALSO
we are heading into town (CBD) on Sunday .. for meeting etc .. if Phantom is with me I will try to bring the topic up YET again ... try out AM as well see if it is stronger heading in?? .. I think he thought this "issue" would be dead & buried once I had the ten stacker .. and then Black Opal .. he was researching ref booster in antenna system .. like they do in TV antennas for reception ?? the RADIo was our News & a MUST when we had the bush fires & floods out in the country ... ABC FM & AM radio becomes the emergency channel .. ears were glued for local news updates...

sorry cant help here either in the north only listen to one fm station as anything from down south is relayed to our local station . if I dont like whats on out comes the CDs

well I "tried" the AM on Black opal today .. note the radio only has AM & FM no MW like 2005 ... we get reception on 20 locations .. 30ish kms out of Melb on the freeways .. we get off the freway and into areas with over head power lines .. reception goes to about half the rest crackle & break up ... interesting NO stations have been programmed on radio AM on FM only. does that mean that pre delivery doesn't bother ?? or 4got!! I will have to get the book out & do it myself as one station caught my attention in particular ... I used the seek button I could NOT understand all the staions even though reception was pretty clear & we did get Central Gippsland (out of Melb)& Ballarat (other side of Melb??) & Melb stations .. I will try Plums & Roses (I hope) tomorrow ... she also has aerial on roof but an earlier radio ... Adunsford how did U go with your problem ?? any clear reception I mean resolution ??

Have a 05 PT & have had no problems with reception. Dealer had it programmed when I picked it up & have never had to change it. Mine also came with it's own book, but I have never looked at it.
In relation to road tunnels: The radio stations are "re-broadcast" by the tunnel operaters own electronic equipment. This is how they can "break in" to the transmission of the radio stations. this is all done from each tunnels control room.

Interesting to compare the 2 PT's.
On previous trips to Melbourne in our 02 Limited with the aerial on front guard the reception all all the Hume was sparse and we had to keep changing stations or listen to CD's.

On tuesday on our way to Melbourne in our 04 we listened to AM stations all the way and had good reception. Aerial on the roof.
You wouldn't think the 2 locations of the aerials would make so much difference.
Wicked Edition is at Mopar Motors for a rest while we are relaxing on the Gold Coast.

that is INTERESTING on all counts ( what are U all too !!) .. the 2006 onwards seem to have better again ... well from what I can figure .. still glad I have Cds !

Hi, me again with more bibs and bobs.
If anyone wants a factory stereo - out of a 2008 model - works perfectly, left me know.
I upgraded to an Alpine system and the factory one is sitting in a box. Includes the 6 factory speakers as well.
Cheers.

here is another one to a good home ...out of a 2004 , good working order , also upgraded to Alpine so I can listen to my 70's music on Ipod, better than using those gizmos plugged to the cigarrette lighter which you lose reception when going around the corner.

Hi, just to advise that my 2008 factory stereo has found itself a new dashboard
Cheers

Now, here comes the "smart arse" again,... Signal reception quality between different makes and models (i.e. quality) of radios can vary dramatically. Also there are 3 other major influences on signal quality:
1) Aerial; quality of the product (not necessarilly size) and above all the grounding of the aerial. If there is major build up of dirt/rust around the base of the aerial (inside the mudguard) then this will greatly hinder your reception. But hopefully everyone on here has clean mudguards on their "babies"
2) Ambient weather conditions; (both at transmission tower and where you are). That radio waves pass through the atmosphere (sort of a bit like light, sort of), then if it's cloudy the waves can "bounce" a lot further (sometimes 100+ kms more) than on a sunny day, where the transmissions are also subjected to influence from solar flares, etc...
3) Terrain; lots of hills and valleys between you and the transmission tower can affect the quality of the signal that you recieve.
Anyhooooooooooo, sorry to be so technical, but I hope it helps...
And as Dot says, have the CD's handy and your ears will always be satisfied..

U are right ref reception ... Blkopl I have RADIO all the way from one work to the other first the city radio till nearly half way on the down hills in the valley the reception does crackle a little .. then the country one from ther to destinataion .. never had that on Plums & roses .. so I am barely getting the cd out now a days ...

A bit more technical stuff in case you're interested :

1) Although the centre-mount roof aerial looses a little because it has such a long cable to the radio, it more than compensates for this in that it has a huge "ground area", i.e., the entire area of the roof.

2) The music 'styles' or preferences (country/rock/pop/talkback/etc.) generally refers to 'RDS' settings (like the traffic reports "TA" switch/function). This is a system not generally in use in Aus which is a shame, because it makes finding a station on a long trip much easier...
(A) You select a prefered music style, and find your local station, as you travel the radio automatically finds either, the same station on a different frequency or the next strongest signal broadcasting that type of music, and when the strength of the current signal weakens it switches to the other frequency/station.
( The "TA" also uses the RDS but is extra clever... When switched on and you're listening to the radio, a traffic report will come through at a predetermined (by the driver) level, regardless of the current volume level of the radio, and, if you're listening to CD/MC/MP3 it will work in the background finding strong signals and interupt playback. Using the RDS as described above, this means that no matter where you travel to you will hear traffic reports (if you have TA on). The readout on the display works the same way.

As I said, unfortunately this system is not widespread (if at all???) in Aus. It's fantastic in Europe (and I guess in USA) where a lot of stations broadcast state-wide but on different frequencies in different areas, and also the traffic reports- Autobahns with major prangs, or (as is sadly too often the case) "falschfahrer" (false driver), someone on the wrong side of a divided road- bloody scary if you're doing 200+....

Anyway, probably bored you all to drink now...
Steve

I wondered how that all worked . didn't get a cahance to try any of this in EU as we didn't even use the radio there too busy !!