Eos AM Radio Interference

[eric wright]

I have owned an EOS for 3 months and have noticed that the AM radio has a poorer reception than my old Passat. The station that I am trying to get "Radio Brussels" on 610KHz has a beat frequency that makes it almost impossible to hear. The dealer has told me that because the aerials are internal the reception is poorer and that there is no booster available for the AM aerial.

Can anyone tell me whether there are two aerials i.e. one for FM and one for AM and whether there is anything that I can do to improve the reception ?

[Teflon]

If you remove the radio there are two aerial connectors in the back, so maybe there is on each for AM and FM. The integrated aerial is powered from the head unit, back up one or both of the cables.

I tried both AM and FM reception with the roof up and down, a back-to-back comparion with a Golf because I was having trouble getting some local FM stations (in the Golf). My non-scientific test revealed that both cars were equally good and the EOS did not show any difference with the top off.

I can sometimes pick up Scandinavian, Dutch and German stations but it depends very much on the weather. Your beat frequency problem strikes me as being more to do with signal condition and local geographic issues than a radio fault. Try parking at Beachy Head - it will be clear as a bell.

If the signal at the aerial is poor then no amount of boosting will make it better, just more annoying. Only another aerial might make a difference.

If you want to get Radio Brussels, it seems a bit extreme to be fitting an aftermarket radio and drilling holes in the bodywork for a wacking great aerial but this may be your only solution short of relocating to the Low Countries.

[eric wright]

Teflon - reasonable point about boosting probably not producing any improvement.

Out of curiosity, do you know where the two aerials are located ?

[Teflon]

Teflon - reasonable point about boosting probably not producing any improvement.

Out of curiosity, do you know where the two aerials are located ?

I've looked at the official VW documents (from an Americal site, but I assume Europe is the same).

It says, "
The Antenna Concept
The Eos antenna system is invisible from the outside. It is integrated into the trunk lid. To make this possible, the trunk lid is mostly made of composite to ensure the correct transmission of the radio waves to the antenna system. The Radio Amplifier Module is housed on the right side of the trunk lid. It processes the signals for AM/FM1 and for the FM2 antenna.
Construction
The most noticeable component of the system is a plate-shaped antenna console mounted in the center under the outer skin of the trunk lid.

In the attached photo, the aerial is the big round thing in the centre and the amplifier module is the component at the top.

I never realised that the boot lid is plastic!

[eric wright]

Thanks for the reply. It is surprising, but sure enough when you really look at the boot lid it is made of some composite material. Also now that I know where the aerial is located I tried the AM station with the boot lid raised and sure enough the reception improved. Hey problem solved, I just need to drive around with the boot open !!!

Anyway thanks for all the feedback.

Eric