Radio Signal Measurement

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Mark Dalton
TwoWaves
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Location: Melbourne

Radio Signal Measurement

Post by Mark Dalton »

Hi,
Has anyone ever tried measuring a Car Radio Antenna Signal before?
I have a car with a complaint of poor radio reception on AM. Another Dealer and Ourselves have looked at this car multiple times and the process the Radio, the Antenna base and the Antenna Amplifier Module have all been replaced. The Radio Ground and Co-Axial Ground have been checked numerous times, along with the Co-Axial signal wire and always test Ok.
There's no BUS Communication with this Radio Head Unit, so we can't check signal strength that way, even supposing it had that capability if we did have CAN Comms.
So I'm thinking I'd like to check the RF signal with the Pico Scope. Check the Signal at opposite ends of the Antenna Cable and check for an amplitude loss or maybe a invasive signal from somewhere else on the car.
It's a measurement I've never tried before, so I'm unsure if the Pico Auto software will do the job, is there any special setting I need to configure etc., etc.
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STC
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Re: Radio Signal Measurement

Post by STC »

There's no BUS Communication with this Radio Head Unit
Would it upset you if I suggested that you fixed the abovementioned Communication issue first ???

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Mark Dalton
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Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2014 9:35 pm
Location: Melbourne

Re: Radio Signal Measurement

Post by Mark Dalton »

It;s not that there should be and isn't. The Radio just isn't on the bus, it doesn't have that functionality.

G8RPI
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Location: Cambridgeshire

Re: Radio Signal Measurement

Post by G8RPI »

Hi,
You could try conecting the pico scope to the antenna connection, but I'm not sure you will see much. The 3000 series most snsitiv range is 20mV, this is about 1/1000th of the signal I'd expect at the antenna. You may be able to ee interefence though. Do you have a good car for comparision? What make & model is the problem car? You should use the 'scope in spectrum analyser mode.

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