RV / Boat = Improving Radio Reception?

Howdy,
I just spent another great / frustrating fall weekend camping and fishing. The weather was perfect, the nights were cool and the campfire was perfect. Camping this time of year is the best!
My frustration is this……
My trailer is located in a seasonal spot next to the Lake of the Ozarks. Great spot. It sits just down a bit in a little valley that seems to block my ability to pick up many radio stations..(Especially the ones that I want).
All I am asking is to be able to pick up the Kansas City Royals (AM) game and the Kansas Chiefs (FM) Games. They are both on strong stations and I should be able to get the signal, but I can’t. I bought the top of the line portable tuner radio some years back and it doesn’t solve the problem. Ironically, I can pick up San Antonio Spurs home games during basketball season from 1000 miles away (some weird atmospheric skip I guess), but I can’t pick up KC games from less than 100 miles away. I do seem to get every high school football game for a long ways off!
So, I guess my question is this….
Can I turn my entire metal Travel trailer and/or my aluminum fishing boat into some kind of super antenna? Wire the whole unit as an antenna? Or perhaps, could I run a piece of antenna wire from my portable radio up into the trees around my campsite to help me get better reception?
I know a little bit about a lot of things…..electricity and antenna’s are not some of them.
The OEM radio in the camper is junk and is no help. It seems like when I plug in the portable radio to the camper it picks up tremendous electrical interference….maybe from the converter or water heater or something else. Running the portable on battery power alone doesn’t provide any improvement.
I’ve tried to rig up an external antenna in the past with no luck.

Any suggestions on how to improve the radio reception in and around my camper (and boat for when I’m on the water in the fall trying to listen to college and NFL games)?

Another big Royals playoff game this weekend and I want to go camping!

Thank you

Seeking Advice

11 Replies

RollandB
Explorer
Oct 08, 2014
the suggestion for Sirius XM is exactly what I'm looking to do. 18 months ago we purchased a new Yukon which came with 12 months of free service. Like a drug pusher that first gave you the drugs for free, it worked, we both really like the service. I'd like to have it in my truck and 5er and since we aren't in both at the same time a second mount makes sense. I've learned with using a smart phone for some of the radio apps, or to stream off the net, it works as long as you have good signal strength. That is not always the case where we go play.
HuckFinn410
Explorer
Oct 08, 2014
OP here. Thank you for the great feedback. I will be trying to construct some kind a external antenna and if that doesn't work, I will be going to a satellite radio solution.

Thank you
wintersun
Explorer II
Oct 07, 2014
Radio Shack and others sell for under $100 an FM whip type antenna that will greatly improve your reception. FM is still line of sight so you need a relay tower in sight. We have checked the location of the nearest tower and then made sure we selected a campsite directly in line with it. This is also where a spot on a hill is much better than one tucked down into a ravine.

There are also portable satellite radios including a $35 Audiovox tuner that receives XM signals and then sends an FM signal to a regular AM/FM radio.
Gruffy
Explorer
Oct 07, 2014
I assume you have some sort of TV??? Put in a splitter and hook up the FM to the TV antenna/cable .... should help the FM reception.
Bionic_Man
Explorer
Oct 07, 2014
I see a couple options.

Sirius works very well. You can beat them up on price and get 5 months for $25. Sometimes you can pay less.

If you have a smart phone (and phone service) you can use something like iHeart Radio. Get a portable bluetooth speaker, and stream the games live.

Hope you find something that works for you. Oh, and GO BRONCOS!!
pianotuna
Nomad III
Oct 06, 2014
Hi,

FM is pretty much line of sight. For AM you need a better antenna. As a kid I used to bring along 100 of bare copper wire and toss it up in a tree. It made the difference in the mountains in particular.

A good radio is needed for weak signals. Look for a unit that has an antenna port.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Oct 06, 2014
AM, if you can do this it should help (You can not always do this)

Get a coil of wire, ideally you want about 75 meters (around 250 feet) but even a 100 foot coil will do it.

Ground one end, then bring it up and wrap twice around the radio then up as high as possible and tree to tree till you run out of wire, Hang a weight on the end (With the aid of some nylon or cotton cord) say a quart of water.

FM: Height is MIGHT.. you need an FM antenna and a radio with an antenna in jack, OR you can brind the coax down from the antenna (Mounted as high as possible, and directional pointed in the right direction) and wrap a loop of wire from center to shield around the antenna rod a couple times.

Fact: On a nearby ham band (146 MHZ) I was once talking from downtown Detroit to a repeater in Adrian, MI, to some folks in Toledo Ohio,, another party, a VE-3 (Windsor) tried to join us.. From where I was standing I could see his house we were that close.. But he could not make the trip.

His effectife radiated power was about 160 times my little hand held (One watt into a "Rubber Duck" antenna, I would guess about a quarter watt effetive) but I was making it and he was not.

WHY: I was on the 21st floor of a skyscraper, he was on a 30' pole in his yard.
DSDP_Don
Explorer
Oct 06, 2014
HuckFinn410.....I don't know if you want the expense, but how about Sirius/XM radio. Here's what I did. I bought four portable Sirius/XM mounts, about $30.00 each. I mounted one in my boat, one on my motor cycle, one in my personal car and one in my work car. You then buy one portable Sirius/Xm unit, again, inexpensive and move it to each mount. You just simply lift the unit out of the base and place it in one of the other bases you have installed. This way, you only pay for one Sirius/XM subscription. It was great on both our motor cycle and boat. Places we never got coverage came in clear as can be.
HuckFinn410
Explorer
Oct 06, 2014
OP here. The radio that I have is similar to this one..just a bit older

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3697372#

sorry, I don't know how to make it a clicky...
westend
Explorer
Oct 06, 2014
Well, they're are radios and then there are radios. Same thing about antenna's.
If listening to the game is high priority and you're getting interference inside the RV, then moving to an outside location is going to be a lot better.

My RF buddies tell me that the Sony Super tuner III is among the best. I have an old GE portable that picks up just about everything. For my TT, I have a big copper J-pole antenna that I connect to for solid FM when parked. It attaches to the trailer's side with a tool holder and I connect with an exterior coaxial fitting. I use 120V stereo receiver (NAD 3140) so my results won't be typical for most RV'ers.