Replacing awful Jensen with a (Ford) nav radio ?

I bought a Vantec Bluetooth Audio receiver. It receives audio from a Bluetooth transmitter (phone or tablet) and converts it to analog audio. I connected it to AUX 3 using the included 1/8" stereo cable.

It works but the audio quality is much inferior to a direct connection between the phone and the Jensen itself and if you power it via the included USB cable, it generates an annoying amount of background noise.

Thus far the best way to play MP3s is to load them onto the memory card in my phone and connect the phone directly to the Jensen with a 1/8" stereo cable. It isn't sexy, but it is functional.

I'd like to have it work wirelessly, so I can have my phone with me around the trailer. I may try another Bluetooth receiver, one that supports APTX.

Another thing that bugs me about the 970 is that you can't use the USB port for charging. As soon as you plug a USB device into it, even with a charging only USB cable, the radio switches to USB play mode. There is no way to use the radio, CD or Aux function when a charging device is plugged into the USB port.

I called Jensen and discussed my issues with the 970.

1) The tech blamed the issue of reception compared to a vehicle on the lack of a ground plane under the radio antenna compared to a vehicle. Good point ! I might put a ground plane under my antenna.

2) The tech acknowledged the cumbersome tuning. He didn't have any solution for it, no software update and said that the sister radios (968, 975) all tune the same.

I've been working on this.

The newer Ford and GM radios require CAN messages to run. The older radios that don't aren't that desirable, at least for me. You have to pay extra to have an aux input or Bluetooth added. No USB at all on them.

I removed the AWM970 from the wall and learned a few things.

First off, the aux input on the front will use a standard 1/8" stereo jack, even though it is labeled an AV input. On our unit it is AUX input #3.

There are also 2 unused aux inputs on the back of our unit. Aux input #1(AV) and #2 (audio only).

It also has an IPOD input cable that goes to a DIN8 connector. Our unit did not come with an adapter to connect to an iPod.

The unit also has 2 antenna inputs. One is a standard automotive Motorola connector. It also has the standard 2 screw 300 ohm for an FM antenna input. I wonder how it knows which antenna to use for FM ? I wonder if the FM reception would be improved if I connected our roof antenna (conventional broadcast) to the receiver ?

It also has an input for a wired remote and an IR receiver.

The thing I hate most about this radio is tuning radio stations. There are 3 ways to do this.

1) Turn the tuning knob one frequency step at a time. Terribly slow. But necessary when methods 2 and 3 fail.

2) Turn and hold the tuning knob so the radio auto scans for the next station. The problem with this is that it generally stops in a couple frequency steps at a ghost station. The tuner seems to receive a lot of noise, especially on the AM band.

3) Use the ASPS button. If you hold it for 3 seconds, it will auto scan the band and load the strongest 12 AM or 18 FM stations in the presets, according to the manual. Several problems with this. 1) it finds ghost stations and loads them in the presets. 2) It doesn't actually find the strongest stations, it just loads any station it finds. 3) If your local area has more than 18 stations, it stops scanning when the presets are full. So if you do an auto AS, you end up with 18 scanned stations, several will be ghost stations, half of them are stations you don't like and if the local area has lots of stations you are going to be missing stations at the top end of the spectrum.

On top of it all, you can't move preset frequencies between bands (AM 1 and 2 or FM 1,2,3) without manually tuning them on the bank you want and saving them.

This is probably the most frustrating radio tuner I have ever encountered.

Another problem is that you can't play MP3s without a TV. The unit reads the USB device and then displays the tracks on the TV. No TV, no menu to play the tracks. We don't have a TV in our trailer. And even if we did, I wouldn't want to have it powered up just to play MP3s when we are boondocking.

The unit has some redeeming features though.

The amplifier works fine, for our purposes. The speakers in our trailer need upgrading more than the amplifier.

It is set up to power 3 pairs of speakers out of the box. And it has zone control. Not many amplifiers do this.

It has 3 aux inputs, which will allow the use of an MP3 player, a better radio and an external Bluetooth receiver.

The CD player works fine as well.

I've got some work arounds planned for our unit. I'll share them once I test them.

The software version of our unit is V2.02.

The online manual for this unit is here.
https://www.asaelectronics.com/downloads/dl/file/id/44/awm970_owners_manual.pdf

When I get in a vehicle with a factory radio it seems easy to operate.

The aftermarket radios are always hard to figure out. The buttons are small & hard to read, no knobs on most of them for volume. I have Sony and Kenwood in a couple of my vehicles they are a PITA.

me2 wrote:
I've never had an aftermarket tuner work as well as an OEM tuner. I spent a lot of time on the road over the past 8 years in very rural areas in Superduties and Impalas. I had Pioneer and Kenwood radios in some of these vehicles and none of them would receive distant radio stations as well as the OEM units. Not even close.

I've got a Kenwood XCD998 sitting on the shelf. I should install it and see if it works any better than the Jensen. It isn't very user friendly for my family to use.

Well, then you are the odd one out..

Had lots of OEM radios and so far none are able to hold a candle to a better quality after amrket.. Now you might notice, I do not lump "Jensen" in the better quality bin..

Pioneers claim to fame is the "super tuner", I never tried them but from most reviews over the years folks HAVE noted that they are an improvement over OEM.

For the past 30 yrs I have used Clarions, only have had one that I didn't like how the tuner blended the stereo to mono audio under weak signal situations (very aggressive change that is annoying).

Pretty much all the stations I listen to are 50-60 miles away, lots of hilly area with a lot of tall trees..

The station I like the most is a low power station with about 4Kw ERP and it is about 55 miles from my area. That station is between two 45Kw stations and a tuner that has poor selectivity is not able to hold the station I like (picket fencing)..

The Ford OEM radios were not able to pick up the station I like unless I was on the top of a hill, then it would fade out or switch (picket fencing) to the adjacent station.

Keep in mind, what you pick up is also a function of how good of an antenna you have.. If you have the typical RV nubby antenna, you are not going to find much satisfaction in any radio.. Any antenna shorter than 3ft mast is going to perform poorly.

I am also a bit puzzled as to why you would want a navigation radio in a 5vr.. Not like you are going to be able to use the nav part while driving unless you are going to have your copilot ride in the 5vr.. :E and relay the info to you in the vehicle..

I put a Sony in here, blight it at FRYS electronics
Sounds great , works well

I've never had an aftermarket tuner work as well as an OEM tuner. I spent a lot of time on the road over the past 8 years in very rural areas in Superduties and Impalas. I had Pioneer and Kenwood radios in some of these vehicles and none of them would receive distant radio stations as well as the OEM units. Not even close.

I've got a Kenwood XCD998 sitting on the shelf. I should install it and see if it works any better than the Jensen. It isn't very user friendly for my family to use.

me2 wrote:
"Personally, why shoot so low?"

If you Google around a bit, you'll see that OEM automotive radios are among the highest performance AM/FM receivers out there. Some are sensitive to -3 dBuV. None of the aftermarket or home receivers can match that. Aftermarket receivers are usually 8-15 dBuV. As I stated previously, my personal experience matches this.

What is the newest OEM radio that doesn't require a CANBus to run ? I can get connectors from an auto wrecker once I know what model to zero in on.

OEM units are CHEATING on the specs if they claim -3 dBuV.. Usually to get better sensitivity numbers they tend to do poor in SELECTIVITY.. You have to compare BOTH numbers to get a decent picture of the tuner performance..

Without good selectivity you will have issues picking out stations that are side by side.

As far as published specs on Ford OEM radios, I have never been able to locate that information, perhaps you can post that information (and YES, I DID "google" it)?

You do need to realize that car stereo manufactures over the years HAVE stretched the truth for many of their specs.. Up to a couple of years ago they could post most anything they wanted as far as output power.. Now they must post the REAL RMS power ratings..

But honestly, I cannot ever say that any of the OEM stereos have performed as good as the aftermarkets.. That is in the tuner section, amplifier section and even sound quality.

And as far as Ford's "sync" goes, it IS junk, do a search yourself.. You WILL find lots of complaints on the newer units ranging from losing audio randomly to turning on/off randomly and a host of other issues..

I ripped mine out the day I brought the truck home, sounded terrible, tuner couldn't get the station I prefer.. It is sitting on a shelf and will go back in the day I sell my truck.

As far as Canbus goes, I think you will have to go back to units made for 2009/10 or before (can't say for sure other than I know 2011 and newer ARE highly integrated with CanBus)and I doubt you are going to find much with navigation that won't have some dependency on Canbus.. Seems to me that Ford started Canbus around 2006-2008..

My 2013 with Sync, uses Canbus to power on/off, control the separate Sync module and the Sat Module and the Sync module handles the USB/player functions.. The radio and the Sync module talk through the Canbus.

On edit..

I should also note that my 2013 truck does not have a switched ignition power feed. The Canbus TELLS the radio digitally that the ignition has been turned on..

I had to find my own switched accessory power for my aftermarket radio..

I know Ford made this change somewhere around 2008 on most of their trucks as this is a common complaint I had found when I was installing my aftermarket in a 2013..

Without the Canbus, and since the radio does not have any switched ignition connection I would highly doubt you will get the radio to turn on via the front power button.

I disagree about the quality of an OEM radio for receiving FM broadcasts. Both my truck and my imported station wagon get terrible FM reception, however the Pioneer I put in my trailer using a standard whip antenna on the roof pulls in stations I haven't heard in years and thought had gone off air.

FYI, the modern version of our radio is supposed to have a sensitivity of 4uV on FM and 63uV on AM.

http://www.jensenrvdirect.com/downloads/dl/file/id/575/awm965_owners_manual.pdf