Since the day I bought my T&C the radio does nothing but whistle and squelch. All the buttons work and move the dial, the fade and balance work as I can hear the noises move to the speakers. I checked the connections on the back and made sure it was hooked up to the antenna... all seems good. Any ideas as to what I might be look at for a solution? Its an AM only radio from what I can tell... was there and FM option in 1972? Maybe I should just put a modern stereo in it? I am just a stickler when it comes to originality so I would like to use the current radio. I have seen them refurbished on Ebay for $50... maybe I should just do that? Thoughts? Ideas?
I don't know about your car, but I think there can be a noise suppressing condenser or capacitor or some such item. It may me mounted somewhere by a voltage regulator on or around the inner fender. Sorry I can't be any more helpful.
From what you explain, it really seems like an FM radio. AM does not use a pole antenna, as the wavelength is much longer, it uses these little ferrite antenna's. Further more, I don't think AM makes noise, but "squeels" more. What happens when you change the frequency dial? I mean, do you hear change in noise etc?
Senri...over here...nothing works without an antenna and on that note...your antenna cable might be severed somewhere between the radio and the antenna itself...go get another one and just plug it into the radio...dont even mount it ...thats the cheap and easy test
I guess it could be an FM too... dont really know. It doesnt have any AM/FM buttons to change so I assumed it was AM only. When I move the dial, I just get different levels of whistling and squeeling as if there are NO stations. I will have to check the antenna again...as that was my first thought, but it seems fine and doesnt look tampered with at all...
Yup AM/FM was available in almost all mopars from back in the early 60's...if it was an AM/FM it should have a chrome switch just above or bellow the bottoms that you slide back and forth...also there would be the AM and FM frequency numbers on the face plate. There are several companies out there that will retrofit your old AM case with new modern internals to run AM/FM, ipods, wireless stereo controld etc... and the not alter the outward appearance.
I fully agree on the test, but if it is this round cable, it is certainly FM. This is a coax cable and those have an impedance (sort of resistance) that is not for AM radios. On the antenna length, this has a close relation with the wavelength. Here in Holland FM is now between 88mHz and 108. Let's pick an average frequency, for example 98MHz. Wavelength is then 300.000.000 (speed of light) / 98.000.000 = 3.06m. Antenna length has be either 1 wavelength, or 0.5 or.0.25 of the wavelength to work properly. In this case a 1/4 of the wavelength is practical so a lot of pole antenná's in cars are about 76.5cm. CB is working at 27mHz, so straight antenna's are about 5.5m for a 1/2 wavelength. Portable one's have a coil type antenna (which actually has the same length, only wounded) for practical reasons, but won't have the same efficiency. Note: When I was looking for a secondhand (original) pole antenna for my Caprice Classic, I found that there are a number of different lengths made. Maybe frequency bands in the States are or have been different, but it is wise to think about this when looking for an antenna. AM works with much longer wavelengths. The spread is also much bigger, but let's take for example 1000kHz. Wavelength is here 1km, so making an antenna of this length, or even a 1/4 of the wavelength is practically impossible with a straight antenna. Then mostly a little ferrite block with a coil as antenna is used of the total length. Total size is then very small and these antenna's are almost always in the receiver itself or directly on the back of the device. I am sorry for the more or less off topic talk, but I still hope some of you find this interesting.
Looked at it in more detail today... its definately AM only... but it does have a coax and antenna for some reason. Maybe being a T&C it came with the fender antenna for some reason anyway... who knows. I dont have an AM/FM switch and the numbers on the dial are definately AM.. I am going to pull it and check it out this weekend in more detail if I get some time... will keep you posted.
AM radio i have an AM radio in my 65, and this is what i came up with.... AM SUCKS!!! there is no good programming in my area or any of the areas i have been in. so i went out and installed a cd player while carefully disconnecting the original, preserving its integrity.
Yeah, I've always been almost Strictly AM on my listening. Now, my favorite oldies station is playing more of the 70's and 80's and less of the 50's and 60's, and I'm pretty upset, so I switched from AM 1350 to AM 900 which is Classic Country, but I digress, just had to let off some steam. Anywho, about the antenna thing. I know that they use ferrite bar antenna's now for AM radios, but I've only seen it mentioned on little transistor radios, and they may have not used ferrite antennas back in the days of AM only broadcasting, or minimal FM broadcasting.
I think I will yank it, inspect/clean it, bench test it, store it and then put in a nice period correct AM/FM. They appear to be pretty cheap on Ebay... Then again, I might just upgrade to a modern radio with a decent sound system.
Certainly is plenty of room in that glovebox... that seems to be the best way to go...plus its easy access.
You might go to a TV/Radio repair shop and get a spray can of tuner cleaner. Use it in a well-ventilated area above 60F. It does fry brain cells. The tuners get carboned up and dusty, sometimes with magnetic dust. Radio Shack might have it too.
