I have a 2011 Camry and the radio reception is horrible. Any suggestions?

Asked by gtcamry Sep 20, 2014 at 11:31 AM about the 2011 Toyota Camry LE

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Reception is terrible, but some stations do come in clear.  I also hear a bit of engine noise in the radio.  Any help would be appreciated.

1 Answer

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Here is some info I found on another trouble shooting site: Not sure the standard LCD type radio has HD radio. All stereo FM radios have two modes, analog mono and analog stereo. Some add digital HD as a third mode. Obviously mono is the least quality and is the default if you have a low signal or when signals are being "multipathed" (bounced off buildings). To decode stereo on an FM signal, two additional carrier signals are transmitted in addition to the base Mono signal. Poor reception affects the additional carrier signals first and the radio goes to mono. Older radios used to have a ST indicator and sometimes a switch which allowed you to disable the bouncing to and from mono in weak signal areas. The HD Display Audio radios in Toyotas have a control to disable HD but it has to be enabled every time you enter the car. Digital HD is the red headed stepchild thanks to the FCC's initial decision to allow HD 1% power compared to standard FM (often 1000 watts instead of 100,000 watts). Recently the FCC changed their minds and allowed the stations to "optionally" increase their HD signal to 10% (which might be 10,000 watts). Only problem is that most stations already bought the 1% gear. So if you are not "line of sight" to the transmitter, HD drops out quick to FM stereo and often straight to FM mono. If you don't have HD, you still toggle back and forth between FM stereo and mono, which is very noticeable. Getting a longer car antenna can help. The stub antennas are not much good. My older Tundra had an antenna that was probably two feet long. It worked great.

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