Radio Tuning Help (Please)

FM stations in the US are "odd" only. No even stations.

Sorry


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(biff_debris @ May 27 2007, 10:42 PM) [snapback]450919[/snapback]</div>

I guess that wasn't quite clear... The radio in the Prius only tunes to "odd" frequencies in the US.

However, FM radio in the US is pretty much un-listenable, so it doesn't matter much. I'm not sure which countries use the even frequencies, so I can't suggest alternatives for your search.

 

<_< QUOTE: "However, FM radio in the US is pretty much un-listenable, so it doesn't matter much."

Hi bif_debris. Not sure about the Washington State areas, but in Texas FM stations are clear and strong. I found the same true in Arkansas as well. I rarely listen to AM stations. Not just that, but I installed a 2" stubby antenna for carwash convenience and still get excellent reception on FM stations.

Could you have a problem with your Prius sound system?

 

In another car, my FM radio started picking out some unusual (to me) numbers and hence was untunable. I took it in for repair and found out that there was a setting of some sort that determined whether that radio was set to receive American FM or other. Perhaps your radio can also be set in the same fashion.

Ted

 

Phillip, the problem is really that band expanders are a kludge and the adjusted frequency appears to get "stepped on" by the original frequency. For example if you have a +12 band expander installed and want to listen to Radio NZ National (which broadcasts on FM 101 in my region) you would tune your radio to 89.0 FM. This would work fine, except that in my area there is an exceptionally strong signal from a station broadcasting on 89.0 FM that will interfere with RadioNZ depending on where the car is and what mood it is in. I will be getting an after-market antenna and see if that helps before going to the trouble of getting a NZ-New radio from Toyota.

PS I see that Hannah posted a band expander fix on this site back in 2004, but that the material was moved to the knowledge base forum where I have been unable to find it (due to broken links). Maybe if we try we can get the information resurrected by Danny or a moderator and we'll know what we're doing.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(philipnewton1 @ May 27 2007, 10:07 PM) [snapback]450850[/snapback]</div>

I think European radio uses the odd & even frequencies you mention. This point came up in a discussion over exporting a US car to Scandinavia.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ May 28 2007, 10:57 AM) [snapback]450979[/snapback]</div>

I assume he was talking more about content, not the quality of the signal. And I have to agree.

 

Toyota surely does not build different radio hardware for different markets, so there could very well be a way to re-program the radio. Try calling different dealers and see whether any of them has the necessary magic. (Then again how many dealers can there be in Kiwiland...)

I'll take this opportunity to gripe about all radios that can't tune to sub-intervals (102.05, etc.). There are often interference situations in which tuning slightly off the nominal frequency can improve reception.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ Jun 14 2007, 02:59 AM) [snapback]460851[/snapback]</div>

It's not just a programming issue -- the frequency range is the issue. The top of the FM band in radios produced for the Japanese market is 90MHz (starting down around 76) whereas we have stations here in NZ broadcasting from 88 to 108MHz (and I seem to recall a similar range for the FM band in the states)

So yes, definitely different radios for different markets.