Awful radio reception.
 

Radio reception in the ZT is dreadful via the HRS ariel.

So while in the scrappy today getting a few bits to squirrel away (full front fan off a Mk2 derv £10) I found a normal front mounted roof ariel on a Nissan Micra.

Has anyone put a normal roof ariel on a ZT here ?

I've held it where it will be and looks OK to me, but the thought of drilling a hole in the roof fills me with dread just thinking about it.

Any tips ?

I've given up on radio! The reception is fine in the accessories position but as soon as I turn on the ignition it loses signal and crackles. I've changed both boxes in the rear pillars, checked all the leads (pos, neg and screen aerial + lead) for continuity but still no joy. I even tried a separate aerial and just the same. Before you start drilling holes, check that the aerial will fix your problem. It didn't fix mine!:shrug:

Mine also does that as soon as I plug any of those USB adapter plugs into the cigarette lighter/auxiliary power socket but that's a separate issue if anyone knows why ?

The reception in the MG/75 is not the best, but it shouldn't be terrible unless there is something seriously amiss.

My guess would be the amp attached to the HRW is not as well designed as it could be and its output is weak.

Why I have arrived at this conclusion is that years ago when I replaced my Hi-line system with the early Radioguy unit, the unit needed the signal splitting between the radio and the navigation system for receiving traffic updates. A simple passive splitter wrecked both the radio reception and nav systems reception. I ended up fitting an active splitter which made things very much better.

That opinion was further confirmed by the fact that I also noted that reception on the new unit was not as good as it had been on the Hi-Line. The Hi-line receiver was boot mounted, the new unit dash mounted with the antenna lead needing to be extended to the front, so the extra losses in the antenna extension lead made reception worse.

So it would probably worth buying a cheap pre-amp and fitting it between the HRW amp, and your antenna lead going to the front of the car.

Quick question for the OP, is this the OEM radio?
I have seen a number of aftermarket radios that don't feed the radio amplifier with 12v.

The other question raised ref. USB chargers causing interference - this is (probably) because the USB chargers are mostly switched mode supplies, as this is a more efficient design - at 2Amps supply, a linear regulator would be dissipating ~18W, whereas a switched mode supply may dissipate 0.1 W - so a switched mode supply produces less heat for the same output power.
(The way these regulators work is to switch internally at high speeds - This high speed switching can cause interference that can affect the radio. [Most likely the harmonics of the switching frequency]. A different USB supply may cause interference at a different frequency and so affect the radio differently, as may changing the amount of load)

Regards
Chris

May be completely unrelated, but I had interference on my radio when key position was at ignition. Turning off the rear window heated screen switch if it was active and, Bingo, no interference.

As I said, may be unrelated, but it has been an issue on 75's in the past.

That reminds me mine does that as well as everything else.

The HRW ariel just seems more bother than its worth, hence binning it off for a tried and tested roof ariel.

Yes the radio set up is totally original Kenwood head u bit.

Usually associated with damaged HRW tracks on the window.

Never got anything good from any of the radios fitted to either of my MGR vehicles. Having a USB accessory dropper or adaptor made things substantially worse as did the hrw operating.
There was a breakthrough by another member who delights at DAB+ broadcasts. He has fitted a Bee-sting type of antenna to both of his 75 saloons with good results, but we must also remember that reception in our area is worse than poor in the first place. You will notice that new vehicles with factory DAB work quite well against the aftermarket efforts. Just bought a Pioneer DD unit for my Focus, but not going to go for dab route partly as it has a heated screen, and its also a convertible, thus no roof mount will be possible !

I am sure Runcle Nick will be happy to advise or help if you decide to go for roof mounting, he's only round the corner in Raunds.

All very odd - never had a problem with my Radio - aftermarket one purchased in 2013:shrug: