Re: help with fm radio antenna
if the pioneer unit isn't expecting a power antenna- the kind on a car that goes up & down, then all you need is a length of coaxial 75-ohm cable. RG-59 would work fine, is cheap, and is common household tv cable. RG-6 is also good. What you do is get the correct connector which would plug into the antenna port in the rear of the pioneer unit. Hopefully you still have that, or can scrounge up a suitable replacement. If you don't know how coax cable works, let me know and i can explain better.<br /><br />Attach your connector to one end of the coax cable, and that end plugs into the pioneer.<br /><br />On the other end of the coax, expose the center conductor about 1/2 an inch, and peel the braided wire shield back. Now you have two wire ends to work with, separated by the plastic dielectric within the coax. Solder any 3-4 ft length of common small guage wire (14-22 awg) to the center conductor of coax, be careful not to melt the plastic dielectric of the coax or let the center conductor ever come in contact with any of the braided shield. Solder a small length of 14-22awg wire to the braided shield and find a point on the aluminum hull to connect this. Because you have a metal hull, the entire hull will become an antenna and you should get great reception.<br />Then take the 3-4ft length of wire coming off the center conductor of coax and lay anywhere you can where you get good reception. And leave the insulation on this wire to the very end, and don't let it contact the hull to make continuity with the wire shield part of the coax. If it does, you'll lose reception, no damage will occur though. <br />Use a length of coax which gives you the best location to lay the 3-4ft length of wire, and make the connection to the hull. Try to keep the length of coax to a minimum, say 4-5ft, the shorter the better.
