2020 RT Radio Reception Issue

[upsdoctor]

It seems that the radio on my 2020 RT has little or no reception. I live in an area with tons of FM channels that the cheapest of radios can pull in. When I scan I lock onto just 1 or 2 radio stations. Does anyone else have this issue?

It almost seems like the antenna is not connected....

[Iceman47]

Reception on my 2020 RTL isn't near as good as my 2015 was. Don't know if a different antenna would make a difference or not. Am not real happy about it. Guess BRP assumes no one listens to FM anymore.

[upsdoctor]

On my 2010 RT the FM reception was fine. How do you screw up FM radio? I was wondering if the antenna was the issue as well. I will look through the service manual to see if there is a connection point that I can pull apart and add a temporary antenna.

The issues with this 2020 RT just keep piling up.

[Papa103]

My biggest complaint with my 2019 RTL is terrible FM reception. I had an antenna booster installed, no help it might even be worse if that is possible. I'm not a fan of the GPS being linked to an app on the phone. Seems to be very clunky working in todays standard of GPS.

[samewok]

The lock tight they use does cause some bad reception.
I changed mine to the short one from Spyderpops.com

[bodymanpainter]

The reception on my 2020 RTL is way better than my other Spyders that I have owned and some of
my 2 wheel bikes as well. May be you have a bad connection at the radio or antenna. Just a thought.

Toby

[SportsterDoc]

...I will look through the service manual to see if there is a connection point that I can pull apart and add a temporary antenna.

Does this help?

https://can-am.brp.com/on-road/us/en/shop/for-sale/parts-iframe.html

Unfortunately, final search did not save. It appears that connections are combined, not making it easy to plug in an alternate antenna.

[SportsterDoc]

The lock tight they use does cause some bad reception...

Is it blue, such as the common Loctite 242, which I understand to be non-conductive?

https://www.henkel-adhesives.com/us/en/product/threadlockers/loctite_242.html

[Peter Aawen]

Over the years, there have been quite a few people complaining about the poor radio reception on their Spyders, and this has ramped up somewhat of late, especially since BRP went to the digital dash in 2018.... Since then, it seems to be a fairly common gripe, with those reporting getting good reception being the (apparently quite rare :rolleyes: ) exceptions that prove the rule?!? :shocked: Check out what the member who goes by the username Seattle has gone thru to try and get this sorted here:

https://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?125724-2018-amp-2019-Spyders-Weak-Signal-and-Speaker-Crackling-Noises&highlight=Reception

Billybovine's experiences here:

https://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?121102-FM-radio-reception-F3L-and-RT-2018-models&highlight=Reception

and Ride2gethigh's experiences here:

https://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?114114-2018-RT-AUDIO-SYSTEM-SUCKS!!!&highlight=Reception

But wait, there's more!! (Don'tcha just love a thread that keeps on giving?!? :p ) Just enter the word 'reception' in the Search field up the top right of your screen (just below Lamonster's logo??) then click on the box for 'Search Titles Only' and submit your search - there's probably gonna be at least 4 pages of results showing threads that could well be applicable, but you really want to concentrate on those from 2018 on - it seems the radios were 'upgraded' then to match the digital dash.....:shocked: :gaah:

[SpyderAnn01]

The reception on my 2020 RTL is way better than my other Spyders that I have owned and some of
my 2 wheel bikes as well. May be you have a bad connection at the radio or antenna. Just a thought.

Toby

I agree, no problem with radio reception on my 20 RT either.

[SpyderAnn01]

Is it blue, such as the common Loctite 242, which I understand to be non-conductive?

https://www.henkel-adhesives.com/us/en/product/threadlockers/loctite_242.html

BRP seems to use yellow loctite on everything. They’re like the old lady in the Tabasco Sauce commercial who says “I put that sh$t on everything”.

[upsdoctor]

Well I unscrewed the antenna today and removed the blue lock tight with a small wire brush. No increase in reception.

On the next rainy day I am going to pull the Spyder apart and trace the cables out. I found the antenna on the electrical diagram from the service manual. Only two connectors to verify connectivity with an ohm meter 181707 I would also like to find an old car antenna to see if that helps.

[Tango]

Radio works great on my 2020 RTL. Light years better than on my 2016 F3L. :thumbup: Tom :spyder:

[TicketBait]

The 2020 RTL I test rode for about an hour, the last half I played with the radio, and no problems with the reception.

Maybe it didn’t get hooked up correctly.:dontknow: let us know how it ends up.