Radio Reception Issues

[Madcow2020]

Lights can do strange things. We had a building that the fluorescent igniters were raising the noise floor above -60dbm killing anything in the public safety radio band.

 

 

Sent from the future via a wifi time portal.

[TJay74]

*** UPDATE ***

 

Back from the dealer, engineers did as I thought and had a flashed module with them. Just had to wait on it to be installed and paired to my VIN and we were off on the road test.

 

So the results.............

 

A lot better to the point of being perfect in my area. The issue we are having is caused by a term called multi path. As the radio signal is transmitted out and encounters objects (buildings, hills, mountains and such) it causes the radio to receive several signals at varying times. This causes the radio to think it is a loss of signal and the radio drops down to mono mode until the signal comes back up and returns to stereo. This is the way I took it from the fidelity engineer, I am probably off on the exact terminology but I understand it on the high level and plain English version.

 

They adjusted how the radio module deals with the multipath events and improved the "handshake" during the event. End result is the perceived reception loss is almost entirely gone. We drove my route to work where I was having about 10 events on each drive, it was down to maybe 2 events and those events were caused by being in a downtown urban environment where the signal was getting bounced around by the buildings. The other 95% of the drive the radio was operating perfectly.

 

You will always have some fidelity issues in regards to how the radio sounds as the signal is processed, the new update fixed all of it from what we could see.

 

I also noticed that the HD switching option now stays off when you turn it off instead of turning back on when you change to a new channel or power cycle the truck.

 

The engineers said the update will be ready pretty soon, this was one of the last validation steps. So I would expect maybe in the next month or so you should be able to head into the dealer with your concern and have the fix applied. With that fix will come in two ways depending on the build date of the truck.

 

Trucks build before 12/2013 will get the new radio module and the updated software, trucks built after the 12/2013 already have the new radio module so they will only need the new software update.

 

Hopefully this will help some of you. The engineers were very interested in the feedback I gave them over the last several months and while they said the communication may have been minimal to me it wasn't because they were not working on the issue. They had the supplier here for testing help and to try and get the issue addressed and it takes time to find the issue, make the changes and then validate the changes and then implement those changes.

 

The engineers said GM is very involved in correcting issues, it is just a matter of finding the correct fix. I will say to any owner with issues on the truck, first try the dealer. If that doesn't work or the dealer cant fix the issue then open a case with GM corp customer care. My perception is the dealers are not relaying the info to GM so GM is left in the dark on some of these issues until it comes up the chain of command. My selling dealer said my radio was fine, the dealer I use now said it was fine even when the engineers had said there was a issue, then even after I had the new radio module said it was fine even after I told them the issue was still there and even the loaner truck they gave me had the issue.

 

I hope this helps everyone, I am pleased as of now with the radio performance. I will be evaluating the performance more as I drive the truck and will report back to the engineers if I see anything good/bad from my experience.

Edited June 26, 2014 by TJay74

[Fishingbear]

*** UPDATE ***

 

Back from the dealer, engineers did as I thought and had a flashed module with them. Just had to wait on it to be installed and paired to my VIN and we were off on the road test.

 

So the results.............

 

A lot better to the point of being perfect in my area. The issue we are having is caused by a term called multi path. As the radio signal is transmitted out and encounters objects (buildings, hills, mountains and such) it causes the radio to receive several signals at varying times. This causes the radio to think it is a loss of signal and the radio drops down to mono mode until the signal comes back up and returns to stereo. This is the way I took it from the fidelity engineer, I am probably off on the exact terminology but I understand it on the high level and plain English version.

 

They adjusted how the radio module deals with the multipath events and improved the "handshake" during the event. End result is the perceived reception loss is almost entirely gone. We drove my route to work where I was having about 10 events on each drive, it was down to maybe 2 events and those events were caused by being in a downtown urban environment where the signal was getting bounced around by the buildings. The other 95% of the drive the radio was operating perfectly.

 

You will always have some fidelity issues in regards to how the radio sounds as the signal is processed, the new update fixed all of it from what we could see.

 

I also noticed that the HD switching option now stays off when you turn it off instead of turning back on when you change to a new channel or power cycle the truck.

 

The engineers said the update will be ready pretty soon, this was one of the last validation steps. So I would expect maybe in the next month or so you should be able to head into the dealer with your concern and have the fix applied. With that fix will come in two ways depending on the build date of the truck.

 

Trucks build before 12/2013 will get the new radio module and the updated software, trucks built after the 12/2013 already have the new radio module so they will only need the new software update.

 

Hopefully this will help some of you. The engineers were very interested in the feedback I gave them over the last several months and while they said the communication may have been minimal to me it wasn't because they were not working on the issue. They had the supplier here for testing help and to try and get the issue addressed and it takes time to find the issue, make the changes and then validate the changes and then implement those changes.

 

The engineers said GM is very involved in correcting issues, it is just a matter of finding the correct fix. I will say to any owner with issues on the truck, first try the dealer. If that doesn't work or the dealer cant fix the issue then open a case with GM corp customer care. My perception is the dealers are not relaying the info to GM so GM is left in the dark on some of these issues until it comes up the chain of command. My selling dealer said my radio was fine, the dealer I use now said it was fine even when the engineers had said there was a issue, then even after I had the new radio module said it was fine even after I told them the issue was still there and even the loaner truck they gave me had the issue.

 

I hope this helps everyone, I am pleased as of now with the radio performance. I will be evaluating the performance more as I drive the truck and will report back to the engineers if I see anything good/bad from my experience.

 

Thanks for the update! What is the new radio module? Is it something on the inside of the dash?

[chuckl1218]

Again, thanks Todd!!! You are awesome!!!

Is there any chance the engineers will let you know when the fix is released? As you said, many dealers have not pursued this issue since all of the radios work this way, stating they are working "as designed". I just dropped the issue once you started making progress with the engineers.

 

I guess the question is, what do we refer to once the fix is released? "The fix for reception issues released in June 2014"?

[TJay74]

I will give them a couple of weeks to finish up and pose that question to them Chuck. Hopefully it will be in the system and or listed as a TSB that a owner can go in and reference.

 

yes the radio module is in the dash, it only takes about 30 minutes to get it out and changed over. Flashing the software may take another hour or so depending on any other updates that may need to be applied at that time.

[Madcow2020]

Awesome to hear thanks for all the hard work.

 

 

Sent from the future via a wifi time portal.

[chuckl1218]

I will give them a couple of weeks to finish up and pose that question to them Chuck. Hopefully it will be in the system and or listed as a TSB that a owner can go in and reference.

 

yes the radio module is in the dash, it only takes about 30 minutes to get it out and changed over. Flashing the software may take another hour or so depending on any other updates that may need to be applied at that time.

Awesome. Thanks.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[glcbn]

TJay74, thank you so much for your efforts!!! Where should I send the check?

[TJay74]

nothing needed, I just hope it fixes the majority of everyones reception problems.

 

I know where GM is at in regards to these issues. It is easy to key board trouble shoot the issue and say "well fix it" but when you have to make those change orders and send them up the line for approval you start adding layers of tape that we the public don't see. Same where I work, we see things that need to be fixed now, we have to wait for approval first then we can move to the next step.

 

I still think the biggest issue all manufactures have is going to be dealerships who don't try to find the issue, or just don't take the time to speak with the manufacture to get them involved. It is easier to type "no condition found" and code the ticket out than to put some work into the problem. The motivator is always going to be the mighty dollar.

[Mad Max]

Tjay - Thanks for all the work and updates. Great job! Hope this is it.

 

Now on to getting a better XM antenna? LOL!

[Sierra Sik]

Tjay,

Thanks for your diligence on this matter alot of us will be very greatful when our radio's are fixed.When HD is locked in they are very good sounding systems. Will stay tuned for the official okee doe kee.

[dmd277]

TJay once again thanks, do you have XM and if so did you have to contact them to have it reinstalled?

[surebuttercringe]

Well, my HD Radio finally bit the dust today. It has been spotty and in/out like most everyone else's in this thread, but as of today I no longer receive ANY HD radio stations. In fact, even the regular stations are dropping down to mono which has never happened before. My truck has an early build date, so hopefully this replacement of the entire module will correct the problem.

[Fiosguy05]

Just an observation I made last night and sorry if it's been mentioned before. My passenger opened the front passenger door and the station that was clear instantly went to complete static. Upon closing the door station went back to normal. Had her open and close the door a few times to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

[jeffsig]

I can't wait to get a fix for this. My radio reception is only good when its in HD mode and it's very spotty. In the meantime I rely on XM and Pandora.