Audio Systems: radio losing memory for stations, antenna booster, radio shack

Question
I have a clarion cass. deck with a seperate 6 disk changer in my pickup.  It worked great for 4 or 5 years!! The last couple of years the radio seem to be not picking up the stations like they use too!!.

Can a radio loose its memory for the stations!!!  I have thought about the antenna going out also!!

here is what it does!!  I can start my truck and the radio will sound distorted while playing!!  like the signal is week!!  before it picked up the signal fine!

one station will pick up better than the others.  I can put my cd changer on and play it for about 30 minutes and turn the radio back on and it will play fine as long as i keep the truck running.

you might say the signal is bad,  but it would do this at spots where the signal is the best!!

acts like it needs to warm up the radio before it will play the signal fine or something!!  i have thought it might be looseing its memory for the stations or something

ever seen this happen before

thanks

gary oquinn

Answer
Gary,

 4 or 5 years is excellent for a unit that gets constant day to day use .. it sounds like a very common problem with the tuner just wearing out , it loses its sensitivity to attract the best frequency for the signal... it also could be the antenna but more common than not since the radio has some years on it i would first try an antenna booster usually under 20 bucks from radio shack or equal this should help draw in more signal but if this doesnt dot he trick me personally i wouldnt bounce for a new unit until something more serious came along but it all depends on how much you listen to the radio .. hope this helps you out if you need anything else let me know

thanks