I should have read a little more on the PCATS Tuner kits - build modifications to ensure good signal reception thread. The discription at the bottom by Rezolution is exactly what I am seeing as well.

Here was Rezolution description:
My symptoms are:

Tuner shows full strength and reception of the FM station is pretty decent, but RDS light never stays on for more than 2 seconds - sound quality seems to fade in and out of "stereo"

Tuner shows full strength on weak FM signals (hear some music but very static)

Tuner shows 3 bars on FM stations with absolutely no reception at all - all static.

Tuner shows full strength on AM on every frequency regardless of actual signal presence (very bad reception on any AM station).

I have not taken the module apart yet, but i don’t see how having it shorted out or the core not connected at all could cause these problems...


Now for mine I did try to unplug the antenna connection while listening to a station and the station went away with the antenna unplugged. I have read several post were people reported the same problem but have yet to find one that says "the problem was..." or "I solved it by...."

Has there been any resolution to the poor signal quality issue?