Radio aerial

Radio aerial

Author
Discussion

Konrod

Original Poster:

870 posts

228 months

Tuesday 14th April 2015
quotequote all
Hi all

The reception on the (original) radio is patchy, I'm fairly sure from other threads that it's the aerial. The display on the head unit is very faint so I'm thinking of changing it, but it's pointless unless I can get a decent signal to it.

My question is whetre is the aerial - I think it's in the passenger side wing, but does anyone know what type of aerial it is and how I can get at it. I want to check the earths at least, and maybe try and add a signal booster as a first pass.

Thanks in advance

J

MartH70

92 posts

152 months

Tuesday 14th April 2015
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Hi,
the aerial is in the passengers wing, so you need to remove the main bonnet and then the service panel. Have always wondered what the reception would be like using a bee sting aerial on the boot like on a tuscan s but not brave enough to drill the boot lid.
Good luck and keep us posted.

Cheers

Martin

Willtl

135 posts

109 months

Tuesday 14th April 2015
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Could you not go with a DAB radio and then get one of those aerials that sticks in the front window?

Konrod

Original Poster:

870 posts

228 months

Tuesday 14th April 2015
quotequote all
I've looked the bee sting and the sharks fin (I have a black car so it's an option with minimal paint shag and hassle) but they all seem to have a long bolt and nut that hangs below the boot lid, and I'm concerned about it damaging the roof when it's stowed in there, as well as routing the wiring around the hinges - after that it can follow the CD changer wiring. I'm less concerned about drilling the hole.

I have a screen mount aerial somewhere in the garage, but I have a thing about stuff on the windscreen that obscures vision especially when the Tuscan screen isn't that big anyway - even my tax disc used to sit high behind the driving mirror and I've made up a plate so the phone/sat nav holder can sit beside the radio rather than on the screen.

With the tax disc going, I could try putting it there and extending the earth wire down.

I did consider DAB, but to be frank I don't really need it. I'm not a music/radio afficionado, the car just has two speakers in the back panel (no over the shoulder items) so it's just a case of a) making FM reception work reliably when the signal is poor and b) getting a head unit I can read albeit with a USB/aux port so I can lose the changer (I'm not that much of a luddite!)

So what does the current aerial look like? What am I groping for in the dark wing void, a rubber bee sting, old style extending car aerial, coathanger :-)

Thanks

John

THREEFISHORANGE

574 posts

221 months

Tuesday 14th April 2015
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John,
Mine is the old style extendable one. Looks like it was curved (bent) to follow the arc of the wing. My reception is terrible too.

nawarne

3,090 posts

260 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
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Folks, the FM aerial on the Tuscan is indeed in the front wing N/S void.
Access via the N/S front light access panel.

Aerial is bog-standard telescopic - Halfrauds £5 jobby.

BUT - - mine is EARTHED via a braided connection to the earth point on the front-most chassis cross member. All aerials must be earthed - on mainstream cars via the steel body/monocoque - but for TVRs it's gotta be the chassis.
Nick

Konrod

Original Poster:

870 posts

228 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
yikes Please tell me that TVR earthed the aerial as standard..............

nawarne

3,090 posts

260 months

Thursday 16th April 2015
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Konrod said:
yikes Please tell me that TVR earthed the aerial as standard..............
Mine is...but I replied a few weeks ago to a post on here "what are these wires" - with photos. 1 photo showed the braided earth to the aerial.
Was unsure from the photo as to whether a) it was connected to aerial, or b) the other end was onto the earth post.

Nick

Konrod

Original Poster:

870 posts

228 months

Thursday 16th April 2015
quotequote all
OK, Gotcha. I've had a look at that thread which is helpful - I'll have the bonnet off this weekend and have a broggle in the void after checking my nuts.

Cheers

John

Sagi Badger

590 posts

193 months

Thursday 16th April 2015
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Ummmhhhh, earth.... now there's me last year bolting it back together and I find a braided wire amongst all the other toot that was floating aimlessly around near the rads.... everything works.... so must be more of the extra's added by the previous 10 owners, so cut I it off.... oh but did I try the old wireless, nope. Do I get my fav station on good ol' FM... nope.

John, it must be something in our name that makes us like FM radio, anyway I will fit a new aerial and fish a new coax as it doesn't seem to be in there. Daft idea a roof job would have done.

J

Milky400

1,960 posts

178 months

Thursday 16th April 2015
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That was my thread, and I bloody forgot to reconnect it as I got excited that I'd got the rad in.... All I wanted was to get the bonnet on at hi for a spin.... Serves me right for rushing.

No women's hour or gardening phone in for me at the moment, cd's only...

nawarne

3,090 posts

260 months

Friday 17th April 2015
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Milky400 said:
That was my thread, and I bloody forgot to reconnect it as I got excited that I'd got the rad in.... All I wanted was to get the bonnet on at hi for a spin.... Serves me right for rushing.

No women's hour or gardening phone in for me at the moment, cd's only...
Aah yes! I recall it was your Q and photos Mark.
Nick

Milky400

1,960 posts

178 months

Friday 17th April 2015
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And your helpful replies, shame I let the team down, getting over enthusiastic and forgetting to reconnect the earth

Konrod

Original Poster:

870 posts

228 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
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Sorted it in the end, but not as expected. Spent 30 minutes with my arm in the passenger side wing void looking like James Herriott but nothing found.

Decided to tackle it from the other end and saw a 12V wire going with the aerial cable that had come out of the relevant ISO socket, so there is already an amplified aerial but it didn't have any power. Reconnected it, but never found the aerial - my guess it's under the dashboard top panel but my hands are too big to get to the nuts to remove it and look.

Swapped the radio for a Blaupunkt 420 Toronto - no DAB but SD card, USB, AUX in, Bluetooth plus rear connections for USB and microphone. Easy swap as the ISO plugs are already there, you just remove the mass of adapter wiring for the Pioneer and plug them in. Getting the radio back in without lifting the dashtop to pull wires back through was frustrating, but got there in the end. When properly fitted the radio stands perhaps 10mm proud of the door buttons but it looks factory and the bezel works well.

The radio sounds good, but as importantly works in my interior which is black - I wanted something understated, without lots of bright backlit buttons.