Elise aerials

[Zebede29]

Noticed whilst browsing through some pics that up until approx 2005MY, any Elise with a radio kit had a protruding aerial sprouting from the engine cover.

On more recent models there's no aerial anywhere on the car - so how does it get the signal and is it a decent reception?

[Gooby]

From the 111R on the ariel is incorporated into the front clam.

No reception but pretier.

[Lotus Lewis]

Yea it has a radio receiver wiring loom including dipole aerial kit located in the front of the Elise

[Zebede29]

That seems a strange spec change - the signal in my 04MY 111S is excellent but surely the aerial in the front clam must give an AWFUL signal....?

[Gooby]

Zebede29 said:

That seems a strange spec change - the signal in my 04MY 111S is excellent but surely the aerial in the front clam must give an AWFUL signal....?

No it is fine - as long as you dont want to listen to the radio (analog) Digital reception is quite good!

[Zebede29]

But they don't fit a DAB radio as standard do they......

[sramdeen]

Zebede29 said:

the signal in my 04MY 111S is excellent but surely the aerial in the front clam must give an AWFUL signal....?

TELL ME NOW! How did you get it so good? Mine is crap! Thinking that this might be the push I need to buy a DAB module for my headunit...
I was thinking about fabricating some kind of shield/ground plane for the antenna and also re-wiring the antenna with high-quality double/triple/ quadruple shielded coax.

[Gooby]

Zebede29 said:

But they don't fit a DAB radio as standard do they......

used too. The problem used to be DAB coverage, iis getting better the closer we get to the "switch over". When I first got the car I could only listen to DAB in major towns, now I can listen all the way to london and large proportions of devon.

[davislove]

removed my ariel from rear engine cover and was surprised how it instantly improved the look of the car

[Esprit]

Personally I love the look of the aerials, I think they suit the car. I've no radio in my 'zige, but the aerial stays Doesn't look right without it.

[Gooby]

Esprit said:

Personally I love the look of the aerials, I think they suit the car. I've no radio in my 'zige, but the aerial stays Doesn't look right without it.

You are going to get a longer ariel so when you are not driving you can sit in the office overlooking the carpark, hold the 2 channel remote control transmitter and make "veroooom" noises while your coworkers avoid your desk.

[smartie]

on a side note, how do i stop the Blaupunkt DAB radio from beeping ever minute or so?

[Gooby]

smartie said:

on a side note, how do i stop the Blaupunkt DAB radio from beeping ever minute or so?

turn off the traffic alert

[VladTheDad]

I was thinking of scrapping the DAB radio in my MY04 111R - because of the poor coverage - and fitting an Alpine unit with FM/AM/CD/iPod. Does anyone know if that'll plug straight into the current aerial and work or will the DAB module get in the way? Is the DAB module accessible so I can rip it out?

[smartie]

Gooby said:

smartie said:

on a side note, how do i stop the Blaupunkt DAB radio from beeping ever minute or so?

turn off the traffic alert

Ta.

I keep meaning to have a play, but it seems like the most unfriendly/complicated stereo to use since my wife's Becker!

[mahju]

sramdeen said:

Zebede29 said:

the signal in my 04MY 111S is excellent but surely the aerial in the front clam must give an AWFUL signal....?

TELL ME NOW! How did you get it so good? Mine is crap! Thinking that this might be the push I need to buy a DAB module for my headunit...
I was thinking about fabricating some kind of shield/ground plane for the antenna and also re-wiring the antenna with high-quality double/triple/ quadruple shielded coax.

Tell me too - my 54 111S has equally crap reception!

[Zebede29]

mahju said:

sramdeen said:

Zebede29 said:

the signal in my 04MY 111S is excellent but surely the aerial in the front clam must give an AWFUL signal....?

TELL ME NOW! How did you get it so good? Mine is crap! Thinking that this might be the push I need to buy a DAB module for my headunit...
I was thinking about fabricating some kind of shield/ground plane for the antenna and also re-wiring the antenna with high-quality double/triple/ quadruple shielded coax.

Tell me too - my 54 111S has equally crap reception!

To be honest it's been really good ever since I got the car but looking at the aerial itself i'd say there's more metal reflective coating underneath the aerial base itself (on the underside of the engine cover) plus the head unit is a very good quality one with a high-end signal amplifier built in. Other than that, I'm probably just lucky that I got a well-installed audio kit from the factory! (not a friday-afternoon car lol)

[LotusEater666]

For those getting seriously bad reception, pull headunit out and see if aerial is properly plugged in. I know this is stating the obvious but in my case the bare aerial wire (without a plug) was taped to the back of the headunit. Fitting a plug made things better. The aerial shield should not make contact with the HU.

Also the multi function relay unit (MFRU) is a key cause of RFI. Wrapping the MFRU and cable ends in kitchen foil and wedging the foil underneath it and the chassis so it's grounded will improve reception

I also suspect the fusebox and relays under the service panel may emit some RFI. I will investigate next time the panel is off.