Calling all after market head unit owners

[m.r.davies]

Hi

I just popped down my local car audio centre and asked for a aerial adapter for my new head unit

He said all VAG cars need a special adapter to enable the amplifier in the areial otherwise, the amp in the aerial wont switch on and i'll get poo signal, and only pick up radio 1 etc.

this thing he showed me had a blue wire coming out of it, and he said i need to connect it to the blue wire on my new loom, and the other bit into the aerial connection

has anyone else heard of this or was he trying to sting me for £17

ive read a few threads about people replacing the HU and getting crap signal
any advice appreciated

Ta
Mark

 

[AdamRoutley]

its an aerial amplifer. and he IS correct, you need one unless you only listen to radio 1

 

[Mylo]

He is absolutely correct. Without one reception is terrible. They can be bought for about £12 from an ICE supplier.

 

[lard44]

Yup - £17 is a LITTLE on the pricey side, but they're dead easy to fit when you're changing the head unit and really are pretty essential.

 

[m.r.davies]

Ok thanks for clearing that up guys.

So i guess i connect the blue wire to the remote aerial on my new HU ?

...i've also got another question
When i plugged my new HU in, the power only works with ignition
there are 3 plugs coming out of the standard HU
i guess these are
1 - power
2 - speaker
3 - perminant live(memory) / speed indicator for volume

Plug number 3 isn't being used anymore, there are a few wires on this, one which is red, i guess this is a 12v always live feed ??

what do i need to do to connect this up, as it seems all the wires are being used on my HU, and the red wire in question is tiny, so wouldn't want it powering my HU which has all sorts, inc a 4" tft, TV, bluetooth........

any ideas what i'm to do?

 

[The MoffMeister]

change red round with the yellow if there is one i had to on my pioneer

 

[OFI]

I bought mine for £6.50 on ebay but didn't fit it as the connections appeared to be different (actually they weren't as it happens lol) but my signal seems fine even without it.

But then I do listen to Radio 1 but even in low signal areas it seems fine.

 

[stewbie55]

You learn something new every day...

Maybe if i get one of these I can live with my S2000 aerial

TBH I thought when i changed my HU to an Alpine the reception got BETTER and I didn't know about the aerial adapter, it's only got marginal since changing to the S2000. I may have to invest in one of these
The reception of the standard HU was pretty cr*p IMO and presumably was powering the aerial amp properly?

 

[m.r.davies]

change red round with the yellow if there is one i had to on my pioneer

coming out the back of the new HU is a fat yellow and black, and a thin red

I dont think the red is being used

my confusion is what i do on the car end, there are 3 plugs
do i take the red off what seems to be the changer plug?
do i make sense?

 

[OFI]

Not sure what loom you have there but on my new HU the loom that comes with it has a large yellow and large red pair of cables which have bullet connectors allowing you to switch them over (this is usually how they are supplied)

 

[Gnollins]

Not sure what loom you have there but on my new HU the loom that comes with it has a large yellow and large red pair of cables which have bullet connectors allowing you to switch them over (this is usually how they are supplied)

My Alpine HU was supplied like that. Connected it up, only gave power on ignition, swapped the yellows and reds - job done.

 

[m.r.davies]

Mines not like that
mine is just yellow and black

There is a thin red wire that goes from the stereo end block to the iso connector block, i cant interchange it

I think i'll have to snip the red wire and join it to something with a perm 12V feed

...pain in the arse

 

[ADAM_84]

I bought an arial amplifier and instead of picking up radio 1 on my drive way i got nothing at all but my signal is really crap so bit stuck as to what to do really. Any ideas?

 

[The MoffMeister]

show us a pic dude