Thanks for the information. Another one for the winter projects list.
Clive
blueplasticsoulman wrote:
Getting married tomorrow so unless I have time in the morning, the 12v wire switcheroo will have to wait.
Thanks for the help. :-)
Maybe a good idea to not play with the car on your wedding day,
good luck, have a good day..
no10chris wrote:
Maybe a good idea to not play with the car on your wedding day,
I did, but not until after the reception and it was out of necessity not because I really wanted to.
I must admit that I looked at the unit, and the price, and thought it would be a good option for my daughter's MR2 Roadster as that has a double DIN size hole and she needs a satnav and Bluetooth. Only problem with it is that it is missing the most important feature, no DAB!
You can get various units, some will have more features enabled etc...
That one (whilst being nice and slimline and needs not modification to the unit itself to install was about 1/3 the price I paid for mine... but then I got DVR, DAB, 3G, reversing camera, etc etc etc.
If the MR2 has a full depth double-sin slot then there is a lot more choice in units - probably just over the £100 mark (at a guess without looking) and I'm sure you'd find one with DAB compatibility.
well I couldn't help myself. so I've been out and swapped the wires. All is fixed.
I was trying to get DAB cause theres a few stations I like but I couldn't find a unit that was shallow enough. The DAB ones all seemed to have a deep standard radio depth. I've got internet on it though so I could always get an app.
Congratulations! On getting married that is :)
Now go and have a P38 free honeymoon!
Dab is up and running.
25 quid kit. Little usb box and a stick on window antenna. Routed it under the carpets and up the back window.
I know Marty had said he had a spotty connection at times, so ill report back when ive had a few runs out.
I found that the on-glass aerials don't work too well and are directional when stuck on the rear side windows. I changed to one of these http://www.halfords.com/technology/car-audio/stereo-fitting-accessories/sonichi-magnetic-roof-mount-dab-antenna and ran the cable above the headlining. Works very well.
Thanks. If its no good, ill get one of them.
Did you drill your roof?
No, the aerial is central at the back and there's a hole with a grommet next to where the cables into the upper tailgate go through. Easy enough to poke the cable through that and by pulling the tailgate seal down you can feed the cable across above the headlining to one side. Then you can get it every so often just by pulling the top of the door rubbers down until you reach the passenger A post trim and poke it behind that.
Smashing.
Im not that clued up on DAB. Is it regional, same as FM, or should you get all available UK channels?
It's sort of regional. There's National channels so you'll get the same no matter where you are then there are local multiplexes which carry your local stations. If you bung your postcode in here http://www.getdigitalradio.com/stations/index/?showall=1 it'll tell you what national and local ones you'll get in your area
it would seem i have all the available stations then. If I want the London ones that I like, i'll have to use my app and internet setup.
Went to mums for tea about 10 miles away and reception was pretty good all the way. There was 30 seconds or so where it had a bit of a warble but that was going down into a valley. Never actually lost signal completely. I might just get one of them Halfords aerials anyway. Does it come to bits for going through the car wash?
Edit. It does come to bits. I read the Halfords link.
Base is magnetic and the whip bit unscrews so no problem with washing.
My DAB box has an mcx connector for the aerial in so i'd need an adapter to convert the Halfords one. Bet Halfords don't sell em!
Cant find an mcx to smb converter local.
Might i be able to just chop the end off the one ive got and attach it to the new aerial cable?
I'm not familiar with an MCX connector so just Googled it to have a look. Seems that MCX and SMB are the same dimensions but are reversed polarity so one has the pin in the plug and the other has it in the socket. I would have thought that a DAB aerial connection would be standard. I've got the same aerial on my works van and on Dina's Merc, both using a Sonichi DAB tuner (http://www.halfords.com/technology/car-audio/dab-car-stereos/sonichi-s100-digital-radio-adapter) and another on the P38 which used to have a Pioneer DAB radio and now has a Kenwood. The aerial has plugged straight into all of them.so I suspect it will be the same on your tuner.
DON'T ever cut and try to join RF coax without some sort of constant impedance connector. You'll lose the best part of 1dB of signal on a connector so with an unscreened soldered joint there's no telling how much you will lose.
Confused now.
You saying that an smb connector will plug into an mcx connector?
No, or it may plug in but there won't be a connection if you have the two ends with the central socket rather than the pin. It's the same as the reversed polarity SMA connectors used on Wi-Fi adapters so you can't plug a high gain aerial onto them. The plugs look the same but if you look in the centre of the connector you'll see either a socket or a pin. So SMB and MCX would appear to the same except the polarity is reversed on one of them.
so I need an adapter then.
**Edit. Thinking about it, an adapter wouldn't work if you're right about the wiring. It would still be the wrong way wrong.