From list-errors.700002333.0.700754162_at_boing.topica.com Wed Jan 5 10:00:21 2000
for <dale_at_unofficialbmw.com>; Wed, 5 Jan 2000 10:00:20 -0800
To: e36m3_at_topica.com
From: Sean Hester <seanh_race_at_hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [E36M3] gps and car stereo
Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2000 10:00:14 -0800

it wasn't the antenna. i actually bought a better antenna yesterday and it made my problem worse. my car is actually radiating RF that disrupts the unit. when my car is "charged" (takes about 5 minutes of alternator running with the stereo on) it makes a zone of "no gps" that extends about 20 feet out form my car. (no joke (you can walk 30 feet away and get signal. but walk within 20 feet of my car and the signal goes away)) with the better antenna the "no gps" zone was even bigger. (across the street about 50 feet) i really need to let the air force look into my stealth technology. ;-)

actually this morning about 1:00 AM, i solved the problem. it only took me 8 hours of re-running every wire, one by one, in my car stereo. it turns out that the people who installed my car stereo (that'll teach me to be lazy and not do it myself) used some wires in the bmw harness to get back to trunk (despite me telling them not to) the "remote lead" (that tells the amps to turn on) was run using bmw wiring (i don't know how it's routed, i just know it goes into the bmw harness in the front and appears in the back) by cutting that wire and running my own dedicated wire to the trunk my problem is solved entirely. (as if by magic... who would have thought it was the remote lead? it was the VERY LAST WIRE i tried)

one other curiosity. for all these years my radio reception has been terrible. i figured the "antenna in the window thing" was just a bad antenna. with that wire cut it's now fine. my radio reception is 10 times better. just for fun i sat there listening to the radio while alternately connecting and disconnecting that wire. (keep in mind that wire is not connected to my stereo in the back anymore, it's a naked lead. but who knows where it's going on it's trek to my trunk) you can hear the radio reception go away when you connect it. on weak stations, when you connect that wire you actually hear ANOTHER STATION. scary...

so... whatever that wire is, it's turning my car's chassis into a big antenna that radiates a BIG (enough to be picked up 50 feet away) signal. pretty neato i think. i'll have to play with it further. but for now, i'm happy to be using my gps toy in my car with the stereo on. ;-)

>From: Jim Powell <jsp98m3_at_home.com>
>To: seanh_race_at_hotmail.com
>Subject: Re: [E36M3] gps and car stereo
>Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2000 15:59:51 -0800
>
>Borrow another antennae. I'm betting you have a bad one. At least it
>seems to me that the ground sheath on your cable is bad or a similar
>related issue.
>
>jim