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Factory antenna woe's

 
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killerbeem



Joined: 01 Aug 2005
Posts: 496
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 12:58 pm    Post subject: Factory antenna woe's Reply with quote

OK,

So I put in a new head unit a few weeks ago (Pioneer, not high end; mid range model: great reddish orange lighting to match whole dash); and I was pleased (I also installed four new speakers, and left the two tweeters). The over all sound quality is nice.

I ran my iPhone through the Aux in, sounds great; plugged in a USB drive, sounds great; ran a CD, sounded great. Then I flipped to the tuner, and......

ssssss<barely intelligable words>sssszzzxxhh......

That's when I went on the hunt to figure out why there were two cables going to my head unit that "looked" like antenna cables. I checked my adapter, it was the right one, a bit big (bought it from Walmart); but was not the source of the noise to the best of my knowledge. Frustration mounted, so I went back to the C Pillar in back, pulled it off (broke all my clips by accident, anyone have one they will sell me for $20?) and found the antenna adapter. Oh look, it's a POWER antenna!

SO, I searched high and low on an adapter or way to figure this out, and found nothing, back burnered that part of my radio and used the iheartradio and pandora app through my phone Then I started getting the dreaded alerts that I am near my plans capacity and remembered that I bought my radio to be just that.

So, I went back to searching. And I found it:

1. The antenna is powered, and this article right here:http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e36/stereo/e36_antenna_amp_with_aftermarket_radio.html shows you how to wire it up

2. If you don't want to use the window model, you can buy this universal antenna here: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_12044UA200/Universal-Window-mount-Antenna.html#customer-reviews-tab to replace your window antenna. Side affect of this is now you have to run TWO wires (power and antenna) again, or try to re-use the original wiring

3. This site as always will 99% of the time will ALWAYS have what your looking for, it's just a matter of knowing to look, and not always rely on Google to "find it for me / Google that sh*t".

Smile

MK
_________________
Currently looking for a good e30 to rebuild
1994 318i - Jeni (sold)
1991 325i - Lynn (Sold)
1984 325e - Rachel (Sold)
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walshja



Joined: 03 Apr 2001
Posts: 1139
Location: guilford, ct, usa

PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 1:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks for the info, my Alpine was stolen from my car, so I just yesterday put the stock radio back in. I'm looking for a replacement now.

I was thinking of getting a media player type setup for the car, and connect my iPhone as you are. I have an unlimited data plan, so I shouldn't have data limit problems.
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joe

1994 325iC, 195k miles
http://home.comcast.net/~walshja/index.html <--- check it out

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killerbeem



Joined: 01 Aug 2005
Posts: 496
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 1:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, my AT&T plan was capped @ 3 GB, so I am stuck. However, it beats having to buy a unit that is HD Radio/ etc.
_________________
Currently looking for a good e30 to rebuild
1994 318i - Jeni (sold)
1991 325i - Lynn (Sold)
1984 325e - Rachel (Sold)
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walshja



Joined: 03 Apr 2001
Posts: 1139
Location: guilford, ct, usa

PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just read, that even though I have unlimited data, if I exceed the 3gb limit, AT&T will slow down to a crawl my data access.

if they can do that, not sure what having unlimited data really means

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/13/matthew-spaccarelli-att_n_1342494.html?ref=technology
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joe

1994 325iC, 195k miles
http://home.comcast.net/~walshja/index.html <--- check it out

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killerbeem



Joined: 01 Aug 2005
Posts: 496
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 2:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Trust me, that is a pain point I have, especially being an IT person, of the way the throttling is being delved out by the carriers. They are creating a false "need" of bandwidth to drive sales; and it drives me crappy. I could get on a rant, in the form of our great Mr. Henry (he has some good one's), but I'll maintain composure with few words:

US Wireless Carriers Suck.

MK
_________________
Currently looking for a good e30 to rebuild
1994 318i - Jeni (sold)
1991 325i - Lynn (Sold)
1984 325e - Rachel (Sold)
BMWCCA Member
Find me on Twitter: @mkilpatric
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walshja



Joined: 03 Apr 2001
Posts: 1139
Location: guilford, ct, usa

PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

HA !!

I work for IBM, so I totally understand

fortunately I work from home, so my data needs are minimal, but I won't give up my fake unlimited data plan !!!
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1994 325iC, 195k miles
http://home.comcast.net/~walshja/index.html <--- check it out

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PJK



Joined: 14 Feb 2002
Posts: 1829
Location: Shingle Springs, CA

PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:57 pm    Post subject: Re: Factory antenna woe's Reply with quote

Hi Killerbeam,

I think your car has the diversity antenna. With the aftermarket radio the diversity function won't work. The antenna is indeed powered however I think the power is the same line which is the turn on signal for the audio amp. Check Bentley

The two RF coax cables are: 1. the antenna lead. It carries the RF signal from the antenna amplifier to the radio in both AM and FM. It has the new German standard auto antenna connector. You should have gotten an adapter to Motorola for this. 2. The IF signal back to the diversity circuity. When you are in FM the 10.7 Mhz intermediate frequency signal (which is proportional in amplitude to the RF signal amplitude) is routed back to the antenna diversity circuit. The diversity circuity configures the antenna to maximise the IF signal and hence the RF signal. Unfortunately there is nothing which you can do with that cable so the antenna remains in its first configuration. I would expect that you get some degradation in FM performance from what you had with the OEM radio. It should be no worse than what I get in my '93 since diversity did not start in the e36 until after my car was made.

Phil


killerbeem wrote:
OK,

So I put in a new head unit a few weeks ago (Pioneer, not high end; mid range model: great reddish orange lighting to match whole dash); and I was pleased (I also installed four new speakers, and left the two tweeters). The over all sound quality is nice.

I ran my iPhone through the Aux in, sounds great; plugged in a USB drive, sounds great; ran a CD, sounded great. Then I flipped to the tuner, and......

ssssss<barely intelligable words>sssszzzxxhh......

That's when I went on the hunt to figure out why there were two cables going to my head unit that "looked" like antenna cables. I checked my adapter, it was the right one, a bit big (bought it from Walmart); but was not the source of the noise to the best of my knowledge. Frustration mounted, so I went back to the C Pillar in back, pulled it off (broke all my clips by accident, anyone have one they will sell me for $20?) and found the antenna adapter. Oh look, it's a POWER antenna!

SO, I searched high and low on an adapter or way to figure this out, and found nothing, back burnered that part of my radio and used the iheartradio and pandora app through my phone Then I started getting the dreaded alerts that I am near my plans capacity and remembered that I bought my radio to be just that.

So, I went back to searching. And I found it:

1. The antenna is powered, and this article right here:http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e36/stereo/e36_antenna_amp_with_aftermarket_radio.html shows you how to wire it up

2. If you don't want to use the window model, you can buy this universal antenna here: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_12044UA200/Universal-Window-mount-Antenna.html#customer-reviews-tab to replace your window antenna. Side affect of this is now you have to run TWO wires (power and antenna) again, or try to re-use the original wiring

3. This site as always will 99% of the time will ALWAYS have what your looking for, it's just a matter of knowing to look, and not always rely on Google to "find it for me / Google that sh*t".

Smile

MK
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killerbeem



Joined: 01 Aug 2005
Posts: 496
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That makes a lot of sense. So I am wondering if my next stop is an aftermarket powered antenna to replace the diversity antenna?

I will be reading my Bentley later this afternoon. (BTW, if anyone wants a near 90 MB PDF copy, let me know, I can share it through Live SkyDrive)

Thanks Phil!
_________________
Currently looking for a good e30 to rebuild
1994 318i - Jeni (sold)
1991 325i - Lynn (Sold)
1984 325e - Rachel (Sold)
BMWCCA Member
Find me on Twitter: @mkilpatric
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View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
PJK



Joined: 14 Feb 2002
Posts: 1829
Location: Shingle Springs, CA

PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi killerbeem,

I believe that an aftermarket whip antenna will outperform the the antenna on the rear glass, but the OEM antenna is not real bad. My '93 does not have diversity (I think that started in '94 on the e36) and I have deceit FM performance.

Check out the wiring to be sure power gets to the antenna box in the drivers side C pillar. It should be a white wire going to the antenna / defogger box. It is pin one of the connector.

Phil

killerbeem wrote:
That makes a lot of sense. So I am wondering if my next stop is an aftermarket powere d antenna to replace the diversity antenna?

I will be reading my Bentley later this afternoon. (BTW, if anyone wants a near 90 MB PDF copy, let me know, I can share it through Live SkyDrive)

Thanks Phil!
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