Another aerial question (but not a stubby one)

ollypeabody · Feb 12, 2013

About a year ago I brought a professional radio to replace my business one.
When I swapped them over I didn't realise the aerial connectors were at different angles. So when I pushed the radio in, it broke the pin at the back of the radio and damaged the connector inside the aerial cable. I got a new pro hu so that the pin was fixed and it worked, but the fm signal was pretty poor.
After about 2 months I took it to an auto electrician to see what they could do.

They basically snipped the original aerial connector off of the cable and replaced it with a new one. It fixed the poor signal but it's still not as good as it should be.

What I'm thinking is, is the aerial lead from the back of the hu just one lead to the roof aerial (or wherever it goes to) or does it have a connector at some point further down the cable. If I was to replace the entire aerial cable it would be about £500, but if there is a connector, I could maybe just replace the first bit of the cable (the section from the hu to the connector) I hope this makes sense as I am starting to lose my self

Any suggestions would be welcome

Thanks guys

david in germany · Feb 20, 2013

As far as I can tell it is one cable all the way to the antenna amplifier.

ollypeabody · Feb 20, 2013

Thanks for getting back to me mate, I was worried that would be the answer

BaggieMatt · Feb 21, 2013

As you have said roof aerial I have assumed you have a hatchback.

The cable doesn't go all the way. It goes from the head unit all the way to the diversity amp that sits in the boot lid.(item 4

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=UD92&mospid=50145&btnr=65_1486&hg=65&fg=30

) Then there is a separate cable off to the aerial. The amp is behind the panel covering the top rear brake light.

Whoever quoted you £500 for the cable saw you coming. I think that p/n 61126960969 is the replacement cable you need. This is a 5 metre cable with right angle connector on one end and straight on the other. You will have to strip out trim to run it from one end to the other.

Here is a supplier

http://store.bmw-mini-mania.com/part/61126960969

About £40 including postage.

ollypeabody · Feb 21, 2013

Hi mate, thanks for this

massive help

so you think if I buy this cable, I will be able to run it down the car, where the current one is, plug it in and it should all fit and work ?

If so, you're a life saver!

BaggieMatt · Feb 23, 2013

Hold fire I need to double check the cable - sorry.

gigla · Feb 23, 2013

My signal has always been poor on certain stations..
2bh i hate the signal on my 1er, and ive still got the original "long" aerial..

The signal in my e46 was outstanding and there was no aerial to be seen!!! :?

BaggieMatt · Feb 23, 2013

OK that definitely looks to be the right cable. I just needed to check the connector was correct for the diversity amp end. It may be slightly too long as it is a universal cable that fits a variety of cars (1 series, 3 series, X1 & Z4) so you may need to hide some excess behind a panel.

I can't guarantee though that this cable will cure your problem. It may be an issue with the diversity amp or aerial.

If you do decide to go through with it I would advise that you try a dummy fit of the cable by connecting to the head unit and then run the cable to the back across the seats and connect it in to see if it does cure the problem before you go to the hassle of removing any additional trim.

ollypeabody · Feb 24, 2013

Thanks for getting back to me mate, I appreciate you looking into it for me

I will have a go at this in a few weeks and let you know how it goes

david in germany · Feb 24, 2013

Have you checked to see if you have the signal amplifier installed? I just verified that mine does not have it and this is most likely why my signal is crap.

ollypeabody · Feb 25, 2013

Where abouts would I find this, and what does it look like ? Sorry for being a bit dumb

david in germany · Feb 25, 2013

This thing,

Located Here

Also, see if you have a cable running through here, You can feel if there is anything running through by squeezing it.

ollypeabody · Feb 25, 2013

Thanks for that mate, I'll have a look this weekend

ollypeabody · Mar 2, 2013

I have just checked for the signal amplifier and I think I do have it. So do you think this would still be possible ?

david in germany · Mar 3, 2013

Do you have a multimeter to check voltage? If you do, the plug on the amplifier bottom right in your picture withe the single cable should have 12v when the radio is on.

jap001 · Mar 4, 2013

My signal is crap also

The workshop changed The AMP but not much changed

ollypeabody · Mar 4, 2013

I've not got a multimeter, are they cheap to pick up ?

My signal is crap because I damaged the aerial cable at the back of the radio so the connection is not 100%. Before I damaged the signal was pretty good

jap001 · Mar 4, 2013

I should check mine I had the radio navi unit out to connect the iPod kit perhaps i damaged something.

BaggieMatt · Mar 4, 2013

ollypeabody said:
I've not got a multimeter, are they cheap to pick up ?

My signal is crap because I damaged the aerial cable at the back of the radio so the connection is not 100%. Before I damaged the signal was pretty good

This one will do the job if you have a Maplins nearby

http://www.maplin.co.uk/domestic-multimeter-37279

ollypeabody · Mar 4, 2013

BaggieMatt said:
ollypeabody said:

I've not got a multimeter, are they cheap to pick up ?

My signal is crap because I damaged the aerial cable at the back of the radio so the connection is not 100%. Before I damaged the signal was pretty good

Click to expand...

This one will do the job if you have a Maplins nearby
http://www.maplin.co.uk/domestic-multimeter-37279

Thanks for that mate

Dan116i · Jan 5, 2017

david in germany said:
This thing,

Am I right in thinking the yellow socket is the dab connection?

david in germany · Jan 6, 2017

No, you have one antenna in and one antenna out, no specific DAB plug.

Dan116i · Jan 6, 2017

Have you got a picture? Trying to make my dab retrofit as oem as possible

Another aerial question (but not a stubby one)

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