Pioneer CD tuner and electric aerial

[VR mad]

Hi guys.

After 11 years finally upgrading from the eurovox tape deck to a CD player. Not a massive music fan as you can probably tell. One of the reasons I hadn't upgraded is because I mainly listen to FM radio and the the fact that the original unit worked perfectly with the genuine electric aerial I fitted after busting the original non electric hitting a bird.

So I bought a Pioneer DEH 2050MPG. When I bought it I asked if the unit would work electric aerial. They said yes. On reading the wiring diagram I got concerned that there was a problem with talking about the electric aerial/amp switch wire being one wire. With no amp and no intentions of putting one in I thought surely if a 1994 tape deck can put the aerial down when you put a tape in surely a 2008 pioneer unit can. So dived in pulled the centre console etc out plugged in the pioneer to genuine harness adapters in. It all works EXCEPT no aerial. So back to the instructions and confirm the amp switch wire is it. Plug it in temporarily to the genuine harness aerial goes up but stays up when CD (and I presume when aux ipod etc plugged in) it only goes down when unit turned off.

Does anyone know if it is possible to get these units to put the electrical aerial down when a CD is on. Or to put it another way to only go up when the radio tuner is in use without wiring in a secondary switch which would just annoy me because I like things to work in an integrated factory style of fashion.

thanks for any help

H.O.

[hakhawk]

unfortunately, thats how pioneer has made their units now, bit slack of them, but without wiring in a switch, it will stay up with cd on. as far as i know anyway.

[Philthy]

mine stays up when you put in a CD. Doesn't really bother me as it still goes down when you turn the unit or ignition off

Edit: Factory aerial up and down buttons still work if you wire them in though

[VR mad]

Thanks for the info guys. It is as I feared. One more question. Do any of the other brands work the aerial properly? That is put it down when the CD goes in. If they do I might turf the Pioneer and go for another brand.
H.

[Haydz]

yeah man most other brands put the aerial down when you put on a cd. i know i have had two and they both done it. they were jvc and alpine. hope you get it sorted mate.

[Philthy]

Pretty sure the cheap sony one I had before did it too. Must be just a pioneer oversight

[StoneX]

I don't think Pioneer see it as an issue as most people don't care.

I don't see any problem with my antenna being up when CD is playing, it's not hurting anyone. If it really did bother me, i'd either put a switch on the line, get an antenna that is always hidden or buy a brand that actually had the features I required. Doesn't anyone research before they buy products these days?

[VR mad]

I asked the questions and got told it would do it and if you look at the spec sheets you can't tell.

Apparently the other brands care.
H.

[StoneX]

You can't trust a sales person You need to speak to installers or ask on a forum with knowledgeable members.

Anyway, I didn't say Pioneer don't care... I said I don't think they see it as an issue as most people who buy them don't care. I'm sure if they had complaints from consumers, they'd look into it.

[VR mad]

You have some points but the reasons I did what I did were not that stupid.

I emailed the Pioneer Australia website tech help thing asking the question and never got a response. Great customer service.

You are right should have asked installers but in a country town of 9000 we don't have one. I didn't feel like ringing and asking somewhere I didn't buy something. And to be honest I didn't think of forums because I thought it was pretty basic and would do it and it wasn't until I was looking for hard answers and started searching I hit forums in my searches.

I just thought if I asked the question, and on the basis that a 1994 tape deck could do it then I was reasonably safe that a 2008 pioneer, which I went for due to sticking with a big brand for quality, would do it.

I intended to install it myself. I do most stuff myself as I am reasonably capable on the tools and as I found when doing this job you leave it with a workshop and they are too rough. Screws missing in the dash etc from when my AC switches were fixed recently.

I can put it in and make it work with a switch no dramas but like I said the mods I do I like to look like they were meant to be there factory like. better but factory like. It is just my thing. Some guys like bling, some guys like spoilers, some guys like noise. I just like things to be better but factory like. As if holden said ok we are going to spend an extra $x on this car the enhancements would have been factory like. That is why I am annoyed I can't get this aerial to work like it did with original equipment.

H.

[StoneX]

Sorry, I wasn't saying what you did was stupid... It's not your fault that the sales person told you the wrong information. You now know not to trust sales people though

You'll just have to buy a different brand or find someone (a technician) to modify the head unit to work how you want it to work. The tuner has voltage supplies that are only present when the tuner is selected, so someone with some electronics knowledge could easily put a relay or transistor in the circuit to create a output wire that only turns on with the tuner.

[1991_Vn2nV]

If anything I find it a good thing as its less wear and tear on the aerial motors (it goes up and down enough without doin it everytime I switch between CD and radio as well) which are prone to failing.

[VR mad]

StoneX thanks for the info. Good to know. I have a cousin who is an electrical engineer. I will quiz him and see if he can do it for me or tell me a way to do it that I could work out. Yep I now know not to trust salesmen. I know that already but I am too trusting. When I say something I know it to be the case or I won't say it or I say dunno lets try to work it out or find the answer. I guess I expect people to do the same thing but they don't.

1991_Vn2nV. I understand what you are saying but my arguement is that if you had a CD in and turned the head unit on the aerial woudn''t go up at all where as in the current configuration of Pioneer it will regardless of you using the radio tuner CD player or AUX socket. So I think it would be up and down more than if it did what I wanted it to do.

My old eurovox tape deck didn't put the aerial up if you had a tape in and turned on the unit.

H.

[1991_Vn2nV]

Ah ok, I understand ya now. It was different on my car as even with my old headunit my aerial went up whenever I started the car (and straight back down if the radio was not on).