Antenna problems

[Apex8]

ok so when i start my VT the antenna automatically goes to full height and as the car had an aftermarket Head unit in it when i bought it (very poorly installed) there is no way of making it go down from the inside. if anyone has any ideas in order to make it stay down short of snapping the damn thing off it'd be a huge help

cheers Sam

[wraith]

Sounds to me the antenna power wire is wired up to 12 volt constant instead of wired up where it would go usually. If your handy with electrical things all it should need to is pull the deck out and check the power for the antenna goes to the antenna power wire (usually blue on aftermarket head decks and usually labelled as such)

[MR_VX]

i would like to know does the antenna normaly stay up when playing a a cd/ipod? i thought it should only be up when the radio is on and down with a cd on?

[wraith]

If it's connected to a constant 12v source then it will always be up how ever if it is connected to the remote antenna wire it should only go up when the radio is on.

[MR_VX]

im pretty sure it is connected to the blue/white wire. its a pioneer cd player

[wraith]

There's sometimes 2 wires. A remote wire to trigger an amp and a wire to trigger the antenna. It doesn't really matter which one you use how ever if you do use the remote wire the antenna will be up all the time.

[ausrs]

just do what i did ,remove the power item and install a manual one

[wraith]

If it's there and it's easy to get it to work why bother?

[MR_VX]

ill have to have a look, i just used that one blue wire for it and my amps

[wraith]

Yeah you will probably find there is another blue wire there. Some times the remote trigger for the amp is blue where as the one for antenna is blue with a white stripe.

[MR_VX]

arr right thanks mate ill check it out tomorrow thanks again

[wraith]

No worries mate glad I could help.

[Apex8]

hey guys yeah i know that there is supposed to be a blue/white wire to control when it comes up but that wire was mysteriously absent when my mate and i installed the new unit so we were forced to leave the antenna wire disconnected, im considering just disconnecting the motor for the antenna seeing as a never listen to the radio

[wraith]

hey guys yeah i know that there is supposed to be a blue/white wire to control when it comes up but that wire was mysteriously absent when my mate and i installed the new unit so we were forced to leave the antenna wire disconnected, im considering just disconnecting the motor for the antenna seeing as a never listen to the radio

Well you could do that as well but if you ever go to sell the car could make it harder for the next owner who will be left wondering why the heck the antenna won't come up.

[Apex8]

yeah lol i considered that, thats why i havent actually done it yet im hoping its a relatively easy connection to disable so that i could simply re-connect it if i needed too if i was selling it or whatever

[wraith]

It's only one wire that you don't connect. I am a bit surprised the new head unit didn't come with the correct wire to be honest. What brand is it?

[wamboin23]

pioneer, among others only have the one remote wire. no dedicated antenna control.

[wraith]

pioneer, among others only have the one remote wire. no dedicated antenna control.

Yeah I just checked the Pioneers on the shelf and your right. Weird.

[mwb235]

ok so when i start my VT the antenna automatically goes to full height and as the car had an aftermarket Head unit in it when i bought it (very poorly installed) there is no way of making it go down from the inside. if anyone has any ideas in order to make it stay down short of snapping the damn thing off it'd be a huge help

cheers Sam

I know this probably won't be much help (and it'll cost more) but have you thought of pissing the antenna off completely and replacing it with a VE-style roof mounted one?

The OEM radio on my VT Calais had the antenna buttons in the H/U itself, and my VR Calais before it was the same. So when i fitted my aftermarket H/U i had the same problem as you.

If anyone is interested in doing this to their VT-VZ:

After a lot of thought i decided to get rid of the old antenna and fit a roof mounted one to my VT. So i bought and painted/fitted a new V2 series 3 Monaro guard (no antenna hole in these).

I bought a Hirschmann roof antenna (cost about $110 in 2007) from Soundlabs Group in Melbourne. It is called a MCA 918 V FLEX and is made in Germany. This antenna is a multi-band combination in that it receives AM/FM and mobile phone signals (GSM & Next-G). It has a standard "Motorola" car antenna plug (same as VT/VX), a mobile phone car kit antenna plug, plus a +12V power wire for the integrated amplifier/duplexer. The plugs/wire out of the antenna base are only short so i also needed extension cables to connect it all up.

I believe the genuine VE antennas are AM/FM only (unless that's changed recently).

Here is a link to the Hirschmann section of their website: Hirschmann Aerials - Soundlabs Group

It works really well and i never have to worry about antenna motors wearing out, or going up when i don't want it to. The reception is exactly the same as the old factory antenna. And i no longer need a separate mobile antenna on the rear window. I've found the mobile phone coverage with this Hirschmann antenna is excellent.

If anyone wants further details just PM me, otherwise i hope the above helps someone.

[wraith]

But it makes the car look like an RC car

[mwb235]

but it can't look worse than a VE which is what i'd own if i could afford it

[Apex8]

I know this probably won't be much help (and it'll cost more) but have you thought of pissing the antenna off completely and replacing it with a VE-style roof mounted one?

The OEM radio on my VT Calais had the antenna buttons in the H/U itself, and my VR Calais before it was the same. So when i fitted my aftermarket H/U i had the same problem as you.

If anyone is interested in doing this to their VT-VZ:

After a lot of thought i decided to get rid of the old antenna and fit a roof mounted one to my VT. So i bought and painted/fitted a new V2 series 3 Monaro guard (no antenna hole in these).

I bought a Hirschmann roof antenna (cost about $110 in 2007) from Soundlabs Group in Melbourne. It is called a MCA 918 V FLEX and is made in Germany. This antenna is a multi-band combination in that it receives AM/FM and mobile phone signals (GSM & Next-G). It has a standard "Motorola" car antenna plug (same as VT/VX), a mobile phone car kit antenna plug, plus a +12V power wire for the integrated amplifier/duplexer. The plugs/wire out of the antenna base are only short so i also needed extension cables to connect it all up.

I believe the genuine VE antennas are AM/FM only (unless that's changed recently).

Here is a link to the Hirschmann section of their website: Hirschmann Aerials - Soundlabs Group

It works really well and i never have to worry about antenna motors wearing out, or going up when i don't want it to. The reception is exactly the same as the old factory antenna. And i no longer need a separate mobile antenna on the rear window. I've found the mobile phone coverage with this Hirschmann antenna is excellent.

If anyone wants further details just PM me, otherwise i hope the above helps someone.

hey mate do you have a photo of the car in profile with that antenna set up? just interested to see how it looks when everything is in view cheers

[mwb235]

I'll take some tomorrow when it's light. By profile you mean from one side (side on view)?

[Apex8]

It's only one wire that you don't connect. I am a bit surprised the new head unit didn't come with the correct wire to be honest. What brand is it?

sorry i missed this post, the head unit had a wire for it the one that it was meant to connect to was missing from the car. the head unit is a Kenwood KDC-U546BT

I'll take some tomorrow when it's light. By profile you mean from one side (side on view)?

yeah sorry i should have just said side on haha

[mwb235]

Here you go Apex8. The first pic doesn't really show much but the second one is better. I've also attached a VE pic to compare the Hirschmann with the genuine VE antennas - note the VE one sits down slightly lower.