[brider]

Who among us has an aftermarket stereo installed on their '93-vintage Classic, and who among those know how the (2) vehicle antenna wires were integrated into the single antenna plug on their aftermarket unit?

A member here stated that the OEM stereo unit has (2) antenna leads, AM and FM, and indeed when I pulled my aftermarket unit out to replace it, there was an un-used lead down there that had a 90-deg plug on the end. I assume THIS was the AM antenna, because my AM reception was non-existent.

I'll be pissed if the truck truly has (2) antenna leads, because if this is true, then HOW can they be spliced into (1), WHY did they do it that way, and/or now I'll be forced to choose between AM or FM OR install an aftermarket fender-mounted pole antenna. Sucks.

Anybody?

 

[csbd]

Sorry, I was wrong about AM/FM. I guessed that since swapping the cables corrected the no-reception problem. One is a signal to power the antenna amplifier while the other is the antenna itself.

I'm finding lots of information on the subject already in the forum. Just search for it. I've been on here for years and rarely post as most everything has already been covered.

I suspect your aftermarket unit has some means of sending a signal to power the antenna, just a matter of finding the diagram for yours.

 

[brider]

I never did find a wiring diagram, but I DID discover that the 2nd lead that I THOUGHT was the 2nd antenna with the weird 90-deg plug connector was actually a short 6-inch adapter plugged onto the end of a typical antenna lead.

So, now with (2) antenna leads that I can plug into my stereo, I tried the 2nd, previously un-plugged lead (thinking it was the AM lead i wanted).

No radio reception at all, AM or FM, just static. This confirms your original condition.

So now I KNOW the function of that 2nd lead was just the amplifier.

Is this amplifier powered by a different source than the radio itself? I'm wondering if I get an adapter to splice the 2 leads (amplifier and antenna) into 1 and plug that into the head unit, if the amplifier would be effective.

 

[jkleev2]

I redid my whole stereo 4 Polk DXi speakers and an Alpine head unit. It took me and a friend about 3 days to figure it all out. For the radio antenna I just picked up an adapter on amazon for I think $4 and it works great AM and FM. I know there are a few similar looking wires that went into the back of the original head unit: one is antenna and one was for the my sub, I had the ADS sound system, and one for the 6 disc changer. I don't remember several wires just for the antenna, just the one but you need to pick up the adapter, on amazon search for land rover and the one that works says like saab mercedes bmw antenna adapter, but that's the one.

 

[brider]

I redid my whole stereo 4 Polk DXi speakers and an Alpine head unit. It took me and a friend about 3 days to figure it all out. For the radio antenna I just picked up an adapter on amazon for I think $4 and it works great AM and FM. I know there are a few similar looking wires that went into the back of the original head unit: one is antenna and one was for the my sub, I had the ADS sound system, and one for the 6 disc changer. I don't remember several wires just for the antenna, just the one but you need to pick up the adapter, on amazon search for land rover and the one that works says like saab mercedes bmw antenna adapter, but that's the one.

I discovered that the lead from the amplifier has a plug-end just like the antenna, so i ordered a 2-into-1 adapter so I can plug them BOTH into the single antenna input on my new unit.

HOWEVER, I didn't think that the antenna amplifier needs to be POWERED, and there are indeed wires down in the stereo well not hooked up, and i ASSUME they are from the original harness. I bought the truck with an aftermarket head unit, spliced into the truck's harness. They did a clean job, but still, I don't know if the amp is recieving power. Can ANYONE identify what color wire down there powers the antenna amplifier? Does it's power come from the stereo unit, or is it powered from a different harness?

 

[jkleev2]

When I did mine I found a diagram (I am trying to find it again for you) but all the colors that it said were supposed to be there, literally every single one was different that what it said. I know the antenna amps are above the rear window (side windows in trunk) you can peel back the headliner and see them. But as far as specific colors its a mess, nothing made sense and wires would be different colors at the speaker then they were at the head unit. I ended up running new speaker wire for the 4 Polks I put in and modified the harness that came with my Pioneer to attach to the factory wires.

 

[jkleev2]