Antenna retracting

PhiAlpha44

PhiAlpha44

Legendary Member
Joined
10 May 2006
Messages
2,252
Location
Bright, Indiana / Cincinnati, Ohio
I've never had the factory stereo in my car. I purchased it with an aftermarket head unit. When I bought the car, my antenna would only go up if I had the stereo on. Never with a CD. Then I put a new stereo in. Kenwood DDX512.
When the stereo was installed, suddenly the antenna would come up no matter what I was listening to. I asked the installer if they removed my Smart Tenna and didn't reinstall it. They said there was NO smart tenna installed when they did the work. After a while, it started working properly again. I have no idea how or why. The antenna would only come up when I had stereo selected. Recently a CL65Captain and I pulled the head unit to re-wire the speakers. When we we got everything back together, yep you guessed it. Back to a full ship's mast every time I turn on the head unit. Anybody have any idea if there is anything "specific" I can do to get the antenna to only extend upon stereo use, but remain down any other time? Or do I just drive it for a few weeks and see if it goes back to the way it was?:confused:
 
there are 2 blue wires on the back. one has a white stripe one doesnt.

blue/white=always on when radio is on.(for amps)
blue=tuner only(for antenna)

which did you use as in the nsx the amp/antenna wire is the same at the radio harness. if i remember you have to find the antenna wire behind one of the seats to control it separately. the smartenna is useless without the factory head unit even if its there.
 
This is a strange situation. Electrical things to me are mysterious sometimes.

I am thinking that perhaps you should wire in a switch so you can control it manually. There are some threads on how to accomplish this.
 
I don't want to wire in a switch! That's ghetto! I want it to work properly! Like it did before we re-wired the speakers. So I know it will do it. It did it before and just magically "worked itself out". I'm not sure how, it just did.

No report after 18 days because I haven't messed with it. I've been too busy to rip my damn stereo out again.
 
PhiAlpha44 said:
I don't want to wire in a switch! That's ghetto! I want it to work properly! Like it did before we re-wired the speakers. So I know it will do it. It did it before and just magically "worked itself out". I'm not sure how, it just did.

No report after 18 days because I haven't messed with it. I've been too busy to rip my damn stereo out again.
Click to expand...

I think if you locate the switch in an inconspicuous location then it wouldn't look "ghetto". You asked for ideas, so that is a viable option. The other option is to unhook the wire so it doesn't raise at all and from what I have read the reception is still decent.
 
PhiAlpha44 said:
Anybody have any idea if there is anything "specific" I can do to get the antenna to only extend upon stereo use, but remain down any other time? Or do I just drive it for a few weeks and see if it goes back to the way it was?:confused:
Click to expand...

Some head units will always supply +12 to the ant wire (Solid Blue Wire) when powered on, so doesn't matter which mode you have your deck in it will always extend the ant. I have the Pioneer Z1 unit which gives you some ant options one allows the any to extend only when using the Radio, the second is always on or extended.

Check your system settings & see if you have options similar? I know this is one of the first units I've ever owned that gives you this option right off the head unit which was another reason why I went with it no 'ugly' switch mounted somewhere to retract it.
 
You guys and your anit-switch sentiments crack me up. Its not like I said to cut a hole in the dash and mount it right in front of you. LOL

A clean way to use it is to get the euro switch plate that goes where the coin tray is and then you have room for 3 more "Ugly" switches. :biggrin:
 
If there was no Smartenna -- then get a Smartenna? Just a thought -- since I got mine my antenna has never been in a position I didn't wish it to be, and no ghetto switches either.
 
I have a nice tiny little rotor switch and led located in that silly felt coin dish on the console. This is for my remote radar setup. Not "ghetto" at all, in fact, looks like it could be factory! Plus, wouldn't you prefer manual control in your area? Most stations are picked up without that "ugly" antenna raised. You would still have the option of long antenna in the mountains or tunnels and you have control!

Besides, whenever you want to go back to stock ...... all you need to do is replace a drilled coin tray which pops-out!

Good Luck.
 
just put a switch in, you can put it anwwhere. When i had my fd rx7, it was the same. Stock radio only went up with the radio and down with the cd, but the sony head unit kept constant power to it and it was up all the time. I hated it, so i installed a toggle switch for the attena. You can make the wires go where ever you want.....in the trunk for all you care. I put my switch under the center consol right next to the passangers seat. You wouldn't even know it was there unless i reached over to fiip it once a year to hear the radio :)
 
You guys and your frigging "switches". Jeez. The stereo originally only put the antenna up when the stereo was on. So it IS possible. It DID it! For over a year!
And now it's not. So no, I'm not going to stick a switch in my car for the antenna.
 
Hi,

Some head units are smart enough that they will not extend the anteanna when not listening to radio. Some just not so smart. I have a decent Eclipse in-dash GPS, but it extends the antenna whenever I listen to music.

With the help of D'Ecosse, I bought a rocker switch from Radioshack, did some wiring and now antenna stays down at all time. If I want to listen to the radio, I just hit the rocker switch, and the antenna goes up.

It is really a simple task. This is what you need to do, according to D'Ecosse: (I followed his exact instruction),

"This is really simple to accomplish at this stage by simply wiring a switch to interrupt the feed to the antenna - this is taken off the same connection on the harness adapter as for the remote-power. Just be sure to have the remote power be connected directly to the head-unit end of the connection, not after the switch!"

Good luck
 
PhiAlpha44 said:
Nothing yet. I'm going to just take it to a stereo specialist and see if they can tell me what's up. I'll keep you posted.
Click to expand...

This isn't rocket science. The antenna is up whenever it receives power from the head unit. Either bypass that power (switch) or find a way to disable it in your head unit's menu.

Because its an aftermarket unit, odds are you won't find a strong knowledge base here on Prime.
Rather than complain about a lack of responses, try heading over to a Kenwood or car audio forum with people more knowledgeable about your specific deck. Maybe make a post there "Disable antenna power while not in Radio mode"
 
Ok. I'll say this again. (breathe)....... The stereo did it properly before. This stereo. The one in my car right now. It only put the antenna up when the radio was on. Took it back down during any other mode. Then I had work done on my car. Battery Cable Disconnected. Reset everything. Now antenna goes up all the time. So there is ZERO reason to install a switch to do what I already know it can do on it's own. I just need to know why it's not doing it now. Maybe I'll start looking on a stereo forum.
 
Again, this sounds like an on-by-default setting in your aftermarket head unit.

The best place to find information on that would be the manual (you can probably get a .pdf from the manufacturer) or a car audio forum with more users that are likely to have that deck.

Because the stock NSX stereo is such a pain to replace, the amount of people on this forum that are likely to have that setup is slim.
 

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