External FM / DAB+ antenna? Worth it? - Android Head-Units

With OEM head unit the reception is fine. With the PX6 head unit the FM reception is quite poor. I have checked that the OEM amplifier gets power. I have tried one of those small "FM amplifiers" but it just made it worse.
So I am thinking about getting an external antenna like this one:
Eightwood DAB/DAB+ Antenna Car Radio Antenna Splitter: Amazon.de: Elektronik
Eightwood DAB/DAB+ Antenna Car Radio Antenna Splitter: Amazon.de: Elektronik
www.amazon.de
They seem to get good reviews at Amazon but I am curious to hear if anyone here been using it with a Chinese Android head unit and if it made any difference?
Thanks!

I use one on a Joying HU, It works great. FM is perfect, GPS is also spot on. DAB worked on my last HU but, I needed a new DAB box for this HU, so I didn't bother. The bit rate for DAB in the UK is shocking, streaming is the way forward for good sound quality.

I’ve had one before and dab and fm radio worked perfect.
You should be able to get the oem aerial working properly though with this unit.
Have you got an adaptor for the antenna to go into the new unit or does the oem antenna cable just plug straight into the new unit?
The fm amplifier that you bought will make it worse because the chances are that your car will already have a factory fm amplifier.

ab1702 said:
I’ve had one before and dab and fm radio worked perfect.
You should be able to get the oem aerial working properly though with this unit.
Have you got an adaptor for the antenna to go into the new unit or does the oem antenna cable just plug straight into the new unit?
The fm amplifier that you bought will make it worse because the chances are that your car will already have a factory fm amplifier.
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Click to collapse
Yes, I have an adaptor for the antenna, from Fakra to DIN. I have tried to disconnect power to the OEM amplifier, and then I got almost no reception at all, so I guess the amplifier works.
But I have realized that DAB+ sound quality isn't very good, so now I am hasitating to buy an external antenna. And just stream music and radio from apps.

If you get a good external antenna the sound will be better on dab. I use dab all the time.
It’s one of these that you need to get your FM working properly with your factory antenna https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353322093865 you connect the blue cable to the blue cable that comes out of the back of the headunit and it powers your factory antenna(although you should have got one of these with the headunit).

I bought similar antenna https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B073R8KW7F to try to get better reception of DAB+ (instead of windscreen-sticked antenna), and for DAB it made so much better reception, so i have now DAB+ reception even in my underground parking place %) Cannot say though about FM - i had no problems with OEM antenna before, and new antenna didn't make FM reception better. But as i don't use FM anymore (DAB+ converage in my area is good, and with new antenna i don't have reception problems in other areas either, all FM stations i was interested before, are available over DAB), i compared audio quality DAB+ <-> online radios. Yes, the quality of online services is mostly better, but:
1. while driving, with all exterior sounds (tire noise, air whizzing @ high speeds, noise form other cars), i barely hear the difference.
2. hearing online radio with e.g 128kbps, will eat ~60 MB per hour. If it is OK for you - ignore it.
3. The 3G/4G coverage (at least here, in Germany), isn't perfect - i had already 3-10 minutes of "no internet" while driving, but, surprisingly, DAB was available there.
4. with proper DAB+ software you will get additional services, like possibility of radio recording, or timeshifting (personally me use it often while hearing some news and got distracted with road traffic).
So, after using similar antenna (same manufacturer, but with aerial rod) during last year, i have never had problems with DAB receiving (neither with FM, but i had no problems with FM reception with OEM antenna either).

Related

Joying JY-UL135 Poor Radio Reception

Anyone else have poor radio reception with the Joying JL-UL135? Previous radios in my 2001 Suburban picked up local stations just fine. This one has a hard time picking up even local stations. I double checked my antenna connections and even bought an amplified antenna. No change. In fact, the radio reception is exactly the same weather the antenna cable is plugged into the back of the radio or not. Is it possible the radio antenna port is not connected internally to the radio?
For reference, this is my radio:
https://www.carjoying.com/android-5...0-radio-stereo-audio-16gb-support-revers.html
Are you certain that your car doesn't have a hidden antenna amplifier somewhere? If it does, it needs to be powered. Make sure to run the antenna power lead to the antenna amplifier.
I'm positive my Suburban doesn't have a hidden antenna amplifier. I recently installed an amplified antenna along with the OEM antenna and it didn't change. After a little more research it seems that the antenna ground internally to some of these radios never got soldered. I may have to pull the radio, open it up and inspect.
Before you go to that extreme, try hooking up a piece of unshielded/ungrounded wire to the center pin in the back of the antenna jack on the head unit, and hold it up. If the wire all by itself improves radio reception better than hooking up the actual car antenna, then you need to look into vehicle side. If it does not, then you need to look at the connection for the center pin on the head unit.
The antenna ground itself doesn't do anything besides shield the antenna cable between the head unit and the antenna base. So if the wire doesn't work, it would suggest that the main antenna pin (not the ground) is not connected.
MikeS1971 said:
Anyone else have poor radio reception with the Joying JL-UL135? Previous radios in my 2001 Suburban picked up local stations just fine. This one has a hard time picking up even local stations. I double checked my antenna connections and even bought an amplified antenna. No change. In fact, the radio reception is exactly the same weather the antenna cable is plugged into the back of the radio or not. Is it possible the radio antenna port is not connected internally to the radio?
For reference, this is my radio:
https://www.carjoying.com/android-5...0-radio-stereo-audio-16gb-support-revers.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue and it turned out to be the radio app itself. The original app worked fine, then I installed a themed version and my radio just would not pick up any signals. Then I uninstalled that themed version and the previous app worked fine.

MCTD unit poor radio reception in UK

Recently got an MCTD unit, has a v3 mainboard and I am suffering on poor FM reception and non existent AM (not bothered about AM though)
Have read that sometimes the aerials are not connected internally so had a look, one of the earth points was a bit suspect so re-soldered that, but no improvement. If I am stationary I can get 3 stations, however when I start to move I lose the signal. Interestingly it does seem to improve if I leave the radio out (I.e. Not fixed into position in the car).
I think the unit is an A Media (will have to check later) but it is a Huefei variant (running Android 5.1.1)
I have bought replacement internal aerial adaptors that are boosted to no real improvement (although after doing a bit more reading I need to check if the booster power source (from the ANT wire from the headunit) is actually giving 12V
Any ideas / mods to help improve it? Aerial works fine with standard headunit.
Thanks
anyone any ideas?
ok if anyone is interested, I bought a cheap window aerial that has a power booster, can now get channels but still not great. My next step is to either replace the roof aerial on my car (or certainly the wiring), of take of the power boosting element from the new aerial and incorporate that into the car roof mount
Buy this (don't look to the price) and you will say thanks to me for long time
http://www.dabonwheels.co.uk/Kinetic_DRA-6005_GPS_FM-AM_DAB_car_aerial.html
I am not interested in making publicity of this product but even I would have been you will be as happy as I am. BEST!!!
You will need extra wire extenders as the product has short cables fitted. It's on that page the link of what you will need.
similar issue
Hi are you still having this issue or did you manage to fix it? if so what did you do please?
i am having a similar issue with mine and found that iv improved things by putting a cable to earth my head unit (cable from screw on back to ground on loom) and also i have changed the cable coming from the Headunit with one from halfords (at first glance i thought it was part of the unit as it had the black sheath and blue cable but it just pulls out)
not fully, I am going to look at the antenna wire from the headunit as I dont have that connected and that may help (from reading the pumpkin website).
I have good earths which I have measured with a multimeter so I know thats good.
If I cant imrove then I will look at an aerial from the above place
htt p:// www .ha lfords .co m/ techno logy/ car-audio/ stereo-fitting-acce ssories /aut oleads-pc5-111-fakra-to-din-aerial-adaptor
i used that cable from halfords to replace the one that came with the headunit. For me it was problem solved. obviously the one that came with it wasnt making a good enough contact.
sorry had to put spaces as im not allowed to put links yet.
Thanks for the link but I have about 3 different ones and they all make good contact (have checked with the unit taken apart and everything makes contact where it should)
I am going to check my installed aerial to see if I can work out whats going on with that. I can ge radio 2 now fully on my way to work (50miles each way) but I dont want to listen to radio 2
It is antenna wiring issue, not antenna itself.
I had the same problem in US with my A-Media unit. Initially the seller sent me a power cable and I had poor radio reception, FM working but not great, no AM at all. When the seller figured out wrong cable for steering wheel issues he sent me the correct cable and everything works great including radio FM/AM. My antenna harness has two wires but the first cable connected only one. The 2nd cable has both antenna wires connected, one to antenna socket and the other goes to power cable connector.
Sorted it out, the existing aerial on my car was a dummy aerial (sharkfin), turns out the aerial itself is on the rear windscreen.
Anyway, I got an DAB aerial off ebay (bee sting type) fitted that in place of the sharkfin and re wired it. Result now have perfect reception on both FM and DAB with no loss of signal at all. Only cost £29.99 GBP as well with all wiring extensions etc
jaytc2003 said:
Sorted it out, the existing aerial on my car was a dummy aerial (sharkfin), turns out the aerial itself is on the rear windscreen.
Anyway, I got an DAB aerial off ebay (bee sting type) fitted that in place of the sharkfin and re wired it. Result now have perfect reception on both FM and DAB with no loss of signal at all. Only cost £29.99 GBP as well with all wiring extensions etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hello, i have the same problem with my unit.
i wanna buy that antenna also on ebay. but the (bee sting type) you told about have a din style connector.
the original one that was by the radio is a usb type. how did you fix that problem?
I was able to solve my unworking AM Radio here.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...questions-development/radio-fm-radio-t3895859

no AM reception, but good FM reception - wrong radio region?

Apologize if this is the wrong forum to post this in, but I just installed an Android 8.1 head unit in my car in the USA, and I get great FM reception, but I can't get reception for any AM stations. I disconnected the unit and reconnected my old radio to make sure nothing had changed in the car, and I still got good FM and AM with the old radio, so I know the antenna is good.
Is there a setting in the radio for region (USA, Europe, China, etc) that could affect this? When I scan stations, it seems to be in the right range of frequencies, but doesn't stop on any, and I can't manually force it to a station that I know (950). Instead I can make it go to either 945 or 954. I have searched through all of the menus that I can find, and can't find anything that would allow me to see or change the region.
Thanks in advance - Paul
Update on this issue - I was able to get to the menu to change the radio region:
Car Settings:: About the Device (passcode 8888):: Radio
It was defaulted to Europe - I changed it to America 1 and America 2 which at least allowed me to directly tune to a couple of strong AM stations that I know, but I still had no reception. Everything else about the unit works well. I am trying to get them to send me a replacement thinking it is something in the hardware, but please let me know if anyone has any other ideas on things to check.
I have this problem too. Great FM reception, VERY poor AM reception. I've tried all country codes (Australia is not available). I've asked vendor for a solution. Still waiting.
Did you get a solution?
I had this too until I realized that my car has a built in car antenna amplifier (most cars now do) and it needs to be powered. Without power to it, you'll barely get reception. So I connected the antenna amplifier to the powered antenna output from the head unit and that improved it some, but still it wasn't great. Then I checked the voltage from that wire I found that the head unit only puts out 10.6 volts instead of the required 12. So I hooked the power antenna to the same 12V power coming from the car that feeds the head unit and presto, now I get normal radio reception like I used to.
This constantly amazes me, why do so many people not understand about the aerial amplifiers used on most cars now? When you swap out a manufacturer specific unit, make sure all the wires are connected, they're there for a reason!
yes, but most people don't realize that the lead from the head unit that says ANTENNA is not suitable to power the antenna. You must use the 12V power supply coming from the car to power the antenna amp.
It varies with the head unit, many do put out the full battery voltage on the antenna feed wire (ours does) but obviously some don't, your fix is correct for those that don't. The issue is that everyone seems to just leave the amplifier wire disconnected and wonder why it doesn't work.
Mr.TT_NZ said:
This constantly amazes me, why do so many people not understand about the aerial amplifiers used on most cars now? When you swap out a manufacturer specific unit, make sure all the wires are connected, they're there for a reason!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this is an old post but I'm having this issue.
I'm actually little confused as to how to remedy this.
Any help would be appreciated.
Should I splice the blue ant wire into the power wire going to the radio?
I was under the impression the blue ant wire was for people who had a power antenna that raises and lowers when the radio is powered on.
Here's the radio I got for a 2005 Corolla.
US $195.00 20%OFF | For Toyota Corolla E120 E 120 BYD F3 2000 2003 2005 2006 DSP 4GB+64GB Android 2 Din Car Radio Multimedia Carplay GPS Navigation
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mPnUCX6
jnotgsure said:
I know this is an old post but I'm having this issue.
I'm actually little confused as to how to remedy this.
Any help would be appreciated.
Should I splice the blue ant wire into the power wire going to the radio?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ANT wire of the head unit is intended as power supply for the car antenna. Not only the automatic extending antennas need a power supply, also active antennas.
So it depends on your installed antenna if you need to connect it.
Some active antennas doesn't have a separate wire for power supply. In this case you need a "Phantomeinspeiseadapter" (Google it). Espacially cars from VW group (Skoda, Seat, VW, Audi...) need such an adapter in combination with a 3rd party radio.
The idea is to power the antenna only if it's needed (your listening to radio).
Alternatively the antenna could get its power from the ACC wire. In this case the antenna gets power as soon as you turn on the ignition.
The B+ wire should never be used to power the antenna because this would drain your cars battery 24/7.

Android TS-4G Opel insignia Tuner 7786AF-3

Hi guys, I have a Android head unit called TS-4G and drive an Opel insignia. (This one https://a.aliexpress.com/_vdJ8NX ) - how can a find out which hardware platform it is?! I think it’s very similar to the px5
I replace the original radio with the Android one, but the radio signal is worst. Dump sound, no signal, no AF. I put a amplifier between the radio and my two car antennas, connected over fakra connectors. The amplifier is powered up with 12v (phantom) with amp I have very low signal, without nothing, so I decided to put my Orginal Radio back in. Now i look why is the signal so bad. I opened the Android head unit and check the reciever. There is a 7786AF-6 build in. Now is the question, replace it with a 6686 or not... ?! Or, how can i improve the signal strength.
Btw. gps, canbus, steeringwheel remote, LTE works nice. Only the fm tuner sucks...
Here some informations about this head unit
amnesia106 said:
Here some informations about this head unit
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Click to collapse
Exactly same unit here. Cause bad fm/am signal receiption I gave up and installed a dab+ dongle with new active shark roof antenna. It supports GPS, FM/AM and DAB+ . GPS, FM/AM has good signal receiption now, but DAB is not working well. There are some device interferences, too and I have to check the cables at back side again.
Btw, the PX5 headunit was much better.... (I've got an accident with my opel astra h )
I have a dab+ usb module too, but with a window antenna. In my location in middle germany i have with this antenna worst signal too. 100 meters good signal, next 100 no signal...
How you replace the orginal shark antenna? The orginal shark is in my case the gps one. How you connect gps, and fm with this one antenna? New cables to the antenna, or can use the old one?
amnesia106 said:
I have a dab+ usb module too, but with a window antenna. In my location in middle germany i have with this antenna worst signal too. 100 meters good signal, next 100 no signal...
How you replace the orginal shark antenna? The orginal shark is in my case the gps one. How you connect gps, and fm with this one antenna? New cables to the antenna, or can use the old one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
some parts in the trunk that can prevent the roof lining from lowering must be removed. otherwise it is almost impossible to access and loosen the screw on the antenna. it's a very fiddly business, I couldn't loosen the screw on my antenna on my own and had to go to a workshop (and I really do a lot on cars.)
The original gps cable can be used again with the new antenna, for fm / am and dab a new separate cable must be pulled forward to the glove compartment. adapters may be required on the radio and dab module.
all in all, it is quite doable, but takes a lot of time. the biggest problem is loosening the old antenna and ensuring that there are no kinks in the roof lining. and make sure to disconnect the battery before converting.
But, it is possible to change the hardware (7786 to 6686 tuner?) the 2nd one is an digital fm tuner - pin out and size are the same. I read on some another threads, that ppl swap these fm tuners...
New firmware?
Tomkozh said:
New firmware?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which ? My actual fw you can see above... is there a newer available?
Jste schopni instalovat moduly v magisku? Nemohu ani aktualizovat magisk
?
which launcher do you use?!
I have no launcher. i can't install root properly advise
Tomkozh said:
Jste schopni instalovat moduly v magisku? Nemohu ani aktualizovat magisk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
i have the same unit on my opel insignia but i don't have the climate controls at the bottom. How did you put them?
Also I can't find the password for developer options
thank you

Dab+ USB Antenna

Is there a difference in signal quality in these window antennas? I am wondering if swapping the one i have now will boost signal?
My original car radio only had FM which worked flawless. Since upgrading to the android head-unit…FM is impossible to listen, strange as it uses the same car antenna to connect into it?
I opted to buy a DAB+ antenna as the head unit will accept one but this is not great either. Any ideas?
You may have an active antenna on your cars roof and missed to connect the power supply.
I only have bad experience with the DAB windows antennas so I was forced to replace the existing antenna.

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