Poor reception with new car stereo

[snootles]

Hi,

I have just replaced my old car stereo (aiwa) with a new Sony BT2500. The Aiwa had pretty decent reception but I can't get good reception with the Sony. There's a lot of interference.

I am using the extra wire that goes to the antenna boost. I just can't figure out why the reception is so poor. The ISO connectors are the original ones that came with the car. Do I need to move the boost wire into a different hole on the ISO adapter?

Any ideas?

Cheers

Si

[VRStu]

Check that the pinout on the car (where you have the amp power lead) matches the power feed from the Sony. Ensure it is being powered.

[snootles]

when you say the "amp power lead" do you mean the lead that comes from the antenna adapter? Should I use the power antenna control pin?

[VRStu]

Yep, it's normally a blue wire and yes use the power ant control.

[snootles]

So, just to confirm, my sony has the following pins

4 = Continuous Power Supply
5 = Power antenna control
7 = Switched power supply
8 = Ground

I think I need to crossover 4 & 7 with the car (i.e yellow to red & red to yellow)
5 goes to the blue wire coming from the antenna booster & 8 obviously goes to ground.

There's no other wires are there? My car is the Fabia 16v elegance 2001

Cheers for all your help VRStu!

[VRStu]

Yep that looks about right to me.

[snootles]

This might be really stupid but....the booster wire that comes from the antenna needs to be plugged into the connector that fits directly into the stereo not into the box that connects to the cars wires? How do I know what each connection is for in that box? The stereos diagram in the manual only shows the two breakout boxes i.e. the one for speakers and the one for power.

[VRStu]

You should plug in the blue from the ant amp into the car end of the connector so that when connected to the radio it meets with the correct pin on the radio.

[snootles]

ok, I have done that, played around with it, but am still getting a poor reception. Some areas I drive through are not too bad, but the majority of the time I get a poor signal. Because some areas are good I don't think it's a problem with the stereo.

Any more ideas?

[gord]

I'm hoping to replace my Symphony with a Sony unit soon,will using an Autoleads adapter stop me having such problems. I'd rather spend £13 than have to mess with the wiring.(I'm a bit of a wiring coward)

[VRStu]

Are you completly sure that you have power to the amplifier.

gord - the Autoleads wiring adaptor will not solve the problems of the poor reception or wiring the amplifier in - it's a seperate item. What it will do is relieve you of £13 that you don't need to spend.