what do i do to connect my antenna to an aftermarket head unit. i know that there are two wires and i was looking at twinturbo.net and i geuss there is an antenna in the rear window along with the power antenna. well now im just confused. this is the thing i found on tt.net http://www.streetneeds.com/ttnet/up/antenna.jpg
im sure its on tt.net some where but that site is set up weird and i like you guys better

 

I don't remember it being that difficult. There's your antenna wire, and a wire that tells the antenna to raise & retract. It works similar to an amp turn-on lead. If your after market head does not have a power antenna lead, then you should be able to use the amp turn on lead. The difference is, the antenna will raise when you turn on the stereo as opposed to when you turn on the radio. Not a big difference, if you ask me.

 

ok still having problems, its not the wire that makes it go up and down it the actual antenna wire. its got the two little prong things (im guessing that one is to the reg. antenna and the other is to the defroster thing) and the plug is to big for the hole in the back of the head unit. so i guess what im asking is do i need some kind of adapter or do i need to cut the antenna wires or what?

 

I wouldn't cut anything yet. I don't think you need an adapter. The big wire is the antenna wire. That's where you receive your radio signal from. The other two wires are probably power and ground. What color are the 2 wires your talking about? Are they approx 18 gauge wire?

 

alright i figured it out. the bose system had a diversity annena. the head unit would switch between the regular mast antenna and the rear defroster antenna. thats why the the antenna wire its self has 2 prongs, there are 2 antennas. so i found an adapter that bypasses the defroster antenna because very few aftermarket head units can utillize the dual antenna system. sorry if i was unclear about my problem. it wasnt with the power antenna going up and down it was getting the antenna wire with the radio signal to the radio. thanks for your help

 

What brand/model head unit did you get?
I was just wondering

 

panasonic qc-c5110

 

here's little trick that'll improve your radio reception.
using some small wire, say some speaker wire strands with the insulation stripped about 3 inches long, wrap the wire around both prongs of the oem dual diversity antenna. Then attach the adapter over it. Now you'll have both antennas working together.

 

Thanks for the tip rizzspeed. Man I wish the Z's had their antennae built into the rear glass. Depending on what angle you look at it, the Z's antenna looks out of place. It would look much better if it was non-existant IMHO.

 

yea, i know what you mean. i took the antenna off my last car, and the antenna on my 300 was already taken off and the hole was covered. i think most cars look weird with a huge antenna stickin out the side. the glass antenna would be a good idea

Z1-it sucks being a teenager in school without an income and own our beautiful Zs doesn't it. it takes way too long to get enough money to buy anything for them

 

Haha, how true man. However, I think I finally found a job though at a local restaraunt called Carabbas. I'm awaiting for their call about the 2nd interview. Keepin my fingers crossed cause I gotta start saving money for my single turbo setup!

 

ummm....there is an antenna in the rear glass.
That's what dual diversity antenna means, there's two antennas. The stock radio chooses betweent the two, whichever gives the stronger signal. The antenna part is at the very top of the rear glass above the window defog part.

 

i, and maybe Z1, was talking about an actual antenna being mounted on the glass. like one of those short ones that some of the newer cars have

 

Okay. Really dumb question(s), but I gotta ask. If I shaved my antenna could my radio still get reception? Also, you said the STOCK radio chooses between the antennae, what about an aftermarket head unit.

 

That little stubby antenna you see on the newer cars is for Satellite radio.

If you do the antenna prong trick like i described above, you'll still get reception. Not necessarily good reception but reception nonetheless. My antenna motor is fried so all the reception i get is from the glass mounted antenna. It's ok but not better than the power one.

 

Very interesting. Is there any way to improve reception after the antenna is shaved and you're only using the back-glass one?