Antenna Adapter solution for RF modulator (iPod)

I will post full details once finished, but here is phase 1 of my RF modulator install. I had an old antenna extension cable laying around and realized it would do the trick with some work. First, I cut the OEM antenna plug off the radio. I cut the male end off the antenna extension cable. By soldering these together, I made adapter #1: [img]http://members.cox.net/craig.hunter/radio/IMG_1005-01.jpg[/img] This will go from the car's antenna harness to the RF modulator. For step #2, I soldered the female end of the antenna extension cable to the radio's antenna wire: [img]http://members.cox.net/craig.hunter/radio/IMG_1002-01.jpg[/img] This will allow me to connect the RF modulator to the radio. And of course, I can still plug the radio directly into the car's antenna harness by plugging the various modifications together (without an RF mod). At this point it's like having regular antenna connectors. I am waiting on an RF modulator from Crutchfield and hope to install that tomorrow and wrap everything up. The RF mod will be stashed in the center console to the right of the AT shifter -- it a convenient place within reach of the armrest bin, where I plan to keep the iPod. Soldering the antenna cables took some care, especially since the OEM antenna cable is very delicate. But it was do-able. After taping over the center wire splice with electrical tape, I also wrapped it with aluminum tape for shielding. Then the entire splice was wrapped with electrical tape. Craig

Great.... Great Stuff, looks like its coming together quite nicely. Hope the other gear you have ordered comes in one time. Keep us posted here on the progress. Thanks again for the pics too. Adam.

I am confused about your installation. How can you use your iPod through a RF Modulator? I am VERY interested in hooking up my iPod to the car when I finally get it, but don't know how to do it. I am low voltage literate, but not very used to car electronics. Parousia

Excellent work, Craig! How difficult do you think it would be for someone who doesn't have much soldering experience? BTW, will you still be able to listen to FM? I'm assuming the Crutchfield part has some sort of toggle. Eagerly looking forward to hearing your results. Ken

soldering is very easy...at least basic soldering is....get the solder, soldering gun, and put them together...nothing too it...really. Look online, i am sure you could find a quick tutorial or something which will give you the basics...enough to do a few wires at least...

Soldering is easy, but it's also easy to screw up and melt or destroy delicate wire/insulation like they use for the antenna cable. So I would say this should not be someone's first soldering project! Definitely practice first! The other option is to get some male and female antenna connectors that crimp onto the cable -- you could cut the cable coming out of the radio and crimp the respective connectors in the right places. It may be tough, as there is only about 6" of cable coming out of the radio -- not a lot to work with. The JVC modulator I ordered from Crutchfield has auto-sense -- it will detect when the audio input (iPod) is playing and switch the radio antenna input to the modulator. When no iPod is playing, it will revert back to the car's antenna. It can also be set up to activate with a switch, but I am hoping the auto-sense does the trick. Most other modulators only have a switch option. Luckily, I have a 12V power supply and an old Honda radio connected to some speakers in my garage (my low-budget garage sound system). So, I can test everything out before installing it in the car and hardwiring it. If auto-sense is not doing what I want, I will just hide a switch somewhere. Here's the modulator: [url]http://www.crutchfield.com/S-jPt5sepBK7k/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?s=0&c=2&g=42500&I=257KSIF200&o=p&a=0&cc=01&avf=N&search=fm+modulator[/url] To answer Parousia's question -- you can see that the modulator has L/R RCA-style audio ins. This allows you to connect the iPod or any other device that can put out a standard line-level audio signal. Delphi also makes a nice modulator available from WalMart, but it's auto-sense feature is made to work with the Delphi XM SkiFi setup, and it did not work with my proposed iPod rig. Plus it had no option for a switched input. So I had to punt on that and order the JVC. Craig

c_hunter - I plan on doing this exact mod on my brother's car. Is there only one wire in the antenna cable to splice the new connectors to? Also, how do you remove the center console? Is it just as easy as an impreza (ie. two screws and then pop the plastic off) ? What are you using for line out? The headphone jack doesn't provide that so we were looking at the belkin auto adapter that has an amplified line out as well as power to the iPod. You can find them on ebay for $15 to $20 - Thanks.

[quote name='Kuth678']c_hunter - I plan on doing this exact mod on my brother's car. Is there only one wire in the antenna cable to splice the new connectors to? Also, how do you remove the center console? Is it just as easy as an impreza (ie. two screws and then pop the plastic off) ? What are you using for line out? The headphone jack doesn't provide that so we were looking at the belkin auto adapter that has an amplified line out as well as power to the iPod. You can find them on ebay for $15 to $20 - Thanks.[/quote] The antenna wire is coaxial -- there is an outer braid and an inner stranded wire. The inner wire is 30 ga or so, and is VERY fragile. If you have auto trans, pull the shiny ring off around the shifter base. Inthe resulting gap, hook something L-shaped under the trim panel towards the rear, and pull up to get that piece loose. Then remove two screws and the side trim pieces (metalic or wood) will come off. Finally, you can remove the radio at that point. With manual trans, you first need to remove the parking brake cover, remove the two bolts in the bottom of the armrest bin, and pull up the center console; this will allow you to work your way forward. I was using the Belkin auto-kit, but noticed a lot of static when it was plugged in and charging the iPod. In contrast, the line out of the dock sounded super clean. I even installed a ground loop isolator but it did nto take care of the noise problem. Since I had an extra unused Belkin kit around, I took it apart and used the dock connector and cable to make a line-out-only version (ie, no power connection). It sounds a lot better. Basically, i followed the instructions here: [url]http://www.mindspring.com/%7Epmbenn/iPod/cable.htm[/url] But I skipped the power connections. BTW, here's a pic of the RF modulator -- I used some double stick tape to locate it right on top of the airbag module. [url]http://members.cox.net/craig.hunter/rfmod.jpg[/url] Craig

You are much braver than I. Hacking apart the belkin and a dock cable can't be easy. Although I did see this link from the site that you provided for the belkin mod. [url]http://www.sik.com/imp.php[/url] what do you think? If that give a cleaner signal on line out, and costs about the same as the belkin auto adapter I might go with that.

I think the audio cable looks too short with the SIK adapter -- you'd need to plug an intermediate cable in and have the "knot" of connectors to deal with. A longer cable is better, have it connect out of sight. CRaig

This is pretty much the same thing I ended up doing. Works great!

Anyone want to give a quick tuturial on how to dismantle the dash? I'd prefer not to have to experiment on a new car. Especially one that isn't mine. Nevermind... i just realized that c_hunter already did a few posts back.

So, how does piping your iPod through the FM modulator sound? Does it sound as good as piping in through an AUX in?

[quote name='Mindflayer']So, how does piping your iPod through the FM modulator sound? Does it sound as good as piping in through an AUX in?[/QUOTE] Not as good as line in, but it's still pretty decent. Basically like a very strong and clear FM station. Craig

Yeah...This is what I am doing to my car right now. I am in the process of modifying a dock to fit into the ashtray so that it is removable and out of sight. I have already screwed up 2 iPod mini Docks but have finally made one work It is amazing how fragile those things are. They don't use actual wires, they use very delicate wire that isn't actually soldered on. It is actually a dock not made by Apple which is a lot less fragile and uses actual wires where I was able to tap into and hook up some LEDs (ooohhhh....aaaahhhhh). Anyways, I am taking pictures along the way and will create a write-up that I will post here when it is finished. I am very happy with it so far. The reason I use the dock is because it provides an unfiltered/amplified signal out of it for audio which would allow me to control the volume through the radio (similar to the Belkin adapter except they have a volume control on theirs). It also allows me to wire up power through the car's cigarette lighter (which is right next to the ashtray) and will charge the iPod. I guess that is enough rambling for now and you will get much more detail when I post the write-up. This is not meant to post-whore.

Craig - does the car have a diversity antenna? I thought I recall unplugging a normal coax antenna lead in addition to the MOLEX you spliced into when I had everythig apart for the sub install. It was at the rear lower left corner (looking from the front of the radio). FYI - for those of you lacking in soldering skills, it's just a matter of time for METRA to release the requisite cable adaptors to install an RF modulator. Crutchfield includes their products for installs where 'fit kits' or wire harnesses are necessary.

No, it has a single antenna (rear glass) and a single thin co-ax cable going into the radio (with the mini-coax Hirose connector). The antenna connector hangs off the radio, and goes into the lower passenger side corner of the radio. On the lower driver side side are small jacks for the climate control unit, and steering wheel audio controls and rear subwoofer for VDC models. Then there is the one big standard Subaru radio-harness jack in the middle/passenger side of the radio. Craig

Craig, Step 1 above - where did the cable you fitted the male std antenna plug to come from? I am guessing its the one from the head unit (step2 with female co-axc socket on the other end) to the main harness with larger connector (connector i102 on my wiring diags?) ??? TIA, jp

Craig, me again. Looking at the wiring diags, they show aerial going in on pin 14 of i26 (WI-160), obviously a 14 pin larger connector. How does this match up with the small looking connector you show splicing the std aerial lead into? Or is this line the power for the aerial amplifier, not the aerial itself? Is the plug into the head unit you show a single pin or what? Or does the wiring diag not match reality here? jp

Do you have the wiring diagram you are looking at? If so, maybe that will help us get the same frame of mind/reference point as you and maybe provide some more help.

JP, that pin 14 is the turn-on signal for the antenna amplifier. As Craig says, the signal back from the antenna is on the separate connector.

Its a pdf file, 435k, too big to upload. Any advice? I cant copy and paster bits out of it either by the look of it.....any ideas? It makes sense that the line is just amplifier power, not aerial, but I cannot find the actual signal aerial line in the wiring diags anywhere at all. jp

You could e-mail it to me at: mvigneau (at) comcast (dot) net.

I received the LGT antenna adapters that mvigneau shipped me . The finished product looked professional and worked great! I used the antenna adapters to connect my Delphi XM FM Direct adapter. It disables my exterior FM antenna when the XM is in use. End result is a lot cleaner sound with no interferance. Thanks Mike!

[quote name='Patagonian GT']Craig - does the car have a diversity antenna? ...[/QUOTE][quote name='c_hunter']No, it has a single antenna (rear glass) and a single thin co-ax cable going into the radio (with the mini-coax Hirose connector). ...[/QUOTE]"jp" has posted some interesting pics of the antenna adaptor that came with the "AV Panel Set H6217AG902SC" (facia kit) he ordered. The adaptor in the kit, as well as both his stock radio and the factory antenna connector in his (Australian) 2005 Outback [i]do[/i] have [i]two[/i] coax antenna wires. See pictures in [u][url="http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?p=216390#post216390"]this post[/url][/u], as well as post #39 below it. Sounds like some models have (or are pre-wired for) a second antenna.