12v car radio still wont work.

[nb celestine]

I,ll post this because I still cant get the sod to work.

Pioneer radio with mp3 player worked great till the girlfriend tripped over the black rubber aerial on the roof and snapped it off. Replaced the aerial and nothing. Tried different aerials and different cables. Still nothing.

 

Been into several car parts places and they all say that the aerial screw at the bottom musnt touch the shell but the toothed part of the lead must have a good connection to make the circut. Still nothing.

 

Others have said it shouldnt be earthed so I put a rubber disc between toothed part and the shell and still nothing. Wrapped the lot in insulating tape and still nothing.

 

Another said run a length of cable from the toothed part to the back of the radio to earth it. Nothing.

 

This has gone on for 10 months. I,m sick of buying cables and aerials.

 

The last place I went in said he is replacing a lot of radios with digital ones as the fm frequency is dying but this is too much of a coincidence; the missus snapping the aerial just as the frequency,s dying. I dont want to start collecting radio,s as well.

 

Any other idea,s?

[bizzard]

I,ll post this because I still cant get the sod to work.

Pioneer radio with mp3 player worked great till the girlfriend tripped over the black rubber aerial on the roof and snapped it off. Replaced the aerial and nothing. Tried different aerials and different cables. Still nothing.

 

Been into several car parts places and they all say that the aerial screw at the bottom musnt touch the shell but the toothed part of the lead must have a good connection to make the circut. Still nothing.

 

Others have said it shouldnt be earthed so I put a rubber disc between toothed part and the shell and still nothing. Wrapped the lot in insulating tape and still nothing.

 

Another said run a length of cable from the toothed part to the back of the radio to earth it. Nothing.

 

This has gone on for 10 months. I,m sick of buying cables and aerials.

 

The last place I went in said he is replacing a lot of radios with digital ones as the fm frequency is dying but this is too much of a coincidence; the missus snapping the aerial just as the frequency,s dying. I dont want to start collecting radio,s as well.

 

Any other idea,s?

Don't bother with proper screened aerial cable at the minute, try just poking a length of single strand wire gently into the the central aerial socket on the set being careful not to connect with the surrounding bit, and drape it about, you should get something albeit with interference.

Perhaps its suddenly remembered it should be in a car and gone on strike.

[WotEver]

Frequencies dying? Wot's he on about? Right now and for the foreseeable future all of the FM stations are continuing to transmit. The government keep backing off giving a date for switching them off and it's certainly not happening currently.

 

Now, as to your aerial, the principle is simple. At the radio end there's a centre connection and an outer bit. A screened cable goes from there (with the centre conductor to the centre bit etc) up to the aerial. At the aerial end the centre conductor connects to the long bit of the aerial and the screen connects to the toothed part. The toothed part should make a good connection to the hull - that's important. Once you have the radio working we can consider adding a small capacitor to the cable screen, but ignore that for the purposes of getting it working.

 

You need to do some tests with a multimeter set to continuity test to check out the cable.

• 
   
  
• Is there continuity between both ends of the centre conductor?
  
• Is there continuity between both ends of the screen?
  
• Is there NO continuity between the conductor and the screen?
  

 

Let us know.

 

Tony

 

Don't bother with proper screened aerial cable at the minute, try just poking a length of single strand wire gently into the the central aerial socket on the set being careful not to connect with the surrounding bit, and drape it about, you should get something albeit with interference.

Yep. That'll prove the radio as being good.

[bizzard]

If its a wind up radio it might be trying to winding you up. In which case consult Trevor Bayliss i think his name is.

[nb celestine]

Frequencies dying? Wot's he on about? Right now and for the foreseeable future all of the FM stations are continuing to transmit. The government keep backing off giving a date for switching them off and it's certainly not happening currently.

 

Now, as to your aerial, the principle is simple. At the radio end there's a centre connection and an outer bit. A screened cable goes from there (with the centre conductor to the centre bit etc) up to the aerial. At the aerial end the centre conductor connects to the long bit of the aerial and the screen connects to the toothed part. The toothed part should make a good connection to the hull - that's important. Once you have the radio working we can consider adding a small capacitor to the cable screen, but ignore that for the purposes of getting it working.

 

You need to do some tests with a multimeter set to continuity test to check out the cable.

• 
   
  
• Is there continuity between both ends of the centre conductor?
  
• Is there continuity between both ends of the screen?
  
• Is there NO continuity between the conductor and the screen?
  

 

Thanks for the replies. I,ll have a bit mess about with the multimeter and see what I can find then let you know.

 

The radio has gone through a search and at the minute I have got Heart on, and thats it.

I remember a few monthe ago standing on the gunnel playing with the aerial when I touched the LNB on the freesat dish and the reception picked up on the radio. That was weird to me but probably something to do with earthing.

 

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated in laymans terms.

 

Thanks, Paul.

 

Let us know.

 

Tony

 

 

Yep. That'll prove the radio as being good.

[nb celestine]

Frequencies dying? Wot's he on about? Right now and for the foreseeable future all of the FM stations are continuing to transmit. The government keep backing off giving a date for switching them off and it's certainly not happening currently.

 

Now, as to your aerial, the principle is simple. At the radio end there's a centre connection and an outer bit. A screened cable goes from there (with the centre conductor to the centre bit etc) up to the aerial. At the aerial end the centre conductor connects to the long bit of the aerial and the screen connects to the toothed part. The toothed part should make a good connection to the hull - that's important. Once you have the radio working we can consider adding a small capacitor to the cable screen, but ignore that for the purposes of getting it working.

 

You need to do some tests with a multimeter set to continuity test to check out the cable.

• 
   
  
• Is there continuity between both ends of the centre conductor?
  
• Is there continuity between both ends of the screen?
  
• Is there NO continuity between the conductor and the screen?
  

 

Right, Ive just shoved a piece of cable in the socket at the back of the set and at the minute i am now on Breeze fm which as far as I can gather is local to the Newbury, Berks area. I,m between Hungerford and Newbury. Radio went through the seach and nothing else was found.

On the building sites we used to make up a wooden box with a whopping great battery in it then cut a slot for a radio. Reception was by way of a wall tie.

Life was simple back then.

 

Going to get the multimeter and try this continuity lark. I dont think it will be the cable though; I,ve tried 3 different ones.

 

Let us know.

 

Tony

 

 

Yep. That'll prove the radio as being good.

[rjasmith]

(Well - I'll post this anyway but obviously Tony and Biz are far quicker typists than me!!)

 

Have you tried one of your new aerials plus new cable on someone elses radio?

 

Just assemble the aerial to the cable, plug the cable into the other radio, hold the aerial in your hand (at the base) and poke it out of a nearby window or door.

 

If this works, then it will prove there may have been a coincidental fault in your radio at the time of the aerial snapping accident. Try doing the same "aerial out of the window" thing on your radio as well just to prove whether you are doing something wrong when you install the aerial on the roof.

 

As for worrying about the shut down of analogue radio services any time soon - I wouldn't do that too much! The target date was going to be 2015 but the UK industry is unhappy about DAB and the Govt is still dithering about announcing a date. I believe it could be as late as 2019 - some even say never!!

 

Richard

[Gibbo]

DAB is shit in a car anyway.

 

Turn the radio on, with no aerial connected, stick a wire on the centre of the aerial socket. Put the radio on AM. Turn the volume up. You should hear something. If you don't, it's broke.

[Mac of Cygnet]

Two minds with but a single thought!

 

 

Turn the radio on, with no aerial connected, stick a wire on the centre of the aerial socket. Put the radio on AM. Turn the volume up. You should hear something. If you don't, it's broke.

 

Don't bother with proper screened aerial cable at the minute, try just poking a length of single strand wire gently into the the central aerial socket on the set being careful not to connect with the surrounding bit, and drape it about, you should get something albeit with interference.

[nb celestine]

Two minds with but a single thought!

 

Did a continuity test on the cables. 2 knackered, one that I bodged a month ago but thought was knackered is ok. One that a bought a week ago knackered.

 

Connected everything and signal not brilliant but I,m in the woods a bit, so I,ll see what its like tomorrow at Kintbury and if its no better I,ll dig out a one that I salvaged from my car that the girlfriend blew up 6 monthe ago.

I can see a pattern forming with that woman.!!

[WotEver]

I can see a pattern forming with that woman.!!

Option 1: Change radio.

Option 2: Change woman.

 

Option 2 sounds like it will be far cheaper in the long run.

[OldGoldy]

..... and if its no better I,ll dig out a one that I salvaged from my car that the girlfriend blew up 6 monthe ago.

 

 

She blew up the radio....or the car?

[Keeping Up]

Sometimes the extension cables (the ones with a plug on one end and a socket on the other) don't show continuity because they include a capacitor in series with the centre conductor (can't think why)

[Tony Brooks]

Sometimes the extension cables (the ones with a plug on one end and a socket on the other) don't show continuity because they include a capacitor in series with the centre conductor (can't think why)

 

I think it helps the radio "trim" to the aerial (remember when we had to twiddle a little screw to trim the aerial?).

[Pretty Funked Up]

Sometimes the extension cables (the ones with a plug on one end and a socket on the other) don't show continuity because they include a capacitor in series with the centre conductor (can't think why)

 

To stop it being an aerial i think (ie stops rf)

Edited August 22, 2012 by Pretty Funked Up

[nb celestine]

Sometimes the extension cables (the ones with a plug on one end and a socket on the other) don't show continuity because they include a capacitor in series with the centre conductor (can't think why)

 

You,re right.

It was an extension cable and it didnt show any continuity but I,ve kept it because I thought it had some sort of trickery in it.

I,m going to connect it to my existing cable and see if it will trim the radio as Tony suggests. If it doesnt then the radios for the bin.

[jonathanA]

To stop it being an aerial i think (ie stops rf)

 

no a capacitor in series would stop DC, but pass RF. I'd think if it was to do with trimming then a coil (inductance) would be more likely in series. (which would pass DC and pass continuity test)

 

I think its more likely its a duff cable as I can't think why it needs any 'trickery' but perhaps there is a reason and someone will be along to enlighten us all.

 

Thanks Tony for reminding us about the lost art of 'trimming' car radios, fond memories of thrusting a screwdriver through the tape opening to twiddle the trimming capacitor at the back of the tape drive....

 

There's your answer OP - forget the radio and stick with your collection of C90 cassettes...