Aerial replacement (DAB & GPS)

[Aslak]

I got a little bit trigger happy and ordered an OEM VW sharkfin as a replacement aerial, product number 6R0035501D, for my vRS mk2. The car came with the standard Swing stereo, but I've since replaced that several times, and I am now sporting a Joying Intel Sofia android unit which I am very happy with. It comes with GPS/Sat-nav and DAB built in, however my DAB signal isn't strong enough for me to be content with the stick-on window antenna setup, and getting a better aerial for the GPS as well is a bonus.

Now, as far as mounting the antenna itself, it looks fairly straight forward. Drop the rear part of the roof lining, then disconnect and replace aerial base. What's the easiest way to get the new wires to my head unit? Down the C-pillars?

 

I', also uncertain as to which FAKRA cables I need? Both GPS and DAB are SMA female if I remember correctly. Don't know if I need male or female FAKRA at the other end though. I guess I need two m/f FAKRA to male SMA, five meters?

 

If there's any interest, I could try to make a guide while doing it.

Edited 18 May, 2017 by Aslak

[abaday789]

I would guess that down the C pillar would be the best choice of action.

 

What connections does the new aerial give you?

I was looking doing something like that on my car and did a fair bit of research on the matter but I'm due to be selling it tomorrow so as upgrading to the MKIII Monte Carlo. 
I should still be able to lend a hand though. 

In terms of connection you will need female fakra to SMA male x2
Then Female to Male fakra x2

For length of cable I wouldn't know but you can work that out using a tape measure I'm sure plus adding a little extra for 'wiggle' room

Best way to check what connections you need to plug into the back of the unit is to pull it out and check what's on the back  I find with the joying and other chinese android HUs the rear connections can vary quite a bit. For example mine has the dual fakra built in along with the can-bus decoder. The other one came with a quadlock extension with the can-bus decoder in the line and a dual fakra to din aerial adaptor

Edited 18 May, 2017 by abaday789

[Rustynuts]

White Fakra is AM/FM, Black Fakra is DAB, Blue Fakra is GPS, and maroon (brown) is GSM (phone antenna).

 

Run the cables along the underside of the roof above the headlining, and down the A pillar is easiest. Use a draw wire (a long semi rigid piece of plastic) to pull the cables through, then unclip the A pillar trim and feed down there to the back of the glove box, then into the back of the head unit. 6mtr cables is plenty long enough, 5mtr is okay but more expensive than 6mtr (usually), 3mtr is too short. I can sell you some 3mtr cables if you want?

 

Edit. The OEM antenna takes 12v dc power up the DAB connection on the OEM units, would this be a problem on aftermarket units?

Edited 18 May, 2017 by Rustynuts

[Aslak]

1 hour ago, abaday789 said:

I would guess that down the C pillar would be the best choice of action.

 

What connections does the new aerial give you?

I was looking doing something like that on my car and did a fair bit of research on the matter but I'm due to be selling it tomorrow so as upgrading to the MKIII Monte Carlo. 
I should still be able to lend a hand though. 

In terms of connection you will need female fakra to SMA male x2
Then Female to Male fakra x2

For length of cable I wouldn't know but you can work that out using a tape measure I'm sure plus adding a little extra for 'wiggle' room

Best way to check what connections you need to plug into the back of the unit is to pull it out and check what's on the back  I find with the joying and other chinese android HUs the rear connections can vary quite a bit. For example mine has the dual fakra built in along with the can-bus decoder. The other one came with a quadlock extension with the can-bus decoder in the line and a dual fakra to din aerial adaptor

 

Cheers buddy. As Rustynuts says, the new aerial gives me AM/FM, DAB(+), GPS and GSM. I've had the unit out a number of times to do stuff, and I'm pretty sure it's SMA females, but I'll double check. I also have the built in Quad-lock and dual fakra for FM/AM Thinking about buying the Joying amp as well, but afraid there wont be enough space behind the head unit..

 

1 hour ago, Rustynuts said:

White Fakra is AM/FM, Black Fakra is DAB, Blue Fakra is GPS, and maroon (brown) is GSM (phone antenna).

 

Run the cables along the underside of the roof above the headlining, and down the A pillar is easiest. Use a draw wire (a long semi rigid piece of plastic) to pull the cables through, then unclip the A pillar trim and feed down there to the back of the glove box, then into the back of the head unit. 6mtr cables is plenty long enough, 5mtr is okay but more expensive than 6mtr (usually), 3mtr is too short. I can sell you some 3mtr cables if you want?

 

Edit. The OEM antenna takes 12v dc power up the DAB connection on the OEM units, would this be a problem on aftermarket units?

Thanks! A pillar sounds good. Will I be able to use the draw wire to poke through from the top of the A to the back pillar without lowering the front of the roof lining? I can then attach the new fakra cables and pull them back to the front. Looks like I'll be ordering two six metre fakra cables female to male, and two female fakra to male sma (if the back of the head unit is indeed female sma). Correct?

I'm unsure about the power issue. I don't think the head unit provides power through the sma, so my guess is I would need some sort of converter that allows me to draw from a normal 12v power line and send that into the fakra connector.

[abaday789]

If that's what the back of your unit looks like. Then yes it will be SMA males you will need. 

Edited 18 May, 2017 by abaday789

[Rustynuts]

On my Yeti I removed the grab handle at the front and managed to get the cables pulled through to there with no bother, then continued away down the A pillar.

[Aslak]

1 hour ago, abaday789 said:

If that's what the back of your unit looks like. Then yes it will be SMA males you will need. 

 

This is my unit. I was wrong about the quadlock, that was on my previous unit. This one has a cable with quadlock on it, not on the box itself. The dab radio is provided by the Joying USB dab-stick.

GPS connection looks the same.

 

58 minutes ago, Rustynuts said:

On my Yeti I removed the grab handle at the front and managed to get the cables pulled through to there with no bother, then continued away down the A pillar.

Sweet! How much did you lower in the back? You've done the same job as I'm planning?

[Rustynuts]

On the back, enough space is gained by just easing the headliner down a few inches, and working by feel and a large socket on a ratchet. I had to stand on my toolbox to get enough height to be comfortable though. I did a Bolero to DAB Columbus upgrade.

[Aslak]

Thanks for all the info so far guys, you've been very helpful

The fakra cables I need, they should be female at the aerial base? Or to put it another way, the connectors from the new aerial are male fakras? Hopefully they're the same as my current antenna, so I don't have to do anything with the cables already in place.

Edited 18 May, 2017 by Aslak

[Rustynuts]

Yes, the connectors on the new antenna base are male Fakra, and will be the same as your existing antenna.

[Aslak]

I ordered two five metre fakra female to male, two female fakra to male sma, and one fakra to fakra with phantom power for the dab. Think I'm all set

[globalste]

On 18/05/2017 at 09:58, Rustynuts said:

White Fakra is AM/FM, Black Fakra is DAB, Blue Fakra is GPS, and maroon (brown) is GSM (phone antenna).

 

Run the cables along the underside of the roof above the headlining, and down the A pillar is easiest. Use a draw wire (a long semi rigid piece of plastic) to pull the cables through, then unclip the A pillar trim and feed down there to the back of the glove box, then into the back of the head unit. 6mtr cables is plenty long enough, 5mtr is okay but more expensive than 6mtr (usually), 3mtr is too short. I can sell you some 3mtr cables if you want?

 

Edit. The OEM antenna takes 12v dc power up the DAB connection on the OEM units, would this be a problem on aftermarket units?

Just reading this thread with interest.

 

I have an RNS315 (non DAB, need to check the connector on the back to see if it can be enabled), and the radio reception is dreadful, I think that the aerial base has kicked the bucket as the AM reception is non existant.  It is the sharksfin type of base with the stubby aerial and I am really struggling to get hold of one, I have found one from the link above but it also has DAB.  If the power for the aerial amp goes through the DAB cable, how would it be powered for those that don't have a DAB head unit?  Or do I need to get one without DAB, or maybe a Fistune DAB plugin?  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/352256402779

Edited 17 September, 2018 by globalste

[Rustynuts]

DAB antenna part is powered by the DAB wire while FM antenna is powered by the FM wire. If you dont connect the DAB then FM will still work.

[globalste]

brilliant thanks, It may be that they all have the same connectors then with the sharks fin aerial base?  does anyone know where i can find the part number?

[rum4mo]

Are you sure that these cables are not SMB and not SMA connectors?  Normally for OEM stuff, the connecting cables are always Fakra female to female, Fakra is just a plastic extra cover that serves to identify colour wise these leads and normally polarised to further avoid connecting to the wrong points. I've found that for neat reliable fitting that right angled ends on these cables is handy to have, though I just achieved that by buying SMB male to female right angled adaptors, and trusting to connector friction rather that relying on clumsy Fakra ends.  If needed removing from the cable the Fakra plastic locking part is easy.

[globalste]

On 18/05/2017 at 09:58, Rustynuts said:

White Fakra is AM/FM, Black Fakra is DAB, Blue Fakra is GPS, and maroon (brown) is GSM (phone antenna).

 

Run the cables along the underside of the roof above the headlining, and down the A pillar is easiest. Use a draw wire (a long semi rigid piece of plastic) to pull the cables through, then unclip the A pillar trim and feed down there to the back of the glove box, then into the back of the head unit. 6mtr cables is plenty long enough, 5mtr is okay but more expensive than 6mtr (usually), 3mtr is too short. I can sell you some 3mtr cables if you want?

 

Edit. The OEM antenna takes 12v dc power up the DAB connection on the OEM units, would this be a problem on aftermarket units?

Rusty, are all fakra cables the same or is the DAB cable a special version?  I am considering changing my aerial to one with a DAB in it then hooking up to the RNS and enabling DAB.  Don’t know why I didn’t do it last year, I think I forgot..

[Rustynuts]

The cables are effectively the same, just different colour plugs to signify specific connections. Therefore a Blue GPS Fakra C won't fit on a Black DAB Fakra A & vice versa. There are Fakra Z connection cables which will fit all connectors and they're a lighter blue though.

As regards enabling DAB, it's highly unlikely that you have DAB and it's disabled. I'd be checking that your RNS (315 or 510?) actually has the DAB hardware and black Fakra connection before going any further.