Hmmmm.... Wonder what a) it was & caused it to go POP!

I would have thought if it re-started there would have been an error code logged?

Hmmmm.... Wonder what a) it was & caused it to go POP!

I would have thought if it re-started there would have been an error code logged?

As they say in Little Britain "computer says no!"......Sadly

Wish I could. Columbus was fitted from new. Plus no AM radio reception.

I tried AM on mine and it didn't work. I'm not that bothered as I never use it anyway.

I tried AM on mine and it didn't work. I'm not that bothered as I never use it anyway.

Local radio up here in Scotland is very popular and much of it in on AM. And anyhow, you paid substantial money for the unit so it should "do what it says on the tin"

I have another thanks to vrStu as I've just fitted the second Dirversity Aerial! Lets just say that it was a major job (will look at doing a write up soon) requiring most of the trim in the rear to be removed!

It fits between the rear sceen glass & the tailgate & is designed to be fitted at factory before the glass goes in!!!

Anyway, with the correct cable, parts etc I now have AM reception!

I think Stu may post that there is a TSB about poor AM reception with the Columbus, which suggestes swapping the aerial wires round on the white conector at the back of the Columbus. May be worth a chat with you dealers about this.

Alternativly I think people in other forums have said that the VW Eos has a splitter that allows one aerial to be connected to both terminals.

It is woth noting that if you do fit the second aerial, that earlier cars don't have the holes for the second grommet, so you have to try & feed cables with connectors through the existing one!!!

Anyway that's enough "modding" for one bank holiday weekend!!

I'm looking forward to your write up as I am in the same boat with my '06 car.

I suppose the next question is, has the reception improved?

Curiosity got the better of me and I made a start.

I have removed the centre upper trim and the 2 3/4 pieces above the rear seatbelts

Current count -1 white clip and -1 screw.

Now off to Halfords to buy some Dynamat.

I can confirm that there is a TSB about poor AM reception and as Brice says the fix is to swap the two antenna connectors on the back.

It would seem that the multi pin connector that you highlight in your 2nd picture Bruce would connect to the rear screen as you said yesterday. Need to look into it some more.

Cheers Stu,

Thought that might be the case. I've noticed that using the aerial terminal as supplied, the AM reception was fine, but in FM the RDS AF doesn't work, so you have to manual tune. Also it shows an open connection, so I'm guessing that there is a further bit of wiring to do some where!! Anyway, I've swapped them back for now, but at least I've proved that the AM reception works!

I will try and find out more about the VW Eos connector, as this may be a solution for some.

How good is the bass response with your columbus?. I am having sound quality problems with mine.(poor bass unless it is set at max).

Great unit otherwise.

You might just check that your speakers are not out of phase (wired wrongly). This would destroy the bass response.

hmmmmmmmm interesting that I sometimes have problems with the tuning on FM and have to manually re-tune

So for a simpleton whats the answer to this???

Cheers Stu,

Thought that might be the case. I've noticed that using the aerial terminal as supplied, the AM reception was fine, but in FM the RDS AF doesn't work, so you have to manual tune. Also it shows an open connection, so I'm guessing that there is a further bit of wiring to do some where!! Anyway, I've swapped them back for now, but at least I've proved that the AM reception works!

I will try and find out more about the VW Eos connector, as this may be a solution for some.

Any more news about the Eos splitter that Uncle Bulgaria was talking about?? Mine os going in on Thursday hopefully.

As far as I know it isn't a splitter or two into one but simply an adaptor for cars that don't have the double plug but do have two singles which won't both fit onto a Columbus.

Columbus wll work with a single antenna connected to the righthand connector.

As far as I know it isn't a splitter or two into one but simply an adaptor for cars that don't have the double plug but do have two singles which won't both fit onto a Columbus.

Columbus wll work with a single antenna connected to the righthand connector.

Yes, further investigation would support this. Whilst the splitting if a single aerial lead to connect to both terminals would clear the existing DTC code, it would seem that it of course generates another!!

A detailed description on the working of diversity in Audi units can be found here:

Symphony II to II+ Antenna Fix [Archive] - Navigation Forum

Sorry if some of you were hoping this would be a solution.

Yea I just read that also...damn it!! How much work was the diversity then?? Is it a special type of aerial and what were the costs??

Second Antenna kit -

Cheers Stu,

Thought that might be the case. I've noticed that using the aerial terminal as supplied, the AM reception was fine, but in FM the RDS AF doesn't work, so you have to manual tune. Also it shows an open connection, so I'm guessing that there is a further bit of wiring to do some where!! Anyway, I've swapped them back for now, but at least I've proved that the AM reception works!

I will try and find out more about the VW Eos connector, as this may be a solution for some.

Uncle Bulgaria

Am I right in saying that with the second antenna, that your AM is now working but your FM needs to be manually tuned. This surely is worse!! If my statement is right, have you figured out a way around it yet or does it infact work as it should??

There is a further connector on the other end of the antenna which I am beginning to think should be connected to the Heated Window or something.

I just spoke to a tech at Willis Motor Co. and he said it converts the impedance of the rear windscreen heater to get the signal...or something like that.

He also quoted me 240 quid to get supply and fit it. I just don't feel comfortable with removing all that trim and especially fitting the impedance converter and wiring. 3 hrs labour he reckons!!!

Uncle Bulgaria

Am I right in saying that with the second antenna, that your AM is now working but your FM needs to be manually tuned. This surely is worse!! If my statement is right, have you figured out a way around it yet or does it infact work as it should??

This is all about how diversity works, a detailed techie explanation on the Audi HU is here, but the principle is the same:

Symphony II to II+ Antenna Fix [Archive] - Navigation Forum

Blaupunkt was one of the first companies to release it over 20 years ago. the simple way it worked was that once you had tuned into a station this was "held" by a tuner using that particular aerial. It allowed the secont tuner to use the second aerial & to compare the signals strength to the one being "held". thus if a better signal was found it in effect swapped tuners & aerials. This was out before many tuners came with RDS.

I suspect that it is now slightly different, because we have RDS as well as diversity, but until we get both aerials working, you wont get the full benefit. I've now swapped the two leads over on the back of the columbus until i've got the second one working.

As Stu & you say, it needs to be connected to the rear screen heater element, so we need to know what the connector looks like, where it connects to the screen & if it works with existing connectors on the screen.

Like the Tech you spoke to I'm sure it "can" be done, it's the how and what we need to know

Ok, so a long discussion with the master tech & parts manager at our local dealers identified that the tailgate loom is different if you have the second aerial (no surprise there then!). So as well as the kit Stu has sorted out there is some extra wiring needed.

I'm going to order the 2 new looms they identified & compair them to what is already in the car. I'm hoping that Stu & i will be able to identify the diferences & if possible develop some sort of add on loom to do the job.

If we have to use the 2 looms for the tailgate, it wont be cheap (they are £45 each + Stus kit!!).

There are none in stock in this country, so it will take a little while, but we'll keep you posted.

Rcaston, when you consider the price of parts alone (about £150), the price your dealer gave you to supply & fit doesn't seem bad!!

We are also aware that some cars can take Stu's kit without modification as they have the ability to use the second rubber gromett, however early ones don't have this facility, so we will have to try and account for these differences as well!

Any of you gents care to take a look at this: ZHUHAI WITSON INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTD. ?

It's said to be Win CE 4.2 (or Win Mobile 2003 for embedded devices) underneath, so that looks like a nice start for a custom setup.

A shame it's just the wrong backlight color.

Yeah, I've seen one of these in the flesh! The finish could be be better, but it looked ok in the golf I saw it in. No Idea what it sounded like though!

However IMHO the only windows a car should have should be made of glass!!! LOL

After installing my Columbus within the normal aerial setup, ie with the aerial plugged into the inner connector, FM was fine and AM was not there as excpected. With the aerial in the outer connector, AM was fine as Uncle Bulgaria mentioned but FM was also fine, with RDS and without the need to manual tune. Is this different to what others have experienced??

Also, how long does it take you guys to get a GPS fix?? Mine struggles when I am parked in my drive!!?!