MF2002 Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Hi Folks, Got a 2012 Autotrail Tracker with the Autotrail media pack. Status 530 digital aerial connected to a Vision Plus amplifier, very thin (3mm 1/8") co-ax goes from the Vision Plus amp into the electric cupboard where it goes through a small (25x25x7 mm 1"x1"x1/4" approx) black plastic box and then connects to the (normal size) co-ax that goes into the back of the head unit. The little black box also has a red/black cable going into it. The TV tuner element of the head unit is not receiving a signal. Head unit works ok (ran a long co-ax from the house aerial to the back of the unit and it tuned in ok). If the Vision Plus amp wasn't there then I'd think the little black box was some sort of amplifier. Does anyone know what it is and how it can be tested? Thanks F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I don't know what the little black box is but one of the problems we sometimes have in strong signal areas is that the Status booster overdoes it and swamps the receiver. Try turning the level of boost down or even switch it off. Sounds odd I know but I did some work on this with AutoTrail when the unit fitted to your motorhome. Give it a try and let us all know if it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davanne Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 As far as I remember from our 2012 Autotrail Tracker it is the freeview box .....but I may be wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 davanne - 2014-02-09 5:17 PM As far as I remember from our 2012 Autotrail Tracker it is the freeview box .....but I may be wrong I have a 2012 Autotrail Savannah with the media pack, have no idea what the small black box is ?(my van doesn't have one !) The freeview tuner on mine is in the 'Double Din Dash mounted' car radio/sat nav/ Reverse camera monitor/ freeview tuner (none of which it does very well, i might add !) Is the Tracker differant ? The ONLY booster you would need is part of the 'Status' aerial, and it can be 'overboosted'as others have stated. Perhaps on the tracker it IS the freeview box ? Wish mine was like that, as I would LOVE to change it for a better quality unit. New Freeview boxes are very cheap to buy, and IMHO better than the ones that Autotrail provide.And with a record function. : http://www.amazon.co.uk/FREEVIEW-RECEIVER-RECORDER-Digital-Digi-fun%C2%AE/dp/B005BKRX6S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1391981750&sr=8-3&keywords=Freeview+boxes Sorry, just Re-Read your post, don't think a 1" x 1" black box is a tuner, more likely a second booster ? either way I would bypass it, directly from Status Booster to Head unit Tuner. Could it be a 'Fuse unit' ? Does it figure on the 'Trackers Wiring Diagram' ? if it has it's own power supply (the small red and Black wires ?) it certainly SHOULD. let us know how you get on, as I am in the process of replacing my 'Media Unit' with individual units, Car Radio (DAB+) , Mirror mounted reverse camera monitor, New drop down DVD/TV. To replace the 'Frustrating' Autotrail fitted units. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william1 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Rayjsj - 2014-02-09 9:36 PM davanne - 2014-02-09 5:17 PM As far as I remember from our 2012 Autotrail Tracker it is the freeview box .....but I may be wrong I have a 2012 Autotrail Savannah with the media pack, have no idea what the small black box is ?(my van doesn't have one !) The freeview tuner on mine is in the 'Double Din Dash mounted' car radio/sat nav/ Reverse camera monitor/ freeview tuner (none of which it does very well, i might add !) Is the Tracker differant ? The ONLY booster you would need is part of the 'Status' aerial, and it can be 'overboosted'as others have stated. Perhaps on the tracker it IS the freeview box ? Wish mine was like that, as I would LOVE to change it for a better quality unit. New Freeview boxes are very cheap to buy, and IMHO better than the ones that Autotrail provide.And with a record function. : http://www.amazon.co.uk/FREEVIEW-RECEIVER-RECORDER-Digital-Digi-fun%C2%AE/dp/B005BKRX6S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1391981750&sr=8-3&keywords=Freeview+boxes Sorry, just Re-Read your post, don't think a 1" x 1" black box is a tuner, more likely a second booster ? either way I would bypass it, directly from Status Booster to Head unit Tuner. Could it be a 'Fuse unit' ? Does it figure on the 'Trackers Wiring Diagram' ? if it has it's own power supply (the small red and Black wires ?) it certainly SHOULD. let us know how you get on, as I am in the process of replacing my 'Media Unit' with individual units, Car Radio (DAB+) , Mirror mounted reverse camera monitor, New drop down DVD/TV. To replace the 'Frustrating' Autotrail fitted units. Ray - Ray - What is the detail of the drop down TV/DVD unit that you replacing the Monitor with as my Monitor is 'knacked' - I had a discussion on the forum a few months back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Ray - Ray - What is the detail of the drop down TV/DVD unit that you replacing the Monitor with as my Monitor is 'knacked' - I had a discussion on the forum a few months back. on my fitted monitor, the retaining clips had broken, Autotrail dealer said no spares available, had to be a new monitor, (not available on warranty ?) quoted a price of £300, which I thought 'over the top'. So decided to change the whole Lot, as I have never been happy about any of it. I already have a Sat-Nav which I am very happy with (a Tom-Tom). And I wanted a 'Dab' radio. And a Reverse monitor on the mirror, which is on all the time that the ignition is on (not just 10mins AFTER i have completed the reversing, a bit of an exaggeration, but you know what I mean !). Slowly getting it all done, Radio is in, http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007K5XTUQ/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Chose this Monitor/DVD player,: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261340198058?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 It doesn't have a Freeview tuner though,Bought one of the(see above link) and is deeper than the original monitor. It fits ok, but not as well as the original , in retrospect i should have bought a locking swivel bracket, and used my Avtex TV. When it's all finished, I'll tell you how I got on, I'll post it on 'Tips and hints'. *-) Ray Don't know whats happened to the OP ? he's not answering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william1 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Rayjsj - 2014-02-10 6:14 PM Ray - Ray - What is the detail of the drop down TV/DVD unit that you replacing the Monitor with as my Monitor is 'knacked' - I had a discussion on the forum a few months back. on my fitted monitor, the retaining clips had broken, Autotrail dealer said no spares available, had to be a new monitor, (not available on warranty ?) quoted a price of £300, which I thought 'over the top'. So decided to change the whole Lot, as I have never been happy about any of it. I already have a Sat-Nav which I am very happy with (a Tom-Tom). And I wanted a 'Dab' radio. And a Reverse monitor on the mirror, which is on all the time that the ignition is on (not just 10mins AFTER i have completed the reversing, a bit of an exaggeration, but you know what I mean !). Slowly getting it all done, Radio is in, http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007K5XTUQ/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Chose this Monitor/DVD player,: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261340198058?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 It doesn't have a Freeview tuner though, and is deeper than the original monitor. It fits ok, but not as well as the original , in retrospect i should have bought a locking swivel bracket, and used my Avtex TV. When it's all finished, I'll tell you how I got on, I'll post it on 'Tips and hints'. Thanks *-) Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crbtaylor Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Did you have to re route the cables to the new monitor direct from the status booster? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 crbtaylor - 2014-02-11 3:09 PM Did you have to re route the cables to the new monitor direct from the status booster? Yes, still in the process of doing it, also the reverse camera cables to the rear view mirror monitor. It would be nice to know how the overcab panels were assembled, as I am just 'feeling my way'. Ray . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crbtaylor Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Rayjsj - 2014-02-12 4:34 PM crbtaylor - 2014-02-11 3:09 PM Did you have to re route the cables to the new monitor direct from the status booster? Yes, still in the process of doing it, also the reverse camera cables to the rear view mirror monitor. It would be nice to know how the overcab panels were assembled, as I am just 'feeling my way'. Ray . when I fiite my reverse camera mirror monitor I took off the drivers sunvisor, this allowed me to run the cable above the headlining and then down the door pillar (just take off the door seal and there loads of room) I then got one of those adaptors that plugs straight into a spare fuse and gives a fused output Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MF2002 Posted February 23, 2014 Author Share Posted February 23, 2014 Hi Folks, Sorry for the delay, the OP was out enjoying his new motorhome and the unseasonably warm, dry weather Scotland's experienced in February - when he's not been working. :-D So...... I believe the little black box is an amplifier. There were a few issues with the head unit which I'd not mentioned because they weren't related to the problem, and also part of the reason for my delay in replying I worked through all the faults and got everything working... - Sat-nav (no SIM card supplied by the dealer) - radio (no centre pin in aerial lead connector!!) - DVD (faulty - exchange head unit supplied) - TV (short between core and shield at the, poorly made, joint between the thick and thin co-axes - found when I taking everything apart to try and isolate the problem(s). That left me the conundrum of the little black box which wasn't shown or mentioned in any of the Auto-trail documentation*. The TV was working fine without the black box but my curiosity had been sparked so I connected it back up, the TV continued to work but I noticed that the head unit was showing an increase in signal strength and quality from 68% & 78% to 99% & 99%. Disconnecting it reduced the figures again - at the time I was parked hard up against the house which was directly between the TV transmitter and the aerial so I was happy with the original fgures. At the moment I've left it connected up, mainly because I figured someone must have had a reason for fitting it and I'm not sure where the wire supplying it with power (part of the Autotrail loom) should go - tho I suspect it should feed the Vision Plus amplifier but I need more time to check that. Having stripped out various components and spent a little time using the radio / sat-nav / TV / DVD I would say that, personally, if I was specifying a brand new AutotrailI I wouldn't pay £1000 for the kit that's supplied by them. For the moment we'll persist with the head unit in the belief that it's our inexperience and lack of familiarity that are the problem and this is why we find the head unit of very limited functionality and the controls to be unintuitive and, at at times, counter-intuitive.. I can't comment on the drop down monitor as I'm unfamiliar with these products and I haven't done any research on them but I believe that there are better specified, better documented*, easier to use head units available from mainstream manufacturers. Panasonic, Kenwood, Sony, Pioneer, Alpine etc manufacture similar units which usually integrate the best offerings for SatNav (eg TomTom & Garmin) and hands free mobile connectivity (Parrot). These units usually have RRPs of 500-999+ but can be purchased for typically half the RRP. Cheers F * I found Autotrail's wiring diagrams comprehensive, accurate and very useful - completely the opposite of the documentation for the head unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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