where is the aerial

[pennylambert1310]

we are looking to upgrade our radio in our 2007 swift bolero 680FB and are looking to install a DAB radio. Looking at the reviews for aerials it appears that a good option is to use a splitter and use the original aerial - and there is our problem - we can't find it!! The radio works so it must be somewhere!

[witzend]

Some vans have it in the n/s wing mirror failing that a normal Fiat Ducato has it in the front centre of the roof is there any cable there

[Derek Uzzell]

Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Penny.

 

My understanding (such as it is regarding DAB radio retro-fitting to a vehicle!) is that using a ‘splitter’ involves disconnecting the existing aerial cable from the rear of the old radio and connecting this to the appropriate splitter wiring before connecting the splitter (+ extra cabling) to the new DAB unit. It won’t matter where in the vehicle the original aerial goes (into the mirror, up to the roof, etc.) it’s just a question of locating the end of he aerial cable that connects to the old radio.

 

If you’ve removed the old radio and not been able to identify the aerial cable that the old radio was connected to, the liklihood is that the cable disconnected when the radio was removed and is now lurking somewhere in the deep dark recesses of the dashboard. As you rightly say, the expectation would be that, if the old radio worked satisfactorily, it had an aerial connected to it.

[Robinhood]

I've successfully used a splitter to retro-fit DAB to a couple of motorhomes. Both, however, had conventional external roof aerials.

 

If you can't find your aerial, then, as already stated it your 'van is possibly/probably fitted in the door mirror (a factory-fit option for vehicles for conversion). If this is the case, then I suspect that these aerials are electronically "amplified" to produce acceptable performance. The splitters I've used have also themselves been amplified (powered from the power aerial connection on the back of the radio - not the DAB aerial power option present on some radios). I would be wary of adding an amplified splitter to an aerial feed from an already amplified supply, I suspect the results might be somewhat less than satisfactory.

 

A separate DAB aerial might best be considered in this case.