Okay. I just finished the installation. I ended up hard wiring the device to the pink wire on the cigarette lighter plug. Anyway, unless I'm missing something here, I really don't hear a difference when the device is on versus when it is off (it comes with an on/off switch and there is an LED light indicating when it is switched on). I toggled it on and off a few times, and it sounded no different. The installation was relatively simple (just the power wire and the antenna plug), so I'm pretty sure that I have it hooked up correctly. Also, when I removed the head unit, I did notice that there were actually 2 cables that both looked like antenna plugs (they were in the same area on the back of the head unit -- one was slightly larger than the other, the larger one being below the smaller one). I assumed the smaller one was the diversity antenna, so I used the larger one.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks.

e-man

 

I would make sure you are getting your 12V ACC and Ground on your input of that amp and make sure you have the right antenna lead hooked up too it.

 

Thanks rgarjr. There was only one wire coming off the booster (plus the antenna cable). I know the unit is getting power because there is an LED light. As for the right antenna, does anyone know which is the main antenna cable. There were two cables, and one had a smaller plug than the other. I assumed the main antenna cable was the one with the larger plug.

Engin_ear -- you said that you installed one of these on your Supra. Did you notice a difference, or shall I say a "boost," in power when you turned the booster on/off. I toggled it quite a few times and didn't notice a thing. The directions say that it can boost the signal up to 15 db, and it seems to me that that would be pretty noticeable.

Oh well, I'll sit with it for a few days and see if I notice a difference. Thus far, I have not had any bad reception, so maybe it's working. Who knows.

e-man

 

Like I've said before, you can't tell whether these things are working unless you are in an area of bad reception, where the signal is weak. When you get into a fringe area like that, toggle the unit on/off, it is then that it will make a difference if it is working. When the signal is reasonable, your headunit can do a good job of acquiring and separating the signal. One other thing to understand is that your headunit has an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit in the tuner section, so that weak signals are amplified and strong signals do not swamp out the signal range and overdrive and distort.

 

Understood. In fact, I think it is working. Normally when I pull into my parking garage at work which is located directly under the building, the radio cuts out completely and I lose all reception. This morning, the reception stayed strong and never faded out. As for toggling it on/off, I can't do that because I buried the device behind the ash tray (there's a nice spot back there for it).

Engin_ear -- what's with the two antenna plugs on the back of the head unit. There's one with a larger plug that's located right beneath one with a smaller plug. I used the one with the larger plug for the booster, but maybe I should have used the smaller one.

e-man