Stereo Antenna Adapter

Jun 28, 2004 5 Replies

When I purchased my '94 Passat GLX this year, the previous owner just installed a new radio. I noticed that AM barely comes in, if not at all, and FM cuts in and out. When I have AM on, the turn signals go through the speakers. I have been reading about special amplified adapters to convert the factory antenna to an aftermarket stereo. My question is: Does the '94 have the amplified antenna? I'm just trying to figure out my sound issues. What do I need as far as adapters? I'm not too sure the correct one is on the stereo. Thanks,


Darren



'94 GLX


Just to clarify, that part is NOT an amplifier. The amplified antenna needs power, and the VW stereo puts DC voltage on the antenna cable to power the amplifier at the base of the antenna. After-market stereos do not feed voltage on the antenna cable, and the part you linked to is used to inject DC voltage on the cable when using after-market stereos.

For the Blaupunkt I put into my 95 Passat, the adapter looked much like the picture at the URL, and I simply hooked it up to the 12 VDC output from the unit for the motorized antenna.

Is this common for other vw's? My 89 jetta has a nice Sony stereo that I've never been able to get to receive AM. Would this adapter also help me out?

TIA if you can answer > John H wrote:

OK here's the thing: On my two Cabrios (an '89 & a '90) the original radio has a different plug for the antenna than every other radio I've ever seen. So....if someone installed an aftermarket radio, or kept the original radio & installed an aftermarket antenna, they *should* have bought the proper adaptor (one is available at Radio Shack I'm told). You may have, like my '90 did, a *spliced* antenna wire that's just not doing the job. My suggestion is if you have an aftermarket radio then get a good aftermarket (elec.?) antenna. However, that's speculation: the part in the link may be even better if you still have the original VW amplified antenna... Does anyone really listen to AM anymore? ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"

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