Aerial

For the best reception, you can't get better than height and length. The longer the antenna the better, the higher up the better. So assuming you radio is actually ok, your best bet would be to drill a hole through the roof and fit an external one, routing the new coax under the headlining and down the pillar to the back of the radio.

But mine was always ok. 2001 model. There was an amp under the rear window. You could check it's getting its 12v feed when the radio is turned on. From memory, there were different elements. One for MW/LW and a couple for FM. I was always surprised by how good my LW reception of TMS was for a glass mounted antenna. Maybe a track is damaged or the coax between the radio and rear window is damaged.

I am of course assuming that it is the factory fit stereo? If not, you have a 12v feed (often marked up for a sub woofer on after market stereo's) that has to be connected to the wiring loom to feed the amp. If it is the factory fit, still check, because maybe the previous owner had a blinged-up stereo in and put the original back in prior to selling and the amp wire is not connected.

If you go for an external one, try this (you will need an extension cable for the coax):

Amplified Replacement Roof Mount Car Aerial Antenna Mast with base and wire | eBay

I can vouch for it as I have that one on my boat. Not too long (physically), amplified and the right electrical length. And it actually looks decent and looks like a factory fit. It has a nice rubber gasket and there's no water come through mine.

I really wouldn't bother trying to make one. You have to be pretty spot on to the nearest cm to get good reception on FM. Less important on LW where a random length might be ok.

Finally, the radio does the switching of the elements. Now this might depend on model, but when choosing FM it switches in the FM element, when choosing Test Match Special, it switches in the LW element. As there is only a simple coax feed, I assume the matching is done in the amp under the window. It's a simple system that measures the signal strength and adjusts. But if there's no power to the amp, damaged coax or a fault in the head unit, it won't switch. You could sort of prove this by finding that reception was ok on one band, but not the others.

BYW, Diversity was standard on the higher spec stereo in the Rover 75 so it's odd if that's not the case on the Range Rover.

Anyway, you asked for my 2p

Nik

P.S. Korean car still going strong. Other than a stuck transferbox fill plug, no faults at all!! Boring though...

wammers said:

Is the N/S aerial connected at all for the UK market. Think it's use only applies to NAS and Jap markets.

Side Screen Antenna
The antenna is printed into the rear side screen. For
NAS and Japan, the element is fitted in both rear
side screens. This is referred to as a diversity
antenna system. Other markets have a single
element in the right hand screen only. Diversity
reception means that as vehicle movement results in
loss of signal due to reflections from buildings
(known as multipath distortion), the radio will switch
to the antenna receiving the strongest signal. This
results in less interference and better stereo
performance.

Click to expand...

This seems like another RAVE error. My UK 1998 model has both antenna amps because it was fitted with the High-Line stereo.

Also, to disagree with other posts, one is FM Only, and the other is a dual AM/FM amplifier.

Only problem with aftermarket stereo, is which to use . . . .actually it depends which way the car is facing relative to the transmitter !! . . but I went for the AM/FM side just in case I need AM one day.

Pete

pwood999 said:

This seems like another RAVE error. My UK 1998 model has both antenna amps because it was fitted with the High-Line stereo.

Also, to disagree with other posts, one is FM Only, and the other is a dual AM/FM amplifier.

Only problem with aftermarket stereo, is which to use . . . .actually it depends which way the car is facing relative to the transmitter !! . . but I went for the AM/FM side just in case I need AM one day.

Pete

Click to expand...

Don't know, mine has premium stereo have never looked for the other aerial. A lot of buggering about just to check for it. My radio works fine.

pwood999 said:

This seems like another RAVE error. My UK 1998 model has both antenna amps because it was fitted with the High-Line stereo.

Also, to disagree with other posts, one is FM Only, and the other is a dual AM/FM amplifier.

Only problem with aftermarket stereo, is which to use . . . .actually it depends which way the car is facing relative to the transmitter !! . . but I went for the AM/FM side just in case I need AM one day.

Pete

Click to expand...

There is only 1 coax feed. I'm talking about my 2001 model which is the only one I have experience of. The amp has 1 coax feed, power and then the elements. So on mine at least, the amp did the switching depending what band you were on and therefore would work fine with an aftermarket stereo (assuming you connect the sub woofer power feed to the antenna - and assuming you didn't have the Harmon Kardon system). It worked by sensing signal strength continuously. If you were listening to an FM station then it measured the signal strength on all the elements and decided the FM one was the one to use because it received the best signal (as it would, it's electrically the right length).

You're suggesting you had multiple coax feeds from your head unit and could pick which one to use. Did you have the posh TV screen one?

Nik

(p.s I could be getting confused with my Rover 75 - it's been a while )

Thanks Nik,

Thought you'd know about this sort of thing. A couple of things for me to check there.

The Radio is a standard after-market Pioneer AM/FM with CD player. TBH as long as the CD works the missus is happy and as long as the radio works I'm happy. It works but as I drive around the reception gets better than worse. It has an AF setting that I assumed switched to the strongest signal so I assumed the aerial must be the issue. I've seen 4.6s with an aerial either side (or that's what it looks like from the outside) so assumed my budget model might be the problem. From what you're saying there must be more than 1 track on my window. I'll have to check that.

Either way, I've learnt a bit about car radio reception. To think I was considering wiring it up to a coat-hanger.

Grrrrrr said:

Thanks Nik,

Thought you'd know about this sort of thing. A couple of things for me to check there.

The Radio is a standard after-market Pioneer AM/FM with CD player. TBH as long as the CD works the missus is happy and as long as the radio works I'm happy. It works but as I drive around the reception gets better than worse. It has an AF setting that I assumed switched to the strongest signal so I assumed the aerial must be the issue. I've seen 4.6s with an aerial either side (or that's what it looks like from the outside) so assumed my budget model might be the problem. From what you're saying there must be more than 1 track on my window. I'll have to check that.

Either way, I've learnt a bit about car radio reception. To think I was considering wiring it up to a coat-hanger.

Click to expand...

Ah, bet you a pound that the amp isn't getting power (I take that bet back if you've already checked and it is!! ). Check if the subwoofer 12v+ wire is dangling loose or if it's connected to the wiring harness or if it's left out. If it is connected, sometimes they only activate their 12v output when the sub option is selected in the head unit. Of course if you've already checked for 12v at the amp under the window, ignore all that...

Nik

There is one issue with having a roof mounted antenna on a range rover. car parks..

With most car parks at a 2.0m or 2.2m height limit striking an antenna on the height bars causes the roof to deform around the antenna mount. Our old P38 had a roof mounted antenna and ended up with a deformation around the antenna mount... (courtesy of heathrow airport car park)

resulting in water leaking and a broken antenna.

Roof antenna on a range rover.. more trouble than it is worth.

ukadamwest said:

There is one issue with having a roof mounted antenna on a range rover. car parks..

With most car parks at a 2.0m or 2.2m height limit striking an antenna on the height bars causes the roof to deform around the antenna mount. Our old P38 had a roof mounted antenna and ended up with a deformation around the antenna mount...

resulting in water leaking and a broken antenna.

Roof antenna on a range rover.. more trouble than it is worth.

Click to expand...

the voice of experience :amen:

My 2001 DHSE has the aerial on both sides, though one of the connectors is broken on one. Hasn't affected the Radio at all.

Rachel

NikTheGeek said:

Ah, bet you a pound that the amp isn't getting power (I take that bet back if you've already checked and it is!! ). Check if the subwoofer 12v+ wire is dangling loose or if it's connected to the wiring harness or if it's left out. If it is connected, sometimes they only activate their 12v output when the sub option is selected in the head unit. Of course if you've already checked for 12v at the amp under the window, ignore all that...

Nik

Click to expand...

I think the later cars had a slightly different setup. The lowly (and early) DT like mine has a very simple setup. I'd imagine it must get some power as the reception is OK most of the time. I will check when I can though.

I haven't seen a subwoofer wire but it is years since I had anything apart in the dash or rear shelf. I'm not even sure it has a subwoofer. Or indeed a woofer! It has a speaker in each driver's door and there are another 2 in the back, I think. Might be a couple of tweeters in the front. That's about it.

Grrrrrr said:

I think the later cars had a slightly different setup. The lowly (and early) DT like mine has a very simple setup. I'd imagine it must get some power as the reception is OK most of the time. I will check when I can though.

I haven't seen a subwoofer wire but it is years since I had anything apart in the dash or rear shelf. I'm not even sure it has a subwoofer. Or indeed a woofer! It has a speaker in each driver's door and there are another 2 in the back, I think. Might be a couple of tweeters in the front. That's about it.

Click to expand...

Doesn't matter if the car has a sub, the stereo will have a switched 12v to feed one regardless. That's what you want to hook up to the antenna amp.

And fair point about the roof antenna getting clonked...

Nik

Well, it definitely has power. As soon as my voltage tester touched it - POOF! Big spark and fuse went! Fuse number 8, as the dash so helpfully pointed out. At that stage the rain started. Nice.

Checked round the back of the radio - no spare wires the. Looks like the head unit was originally in a Rover 100. Coax seems fine. Amp (AMR3323) under rear shelf is AM/FM combined.

As I say, the radio works fine but as you drive around it starts to lose signal and then gets better again. Checked AF is on and it is. So, either just a naff head-unit (possible) or the aerial isn't as good as it might be. Just a bit ... niggly. Don't like niggly!