geromichi

hey all so i wanted to put back in my stock radio, i took the entire radio apart to just have the FM/AM radio section because i wanted to put other stuff in there.
According this this site:

http://www.installdr.com/Harnesses/Mazda-Wiring.pdf

i have wired the (+) volt battery and the (+) 12v ignition wire to the correct locations and grounded the radio with a screw and wire with it attached to the car ground.

problem is that i can't get any radio reception. I actually here some radio stations VERY faintly but when i crank it up the static just increases...

Do i have a problem with my deck or antenna or something? i'm very confused..............

can anyone help?

Jpk3200

Have you checked the Body Electrical section of the FSM?

misterstyx69

iTrader: (142)

did you put on the Antenna Wire?

MazdaMike02

iTrader: (4)

Plug in the antenna wire properly. Or if you have a power antenna make sure its extended.

geromichi

i only have 1 antenna, a solid mast antenna and i did plug it in(the thick black cable right?), still not a very strong radio reception...

sorry what's a FSM?

JCurry

iTrader: (6)

FSM=Factory Service Manual

freemanrx7

There should be 2 plug-ins for the Antenna. Anybody know what the other one is for?

geromichi

no i didn't check the FSM, I thought it would be a quite straight forward install just can't get a clear reception =(

mike_merryguy

iTrader: (8)

the second ant wire is the stock wire in the windshield for AM on the stock head unit, did you have good reception with the stock head unit?

geromichi

huh? there was no stock unit, and i just want fm radio.... so i don't know if there was good reception before or not

RAWRX7

1st do you have a power antenna? if you do the power antenna wire will not work from a after market deck. the power antenna works off a negative pulse as to the after market deck sends a pos pulse. that might be why you cant pick up any stations. worst case you have to jump the power antenna wire to a ground and then unplug it so its always up.
the best thing to do is get a relay to switch the output.

geromichi

RAWRX7 - thanks for the reply.. when i said i was replacing the stock deck i meant i'm replacing the stock deck with a stock deck.... and i have a solid mast antenna.. i don't think it applies if i have the power antenna connected on the stock deck or not... right?

Icemark

No, that is not correct.

The windshield antenna only works with the Factory radio's that had FM diversity tuning and the dual antennas was only found on mid level and up models (not strippy base models).

FM diversity was basically a FM radio that used two inputs, and (in very simple layman's terms) "switched" between antennas (comparing signals) to provide less reception drift and better overall FM and HD reception. Almost all new car FM radios and antennas for the last 5 years have been diversity systems, yet the FC had it 22+ years ago.

The windshield diversity antenna had nothing to do with AM at all. Only the Mast at the back of the car picked up AM (hence the total lack of AM reception if your power antenna is not up or busted).

And for those that don't know for the best possible AM reception, you want the tallest antenna you can get, but for the best FM reception you want 31.5 inches of mast and the height does not matter as much as the length does.

geromichi

so does that mean my stock radio is shot? nothing else i can do to make it work? i really like this half din radio. saves alot of space =)

mike_merryguy

iTrader: (8)

my bad didn't mean to pass mis information, just what i was told.. learn something new everyday... thanks for the intel..

so you have confused me.. you had a radio.. took it out.. put other 'stuff' in there, and now you want the FM tuner back so you took off the lower section of the radio???

i'm lost...

bboyclo

the archive has the wire info

geromichi

mike_merryguy

When i got the car it had nothing in there, I got a hold of the stock radio and took it apart because i just wanted the FM/AM radio. I wanted to put other stuff in there meaning that i wanted to put in a pocket in there and i have some other electronic gadget's i want to fill in the remaining space with. Hence why i wanted a half din radio as a bare minimum for my music.. And yes i took off the lower section EQ and TAPE deck are gone...

thanks for your patience =)

mike_merryguy

iTrader: (8)

ok makes sense, like Icemark said not all 7's came with the dual ant, maybe the head unit you found requires the two ant's and is not functioning due to this fact, did the new head unit have two ant inputs?

geromichi

yes actually my new stock unit has 2 radio connectors, but according to iceman, it doesn't matter which antenna i connect to, because they will flip between the 2 and choose the strongest right? and i don't think there's anything wrong with my solid mast antenna...

geromichi

i'll borrow my friends longer antenna and see if that helps.

Also i just read somewhere that some cars have antenna boosters from the window part, does my car have that?

freemanrx7

I think this is your problem. Try putting it all back together and see if it works. This factory radio must be all connected in some way.

RAWRX7

If you need another fact radio let me know i have one i can sell you.

geromichi

hey guys i actually got it to work thanks to freeman! thanks man

but i'm not gonna use it i'm gonna throw it away... when i got it to work there was a enormous amount of static i just couldn't bear!

i think i'm going to just hook up my ipod for the time being till i figure out something else i want to do.

thanks for all the help guys.