question be4 i start..

[[SV513]]

hey. long time reader first time poster. ....:D

i see many people speak of the power antenna wen hooking up an aftermarket amp.

use the switched 12v power wire behind your radio

key word : behind radio

with my set up I'm going to take a shortcut.
i have an aftermarket antenna. it was a pain to wire in as the old one had a diff setup. finally i got it working. i had to remove the relay that the old one used then i ended up with 12v to one wire wen car is off. and wen key is on i ended up with the 12v switching to the other wire.

to clear that up.

now. no matter if I'm on cd or radio my antenna goes up soon as i turn the key on. i guess that proves the point that the relay makes it only normally come on wen its on radio. iv also ditched the stock radio.. and the relay. i think the relay is what most people's problem is wen there amp turns off wen they switch to CD from radio. its gotta be.

so my plan is to avoid running the wire to the head unit and just tap into the 12v wire in the trunk that gets its power wen i turn the key.

I'm thinking this is a good idea as even if the radio is off soon as i turn that key up goes the antenna.

so the question comes as:
does it really make a difference if i hook to remove power antenna from the head unit or from the trunk right at the power antenna its self?

not that it would be a problem to run a wire to the fuse box as my car is in parts right now. no seats,carpet, dash .. middle storage thingy.. damn firewall seam leaking.. what a mess. but thats another story.

any comments and or feedback be very helpful.

[Slanted_Mind]

Your aftermarket deck has a wire specifically for a power antenna. It is the blue wire, there may also be a blue wire with a white tracer on it. These are the "remote"/power antenna wires to power an amp and/or power antenna. These blue wires only have power when the head unit is turned on...so if you are driving w/o the radio on, the antenna is down (also allows you to turn off the radio so you can go through automatic car washes w/o having the antenna ripped off by machinery).

The blue wire(s) from the head unit are for the power antenna...that is where I would hook it up.

My $0.02

-SM

[[SV513]]

oi... hmmm it jsut struck me... i wont be going to the carwash... as my antenna is up wen the car is on ... antenna is up wenh car is on. even if the radio cd player or for that matter the face plate dont even have to be in.

regardless of were i tap into the wire .trunk or head unit its still the same wire.. right?

how ever. again the way i set it up was i put the power antenna so it comes on soon as the key turns to acc or i start the car. thats the importan thing to remember.

[Slanted_Mind]

I am unsure of what wire you are talking about in the trunk....is it just an ignition-switched 12 volt source?

The correct wire comes from your head unit wiring harness. Ignoring the speaker wires (2x each white, grey, green, and purple) you should have yellow, red, black, and blue wires coming from the head unit. It may also have a second blue wire, and an orange wire.

Hook the antenna to either of the blue wires, and your antenna will only rise when the head unit is turned on. The antenna will drop when the head unit is turned off.

-SM

[[SV513]]

you missed the question. i have the antenna hooked up fine. the wire that is at the head unit is at the antenna (for power) im going to run it from the trunk end rather then the head unit end.