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#1
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FM band expander on JDM imports
Has anyone any experience with the above?
I would be obliged for any information you may have, suppliers, prices etc, and most importantly, does it work, and work well. Phil, I know you fitted one, and I emailed your supplier Elite International, with no reply yet. A company in NZ recommends using two in the case of our Diversity system. They would need to be very closely matched frequency wise to be a success. I know Phil you had bad reception when fitting one originally. Did you fit a second one, or disconnect the secondary aerial input? Also, the electronics whizzes in NZ say that the expander needs also to have a filter to eliminate signals in the Japanese sector of the waveband. Does/did yours have this? Last point, does the expander cover the full 88-108 spectrum, and if so, which blank points of no reception are there on the set-up? TIA Joe
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Black Betty [Bam a Lam!] '93 UK spec, still languishing Betty Jersey Girl Silver '92 UK [Channel Isles] 40K Jersey Girl @ Mersea Candy Purple Honda Blackbird Plum Dangerous White X2 RVR Mitsubishi 1800GDI. Vantastic 40,000 miles Jersey Girl |
#2
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Hi Joe,
We still have the one band-shifter connected to the mast aerial. I've been meaning to follow your suggestion and unplug the window aerial but haven't got around to searching for the join in the cable. The result, as you know, is that whenever a signal appears on the Japanese sector, the radio reception drops out. I'm not sure who uses that frequency band here, but sometimes I can hear faint talking, so I think it must be phones, CB or emergency services. I don't know if it has a filter or not. There is a switch to select whether you want to offset the frequencies by 10Mhz or 20Mhz. To get 95.8, you have to put the switch in the 10 position (maps to 85.8), to get 106.2 you have to put the switch in the 20 position (maps to 86.2). This is a real P.I.T.A. since the switch is mounted in the boot. (We usually just leave it set on 20) I wish we had just bought one without a switch which just shifts the frequencies by 15MHz. Look carefully at the stations you want to receive and choose a device with the right offset. When we discussed this before, somebody said that the window aerial is much better than the mast. If only using one shifter, maybe it's better to put it on that one and unplug the mast. Am I right in thinking that the UK cars have a button to extend the mast aerial and presumably they can use the window aerial and only extend the mast in areas of bad reception? |
#3
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The band shifer on the Elite International Website does not appear to have a 10-20 switch - maybe they changed the design.
http://www.svashop.com/ Last edited by b3lha; 10-15-2003 at 06:01 AM. |
#4
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Thanks Phil
This sva website is the same as the Elite Int that I have emailed, and await reply. You might have a look at the info on this site: http://www.edl.co.nz/ConvertersHP/PRODUCTS.html#1 The one I have selected as appropriate for me is the PBS2000AUS. It shifts by 12Mz in the lower band, and automatically by 24 for the upper reaches. It gets no signal at 96 or 108, but locally here there are no stations I need to receive at those numbers. They seem to plug these shifters in at the back of the radio, and imply that diversity radios have two sockets at the back, into which you plug the convertors and plug the aerial leads into the devices. Is this correct for ours? Did you have the radio out? Also, I don't think it's correct the window aerial is stronger, rather the other way round. Info from these guys suggests the window aerial is selected by the diversity signal if the mast signal is local and too strong. In which case if true, you would be better unplugging the window aerial, and let the mast with the shifted signal do it all. Joe
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Black Betty [Bam a Lam!] '93 UK spec, still languishing Betty Jersey Girl Silver '92 UK [Channel Isles] 40K Jersey Girl @ Mersea Candy Purple Honda Blackbird Plum Dangerous White X2 RVR Mitsubishi 1800GDI. Vantastic 40,000 miles Jersey Girl Last edited by svxistentialist; 10-15-2003 at 06:28 AM. |
#5
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Quote:
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The converters have male and female coax connectors so they can fit inline between the aerial and the radio. Then all you need is a 12v power source. I think the grounding is done via the sheild on the coax. |
#6
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Em......would it be easier to get a radio from a wrecked Euro/UK SVX??
Or do you have the steering wheel mounted controls??
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1992 charcoal grey SVX: 27 August 2002 to 27 January 2004 - she will be missed Was back in Sydney for a while but not hot enough so now in Dubai! Has it been that long since I owned SVX-33H! |
#7
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which can be accessed from the side or from below. Thousands of used cars have been and are being imported every year into this country, hence the demand and development of these band expanders. I have one in my SVX but my OEM receiver uses only the rear mounted external aerial and there is no window aerial.
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Trevor, New Zealand. As a child, on cold mornings I gladly stood in cowpats to warm my bare feet, but I detest bull$hit! |
#8
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Mine has the steering wheel controls, and I like them. Not sure about Phil & Belha's. They have a multichanger CD in the boot, so maybe they don't have the steering wheel controls. Joe
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Black Betty [Bam a Lam!] '93 UK spec, still languishing Betty Jersey Girl Silver '92 UK [Channel Isles] 40K Jersey Girl @ Mersea Candy Purple Honda Blackbird Plum Dangerous White X2 RVR Mitsubishi 1800GDI. Vantastic 40,000 miles Jersey Girl |
#9
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The multichanger is great, but bumps, corners and condensation play havoc with it. I've also noticed occasional damage (cracks) appearing in some of the CD's that we play in it. Anybody else have that problem? |
#10
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Well the single disc dasboard player I have does not seem to do any damage to the discs.
If there is one fault with the player, it is an older type that does not have a big buffer memory. When you hit a bump at times it stops. Other than that, an excellent player. Joe
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Black Betty [Bam a Lam!] '93 UK spec, still languishing Betty Jersey Girl Silver '92 UK [Channel Isles] 40K Jersey Girl @ Mersea Candy Purple Honda Blackbird Plum Dangerous White X2 RVR Mitsubishi 1800GDI. Vantastic 40,000 miles Jersey Girl |
#11
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Lucky you!!
I would have to agree that the radio/cd controls are very fiddly in their 'cave' - would have been excellent to have steering controls across the range. Mine is skipping a bit and tends to heat up - If I end up keeping it, I would like to put something like a Nakamichi deck in - yum!
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1992 charcoal grey SVX: 27 August 2002 to 27 January 2004 - she will be missed Was back in Sydney for a while but not hot enough so now in Dubai! Has it been that long since I owned SVX-33H! |
#12
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Found one!
Phil,
The EDL place in NZ mailed me back, but their price is quite high. Just found a place in Dublin that has them, Digicom Electronics, at E25 each not incl postage. This is about £17.40. They say it covers the whole spectrum, 88 to 108, and there are no "known" blank spots affecting Irish stations. This worries me a little, the way these things work, there has to be one or more blank spots, laws of physics and all that. However, there could be a blank spot, and no Irish station broadcasts at that point, so it would then become irrelevant. I am going to buy two, and fit behind the radio. Let you know how it works. Anyone know how to get the radio out?? Joe
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Black Betty [Bam a Lam!] '93 UK spec, still languishing Betty Jersey Girl Silver '92 UK [Channel Isles] 40K Jersey Girl @ Mersea Candy Purple Honda Blackbird Plum Dangerous White X2 RVR Mitsubishi 1800GDI. Vantastic 40,000 miles Jersey Girl |
#13
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Found an interesting file in the How To. Shows how to get the radio out and so on. Phil, you might be interested in this. The two aerials are terminated at the left side of the transmission tunnel using what are described as Motorola terminals.
See http://www.geocities.com/svxdc/Audio...connectAntenna Check picture 2 This would be an ideal place to site the two expanders. All it needs is an accessory 12v wire to power them up when the radio is on. It would mean soldering on Motorola male/female ends, instead of the push in plugs, but that might be handier than taking out the radio. Worth a try anyway. Joe
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Black Betty [Bam a Lam!] '93 UK spec, still languishing Betty Jersey Girl Silver '92 UK [Channel Isles] 40K Jersey Girl @ Mersea Candy Purple Honda Blackbird Plum Dangerous White X2 RVR Mitsubishi 1800GDI. Vantastic 40,000 miles Jersey Girl Last edited by svxistentialist; 10-17-2003 at 02:12 PM. |
#14
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Hi Joe,
You will not experience any blank spots. There is simply a shift in the frequency of the band width being covered by the range of tuning available. The twin aerial diversity set up is something you may have trouble with. We do not use any such system and I have no exact details. It is likely that the output frequency of two separate expanders will not be exactly the same and this could cause problems. The sort of variation I would expect would not be of consequence in normal use. What happens if you connect only the vertical aerial, is FM reception still OK ? If so you could simply work accordingly using one expander. Regards, Trevor.
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Trevor, New Zealand. As a child, on cold mornings I gladly stood in cowpats to warm my bare feet, but I detest bull$hit! |
#15
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Thanks Trevor.
The more expensive ones from NZ have an integral filter to stop signal in the Japanese portion of the spectrum. This would stop the stray effects that Phil is getting, picking up taxis etc that use the lower spectrum here. Apparently, the cheaper ones do not have a filter. You are also right about the twin aerial diversity set-up. I have already suggested to Phil to unplug the window one, which is for selecting the weaker signal when required. The diversity system would be of most use in a city environment, when signal strength variatrion is at its worst, ie too strong on one street, too weak on the next. I am going to put on two of the more expensive ones, they are meant to be frequency matched. There's only a difference of about 20 Euro for the dearer ones, and I will have the radio working at its best [in theory ] Joe
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Black Betty [Bam a Lam!] '93 UK spec, still languishing Betty Jersey Girl Silver '92 UK [Channel Isles] 40K Jersey Girl @ Mersea Candy Purple Honda Blackbird Plum Dangerous White X2 RVR Mitsubishi 1800GDI. Vantastic 40,000 miles Jersey Girl |
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