4x4 auto electrics

[nucopia]

Aerial is mounted the coax cable is properly attached to the aerial, the unit has power but it does not send or receive a signal.
Its a mystery

 

[blisters]

If its a ground independant aerial or is grounded to the car body it should be working. Maybe that's why the radio is still in the car when the aerial and other electricals were taken as it doesn't work. Only thing I can suggest is to test the unit in a mates vehicle with their aerial.
Jon

 

[nucopia]

Thanks Jon
Will try that over the weekend and let you know the results. Its a bit frustrating but hey what can you do but deal with it...

 

[nucopia]

Lol even better a fellow prado owner!!
I have a green and silver 97 vx grande.
Good to hear the uhf is up and running. Is there an ariel stub mounted somewhere? Could be worth checking that the cable isnt frayed or loose.

Cool mine is the 98 GXL not much difference between the two from what i can tell.

 

[The Green Wanderer]

What brand/ model uhf is it nucopia?
I have a Uniden UH7760NB myself, might be able to help with troubleshooting if its a uniden...

Only a few luxury and safety items differ between the gxl and vx, passenger airbag, trim, climate control etc. Most of which is obsolete stuff, like the cd stacker and radio which live in my wardrobe. :lol:

 

[blisters]

Thanks Jon
Will try that over the weekend and let you know the results. Its a bit frustrating but hey what can you do but deal with it...

At the end of the day you're doing all you can do and successfully so. Now you're black box testing whether the radio is faulty or not. Welcome to electronics :lol:
Jon

 

[jamie]

not sure if it is the same with your particular uhf but with mine there was a big warning in the install booklet to not try and transmit without the aerial hooked up, apparently it can damage the unit, don't know how true it is or what it does but just giving you a heads up just in case, maybe some of the other people on here will know why

 

[condor22]

not sure if it is the same with your particular uhf but with mine there was a big warning in the install booklet to not try and transmit without the aerial hooked up, apparently it can damage the unit, don't know how true it is or what it does but just giving you a heads up just in case, maybe some of the other people on here will know why

You are spot on, consider that the output is 5W of power, in simple terms the antenna is the outlet for that power. So, no antenna = no outlet = the internal circuitry absorbing that power = probable burn out of the final output circuit.

Or as some people (including me) used to say with the 27MHz system; "blowing the finals" (the transistors in the final output circuit).

 

[Jaros]

Did that with my first CB Radio. A bit too eager.-lucky it was cheap. My second unit was a Johnson Viking SSB unit. That one cost me a lot more. Not just the cost of the unit but the fact that the people that broke into my Statesman V8 also ripped out half the dash to remove the radio.
Jaros

 

[jamie]

thanks condor22, now i understand it as well and makes sense

 

[silver]

Did that with my first CB Radio. A bit too eager.-lucky it was cheap. My second unit was a Johnson Viking SSB unit. That one cost me a lot more. Not just the cost of the unit but the fact that the people that broke into my Statesman V8 also ripped out half the dash to remove the radio.
Jaros

Funny you should say that, back in 1977 Mum&Dads V8 Valliant (two door) had a scungy old radio ( standard push button type ) ripped from the dash ,.. they were in a hurry and used a hammer and cold chisel.
Even back then, what would it have been worth ,... really !

 

[The Green Wanderer]

Did that with my first CB Radio. A bit too eager.-lucky it was cheap. My second unit was a Johnson Viking SSB unit. That one cost me a lot more. Not just the cost of the unit but the fact that the people that broke into my Statesman V8 also ripped out half the dash to remove the radio.
Jaros

Funny you should say that, back in 1977 Mum&Dads V8 Valliant (two door) had a scungy old radio ( standard push button type ) ripped from the dash ,.. they were in a hurry and used a hammer and cold chisel.
Even back then, what would it have been worth ,... really !

Probably pioneers of e-mining. Wonder how much lead and assorted metals were in those, used to weigh a fair bit.

 

[Jaros]

Yes, the Viking weighed a fair bit.
Jaros

 

[nucopia]

Its a Uniden pro510xl on the way home from Nundle today I stopped in at supercheap and bought an Oricom UHF030
$129 will fit it in the moring .. I think the Uniden is cactus ..

 

[The Green Wanderer]

Ah well, least now you know your radio will work. I can post up a photo of my install when I get home if you want?

 

[nucopia]

That would be great TGW
Cheers mate !

 

[Tathradj]

In my career,
I would get an instant migraine as soon as I would see insulation tape under the dash.
Heat shrink or rubber tape is the go. .

 

[nucopia]

Yep just bought a whole bunch of conecters fuses heat shrink and zip ties last week
Now i need to set some time aside to get under that dash and sort out some of the bodgie conections ...

 

[Tathradj]

Fairly easy if you take a structured approach.
Does your car have air bags. ?
Disconnect the battery and wait for 1 hour before starting on it.
Toyota's are pretty good in this department but it pays to be careful.

 

[nucopia]

No air bags
Will disconect battery and start working through the tangle of wires. It has a lot of wires running no where and Im guessing the last owner removed a lot of things like driving lights winch he also disconnected the alarm and other things
??? and left the wires as is under the dash.
I gather like previously mentioned above that the radio was left in because it did'nt work ..
im just going to work through things slowley and try not to burn any thing out or remove any thing that is connected to some thing that does work

I know the aerial is good and there is power to the UHF connection so it should be easy to put in the new unit.
The rest I will just try and trace wires back and see where they lead and what they were used for .
whats redundent will be checked for power and removed or insulated /made safe so no shorts or other problems..