Retrofit of Mirror DAB Aerials

[Bjohnson]

Just out of curiosity I contacted HazzyDayz to see if they could retrofit VW DAB aerials into the wing mirrors, specifically for use with a Kenwood DAB retrofit.

They were very prompt with a reply;
"With the VW driver mirror DAB aerial it will not work with the Kenwood as the supply voltage is different and will most probably damage either the aerial, amp or the unit itself"

Thought this might be useful for anyone else that may have been pondering the same question.

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

Interesting. I have an adapter from Kenwood to use the wing mirror aeriel to try so would be interested to know if it would work or not.

cheers

 

[surfbus]

I am also having a Kenwood DNX 521 DAB fitted to my new Beach which has the DAB mirror aerial already fitted.
Hopefully "Mr Kenwood" can give us a definitive answer.

Bill

 

[Kenwood UK]

The DNX521DAB is supplied with the glass mount antenna.

This is supplied because it guarantees fitment to all applications regardless of chassis year and spec of antennas fitted to the vehicle - IE no matter what you have as standard DAB or not you can upgrade to a Kenwood.

This antenna works exceptionally well - and is designed for use with our DAB chipset.

I understand some would rather not have it on their screen - and because of this we have developed a small antenna adapter to adapt a factory DAB antenna to be able to plugged into the Kenwood - this also carries the correct power feed to power the factory DAB diversity antenna.

Alex + SMG Cowfold has some of these for his customers.

If you plug the factory lead onto the Kenwood (by breaking off the VW plastics and bodging it on) it will pick up some signal but not very well as it is not powering the antenna correctly - this could also cause the Kenwood to display error codes or run slow as the processor is overrun with signal errors. I would advise against this!

I have also known some independent car audio specialists to install aerial masts or sharkfin types to vehicles - there is no reason why these shouldn't work but I haven't tested them. The Glass mount works perfectly fine so this is choice is purely down to aesthetics - and obviously having a retrofitted antenna will incur a local cost!

 

[timhutch]

My van did not have the factory fitted DAB, so I had to use what was supplied.

I fitted the Kenwood DAB ariel and, with respect to Mr Kenwood, its a bit of a fag. Removing the A pillar trim is difficult, and there is an earthing foil tab that should be on metalwork. I had to then notch the trim to get it all back on.

Having said all of that, it works really well. My main worry, is what happens if I have to change the windscreen.

 

[bjw970s]

My van did not have the factory fitted DAB, so I had to use what was supplied.

I fitted the Kenwood DAB ariel and, with respect to Mr Kenwood, its a bit of a fag. Removing the A pillar trim is difficult, and there is an earthing foil tab that should be on metalwork. I had to then notch the trim to get it all back on.

Having said all of that, it works really well. My main worry, is what happens if I have to change the windscreen.

Standfast the 'what if' if I had to replace the windscreen, which did occur to me having just replaced one on our other car, I googled the trim removal and found with a bit of patience (and the right plastic trim removal tools - generic from a local motor factors) the routing of the windscreen DAB aerial was reasonably straightforward.

WIll report back on performance once head unit fitted, as I regard DAB as welcome upgrade.

THis will be connected to a DAB 310 which I sourced from the Forum

 

[tim price]

i know this is an old thread but in the case anyone is interested the standard VW dab antenna that lives in the drivers mirror works perfectly with the kenwood dnx516 and for me i have had no problem with signal using this combination