cigga24 Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Raleigh/Durham, NC Just got the hd radio tuner ($84 amazon) installed at BB ($50). With the $50 rebate i think it was an ok deal since i wanted radio but didnt want to pay monthly for XM. I wish i knew how to install myself though cause i bet it was easy. When on an HD channel you can choose different text info views (one line scroll) such as station name / artist / song, only one at a time though. It sounds much better (louder and cleaner) than my FM did and i actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Channels i listened to so far: 105.1, 107.1, 95.something, 87 or 89.something. There was a talk channel also that sounded really good. i didnt have to blast the stereo to hear them. You can do a HD seek also by holding seek and it will jump to the next HD channel. there are also subchannels but i havent found or seeked enough for them yet. People mentioned the presets being blank and its true. for some reason when you preset the hd channel it doesnt show any info in the button. I then read the manual and it said that the strongest channels are stored on FM4. I'm not sure how this pertains to HD but I do recall pressing band and staying on FM1. Cant play with it till tomorrow evening so does anyone have any additional info for HD presets? Also has anyone tried the BSM to see if it locks HD channels? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stdcss01 Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 I installed the HD Tuner (got it from Buy.com) myself and it was pretty easy. The sound quality is great and I am glad I took the plunge. I also noticed that the presets will not hold any text information. I just have to remember which one is which. Using BSM did not lock up my system or cause any major issues. The only bummer is that the HD tuner requires an antenna connection, which I wasn't really prepared for, so I had to highjack the antenna wire from the back of my F90BT and feed it to the HD tuner. Now I am missing regular AM, regular FM and MSN Direct (which apparently gets its information from the FM signal). I had to order a special antenna splitter to use them all. Unfortunately, I had to wait on this, so I will have to open up the dash again to install the splitter. I was not prepared to do this again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HiFiSi Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Can't you get regular AM and FM stations through the HD radio tuner? I think I remember reading that somewhere. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stdcss01 Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 I have only tested this a few times, but the AM and FM icons that appear under sources yield nothing. The buttons are there, but I cannot get any of the stations in my area (Houston) to come in at all. Also, I have attempted 3 times now to activate the MSN Direct service and nothing happens. An hour phone call with the folks at MSN (who were very customer friendly by the way) finally produced the answer that the FM signal is a must for the MSN Direct service to work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CamelTowing Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 You do get regular channels through the hd tuner. And yes, you must use a splitter or second antenna to get fm to both the hd tuner and the regular antenna input so that the msn direct works And yes, the am/fm buttons in the menu stay illuminated even if they don't work because you're using an hd tuner. Odd since the $300 pioneer decks take them out of the source menu completely when you hook up hd radio Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AvidAvic79 Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 where did you install the receiver? (black 1-inch cube) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cigga24 Posted August 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 I think my guy just laid it in the back of dash. my dash is crowded now and nothing else will fit behind it. I also called Pioneer and they said they dont advise using a splitter but its our only option without drilling holes to install a new antenna which would be lame. Anyway does anyone know where to get a splitter locally, i just found this http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=270750&i=12040UV44&tp=3351. I have an 07 Altima, will this work? Pioneer guy said that splitting the antenna weakens the signal for MSN but my BB guy said its two different types of frequencies and it shouldnt be a problem. Any ideas? In any case i put my antenna back into stereo so i can use MSN. I then listened to stereo and i miss the clarity already, man it really was like night and day. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stdcss01 Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 I'm in an '08 Honda and there was a ton of room under the a/c vent (left of the stereo). That was really convenient because I could use the power and ground at the head unit and I didn't have to worry about the cable length. I ordered a splitter on eBay for $6. I figured that it was well worth the cost to test out splitting the signal. If that doesn't work then I will run an additional antenna. I am sure I can find a powered antenna that doesn't really need to be run outside of the vehicle. I will find out what happens this weekend and I will post back to let you know what happens. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AvidAvic79 Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 Let me know where you find that powered antenna. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cigga24 Posted August 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 I also ordered a splitter from ebay for $6. Installed today and all is good, got MSN, FM/AM, and HD all running and getting signals. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Yocool86 Posted August 12, 2008 Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 I also ordered a splitter from ebay for $6. Installed today and all is good, got MSN, FM/AM, and HD all running and getting signals. Thanks for the info I am going to pick one up and give it a shot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stdcss01 Posted August 12, 2008 Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 Well, BAD NEWS! The antenna splitter is installed and we have issues. The FM and AM stations are now coming through and the MSN Direct is working but the HD Radio just quit working. I guess splitting the antenna does weaken the signal enough so that something had to suffer. Time to research an additional antenna. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HiFiSi Posted August 12, 2008 Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 Maybe an antenna signal booster would be more appropriate than adding a second antenna? You'd probably run the car's antenna into the booster and split the booster's output to the two units. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cigga24 Posted August 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 Well, BAD NEWS! The antenna splitter is installed and we have issues. The FM and AM stations are now coming through and the MSN Direct is working but the HD Radio just quit working. I guess splitting the antenna does weaken the signal enough so that something had to suffer. Time to research an additional antenna. My HD is working fine, listened to it for 20min on the way to work today. edit: just went out to car and checked all inputs and everything is working fine. MSN: brought up data but didnt wait for it to get everything FM: all my presets were there and worked HD: presets there and sounded clear Are you sure you were on the right band, you may have pressed it on accident and your channels went out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stdcss01 Posted August 12, 2008 Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 So, you have a splitter installed and the HD and MSN Direct are both working as advertised? Could you share with us some additional information, like what type of splitter you used (if there is some sort of brand name, is it powered, etc.)? I would really like to get this resolved without spending too much more money. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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