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?

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.

Can't you get regular AM and FM stations through the HD radio tuner? I think I remember reading that somewhere.

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.

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

where did you install the receiver? (black 1-inch cube)

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.

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.

Let me know where you find that powered antenna.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

i bought this

http://cgi.ebay.com/Antenna-Y-Adapter-S ... .m14.l1318

BB also put it in as a fix for the radio install so it was free.

That is the exact one I bought. I guess I need to check to make sure that all of my connections are good. I thought I was very careful about this, but maybe I wasn't.

I guess this could also have something to do with my car ('08 Civic), since the antenna is mounted in the back window. I actually had to use an adapter to get a standard antenna connection in the first place.

Thanks for the reply and the time.

That is the exact one I bought. I guess I need to check to make sure that all of my connections are good. I thought I was very careful about this, but maybe I wasn't.

 

I guess this could also have something to do with my car ('08 Civic), since the antenna is mounted in the back window. I actually had to use an adapter to get a standard antenna connection in the first place.

 

Thanks for the reply and the time.

I have 07 Altima and i think my antenna is the same, in window. I also had to buy the antenna adaptor thing, though i never got a chance to see it .

I ordered the metra splitter for my install so I will give it a try as soon as I get it.

The metra looks longer and i wouldve got it but the crutchfield shipping killed the deal for me. Also the hd tuner antenna adaptor cord is long.

According to my installer, The HD tuner comes with the antenna splitter.

As far as MSN the signal is always of and on. I know its not my antenna because I get a good signal with regular FM and HD. So is it MSN problem or Pioneer?

Charlotte, NC area

My FM is ok at best but static does come in. MSN is off and on, but good in Raleigh all the time.

Also my tuner had no splitter. I'll recheck my box though.

Durham/Raleigh, NC

edit: attached pic says get a splitter

So i wrote Pioneer about the HD radio issues such as no presets and channel skipping (has anyone else had this issue, preset next button skips channels).

and this was what i said:

I have an Avic F900BT and the HD Radio tuner. When i use the hd radio and select presets, the preset list stays empty. I have to remember which station i programmed. For the FM tuner, the station frequency is shown.

Also when i press the P.Ch next, it skips channels. It doesnt go from Preset 1 to Preset 2, it will go from P1 > P4 > P2 > P3. It cycles the channels. I have to set the display to the preset list and press the right number in order to get channel 2 or whichever. Next and Preivous do not work correctly. Yes i have an updated model, purchased on 8/4/08.

Their response:

Thank you for contacting Pioneer Electronics, Inc.

If the HD tuner is not working correctly or intermittently I would recommend to exchange it for another one.

Thank You,

Ramon

Customer Service Representative

Anyone know if this is a tuner issue or 900 issue?

It's not complicated. The standard automotive antena cable is constructed like this:

Jacket

copper braided jacket

foil

plastic insulation

copper antenna conductor

Now, with a very sharp razor knife cut all three jackets only off three inches from the end. It is very easy to cut the braided jacket so be easy. I found that the cut around and long slit method the best.

Next, carefully unbraid the entire three inches of jacket and twist together into one bundle.

You can now see the reletively thick foil wrapped plastic around the thin copper signal conductor. Get rid of the foil and carefully cut an inch and a half of the plastic insulation off the end.

You should now have an inch and a half bare signal conductor, an inch and a half of bare plastic insulation and three inches twisted braided copper at the start of everything.

Now, get out the 1/4 and 1/2 inch heatshrink tubing, the solder, the solder gun.

Next, parallel two of the antenna cables and twist their copper signal conductors together.

Cut one piece of 1/4 inch heat shrink one inch long and one piece of 1/2 inch heat shirnk one inch long. Slide the 1/4 over the single wire onto the plastic and likewise with the 1/2 inch over the other two paired wires over their plastic

A wire vice works best for this manuver but anything to hold the two across from each other overlapped. Even a stack of books would work.

Time to solder. I used silver solder. It's thin and melts fast.

Once they are soldered, slide the heatshrink down from each side, overlap slightly and heat to shrink.

Now inspect the joint. If you are sure that there is no signal conductor exposed, fold the copper shield jackets together making sure they contact each other fully. Now wrap a four inch by six inch piece of aluminum foil longwise around the splice. This replaces the RF shielding around the splice.

Lastly, wrap the splice with electrical tape or shrink a larger size of heat shrink around it and you are done.

No signal loss or introduced interferience.

I'm out........