DAB aerial and phone mic placement?

[Darren S]

Hi all,

So, I've just fitted a Pioneer unit to my car and will be running the DAB aerial and the phone mic this weekend to somewhere in the cockpit.

I was thinking of having the DAB antenna on the glass, next to the passenger side A-pillar - though I'm not sure at all of where to run the mic too.

I've got a set of trim removal tools to help - but any suggestions would definitely be welcome!

Cheers,
D.

 

[Clio_fool]

One of those stick on dab aerials I presume? I read that they don't work very well on the windscreen due to the uv layer etc so I ran mine to the passenger side rear window. Where it doesn't seem to work very well. I'm not sure if it's the aerial that's s**t or my alpine hu though. I'd suggest taping it in place and trying it to see how well it picks up stations before pulling the car apart.
The mic can easily be run up the drivers A pillar and mount by the sun visor or run across to the interior light. Again, test it before pulling things off as yours may not hear you from there.

 

[Darren S]

Great suggestion there - trialing it before fixing it in place! My wife's car has an integrated DAB system with the aerial stuck on the windscreen next to the A-pillar, straight from the factory. I guess placement of such things are much easier before the dash is fitted in place.

I'll be having a dabble at the weekend though and see what pitfalls I might have with running the cable. But yep, I think I'll tape it to the screen first and try it during next week.

Cheers.

 

[Rojer]

I always have the DAB on the passenger side a pillar and it needs to contact metal i believe to ground it. Then the mic goes on the drivers a pillar, unless there is an OEM spot, normally where the lights in the headlining are.

 

[Brigsy]

What about something like this to replace oem aerial, will do both normal radio and dab https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/323566414237

 

[R3k1355]

Fit a splitter and use the standard ariel, works just fine.

Stick the microphone on the A-pillar trim near the alarm sensor, audio works fine and it doesn't look too out of place.

 

[Clio_fool]

Fit a splitter and use the standard ariel, works just fine.

View attachment 1407310

Stick the microphone on the A-pillar trim near the alarm sensor, audio works fine and it doesn't look too out of place.

I tried one of those, lost all fm reception as well as no dab ?. When I find the motivation I'll swap the roof aeriel. Or I'll just give up on the idea.

 

[R3k1355]

I ran one in my 182 for several years and it was perfect.

 

[djp66]

I have a pioneer DAB head unit and the antenna is on the main screen by the passenger a pillar - works absolutely fine for me

Microphone on other a pillar along with alarm sensor as previously suggested

 

[Clio_fool]

OK so I'm gonna say just don't buy an Alpine hu then. Mines s**t at most things it seems.

 

[Coops Mk1]

My alpine is w**k for normal aerial tbh, parrot in it works great though and I've stuck mic up drivers a pillar too although going to move it go centre roof area by map/interior light as every time I put visor to side I knock the thing off, lol

 

[R3k1355]

I had a Kenwood, the DAB was as good as a factory fit system in our other car. That was using the stock Clio Ariel with a splitter.

 

[Darren S]

I have a pioneer DAB head unit and the antenna is on the main screen by the passenger a pillar - works absolutely fine for me

Microphone on other a pillar along with alarm sensor as previously suggested

View attachment 1407364

How did you find running the mic cable on the driver's side A-pillar? I've got a couple of cable rods to help me poke things through various sections - but the drivers side sounds messy?

Anything I should be wary of in removing A-pillar trim?

Cheers.

 

[Clio_fool]

How did you find running the mic cable on the driver's side A-pillar? I've got a couple of cable rods to help me poke things through various sections - but the drivers side sounds messy?

Anything I should be wary of in removing A-pillar trim?

Cheers.

The a pillar trim has the alarm sensor on it so don't go pulling it too far!

 

[djp66]

The a pillar trim has the alarm sensor on it so don't go pulling it too far!

What he said ^

I started by fitting the mic at the top, then gently lifted the edge of the trim with fingers and slotted it behind and once down at dashboard level just poked it under and cable tied it in place. Then fed the other across bottom of dash a few looseish cable ties and the bulk of the wire stashed behind the head unit.

DAB antenna wire was pretty much the same just on the other side.

 

[Pistachio]

When I had a mic it was fitted under the speedo. Very easy to wire and it's basically as close as it can be to your mouth

 

[R3k1355]

How did you find running the mic cable on the driver's side A-pillar? I've got a couple of cable rods to help me poke things through various sections - but the drivers side sounds messy?

Anything I should be wary of in removing A-pillar trim?

Cheers.

Just get some trim tools, you only need to gently ease the edge out as the microphone should have a clip to grip onto the edge of the trim.
IIRC I partly pulled the door seal out and accessed the trim from there.

As above, get some small cable ties to stop the wire flapping around.

 

[Darren S]

Just get some trim tools, you only need to gently ease the edge out as the microphone should have a clip to grip onto the edge of the trim.
IIRC I partly pulled the door seal out and accessed the trim from there.

As above, get some small cable ties to stop the wire flapping around.

That went a lot more smoothly than I thought. The trim tools finally got to be used after owning them for about two years and made an easy-ish job, even more ridiculously straight-forward.

I just took my time with it - and with a torch peering down the open gap at the top of the A-pillar trim, it was easy to see where the rest of the clips were and where the existing alarm sensor cabling ran.

With the door rubber peeled back a bit, I had no trouble passing the DAB antenna cable around the back of the passenger foot well and similarly, the microphone from the top of the driver's side A-pillar. Perhaps the trickiest part was being 6ft 1" and trying to cable-tie the excess cable, up and out of the way.