D-Link Neteasy USB Radio

**louis_sabet** · 12-20-2005, 02:04 PM

Hi guys,

Perhaps someone out there has a bit of experience with FM and car PCs... certainly I'm getting nowhere.

I've used StevieG's excellent carputer website to get me going, and after various hardware failures, dodgy software installs, chipboard, MDF, and glue-gun related disasters, I have a reasonably working carputer running in my '98 Passat with a touchscreen up front.

The problem is, that having followed StevieG's guide, I got myself a D-Link neteasy USB radio which appears to be supported by all the major front-ends and Radiator.

It works, but the reception is ***** for want of a better word. I've tried it with my Passat amplified aerial (which really should work fine - it did with the original head unit), and I've even resorted to trying a rather expensive amplified Bosch/Blaupunkt windscreen aerial to rule out any problems with the Passat roof item. At very best, on high ground and with the wind blowing in my favour, I can get local radio stations reasonably clearly (but certainly not perfect by any stretch of the imagination). At worst, in a valley (of which there are a few) with the wind blowing in the wrong direction, I get bugger all - even nothing from the fairly strong BBC signals...

I'm wondering if anyone else is having similar issues, or has somehow managed to resolve them?

There seems to be little discussion around here about getting FM working properly, and I'm starting to wonder if that's because nobody actually *has* got it working reliably - at least not as good as a stock headunit...

Come on people - lets get some discussion going

Thanks all for making this a great community!

Best Regards

Louis

**turner brown** · 12-20-2005, 03:56 PM

how did you mod the ariel connector on the passat
i to have a passat and the dlink but been getting a useable radio
signal i wont say as good as head unit but ok
think its all down to how it was modded to take the ariel that will make
a diff
i used a lighter top and my trusty soldiering iron
lol done the job

**louis_sabet** · 12-21-2005, 09:25 AM

Hmm... maybe I need to have another go with the passat roof aerial.

How are you powering the aerial? Any idea which of the various wires feeds the aerial's amplifier?

I think part of the problem is that I had to extend the aerial to the back of the car, and that added some serious length to the cable. Perhaps if I just put a USB hub in the dash somewhere, and put the USB radio there, that would help (of course then I've got to extend the audio cable, and the chances are I'll get some hissing and popping from the multitude of wires I've got running down the side of the car now).

To attach the aerial I just soldered the wire to a phono plug which plugs in the top of the D-Link. Perhaps this is an issue too - I'm no good with things like impedance...

Again... any tips would be greatly appreciated

**turner brown** · 12-21-2005, 09:59 AM

thats what i done mate the dlink is it the dash with the audio cable run to the boot
works ok with no added noise from the cable run

**EsKALad** · 12-21-2005, 11:59 AM

can somebody take a snap shot of the mod made to the antenna connector? are you guys actually ripping your dlink open or just soddering your factory antenna onto a rca head?

**turner brown** · 12-21-2005, 05:13 PM

no mate the factory ariel to the dlink
this is the way i did it toss the case and the the big steel weight
and toss it behind the dash
all you need is a small peice a metal pipe and a soldiering iron
some cars will also need an ariel adaptor but the one with the longer
inner core will slide in to the dlink and then solder the metal pipe to both ends of the outer core
if its a powered ariel just wire the power lead to the acc wire

**lez** · 12-21-2005, 06:24 PM

or you could just cut the end of the stock lead and solder an rca on it.

And its much better to extend the FM lead not the audio leads.

**turner brown** · 12-21-2005, 08:39 PM

i would say the audio lead is better to extend its thinner and the signal loss is lower on it than in coax also it can be better shielded with some tinfoil
and still be thinner than the ariel coax