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Old 07-13-2007, 10:27 AM   #331
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TP4 is the actual antenna lead. The other node is labeled 'antenna' to show how it connects to the rest of the circuit on page 2. There's a corresponding 'antenna' label there. I agree, it's a poor choice for the label.

Quote: Originally Posted by Lithoss View Post
very true... but why are there two leads labeled antenna??

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Old 07-13-2007, 10:39 AM   #332
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Quote: Originally Posted by rando View Post
TP4 is the actual antenna lead. The other node is labeled 'antenna' to show how it connects to the rest of the circuit on page 2. There's a corresponding 'antenna' label there. I agree, it's a poor choice for the label.

ah ok, i didnt even look for a second page. yeah they need a reference or a flagnote instead of a redundant label. poor EE practice
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Old 07-14-2007, 01:27 AM   #333
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Quote: Originally Posted by NiSlo View Post
No I haven't it with a capacitor. I though that was only to prevent a 12v surge hitting the silabs, not to improve reception. For $1 part, it's worth a go I guess

Well, i started installing my carpc tonight. got it far enough to turn it on to see what was working and not. Without powering my antenna i got a little bit of signal from strong stations. hopefully tomorrow when i get it powered it will get better. ill post how it goes.
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Old 07-14-2007, 11:56 PM   #334
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About 95% done now. I don't know what i'm doing differently but mine works fine while driving. I get little minor pops and fades in and out now and then but its more than good enough until the HD tuner comes out.
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Old 07-16-2007, 08:36 PM   #335
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So you've soldered the antenna connection jack onto the silabs, plugged that into your standard antenna in the car and have left the fuse in/removed the fuse? for the antenna and your getting a good signal?
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Old 07-16-2007, 09:02 PM   #336
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Quote: Originally Posted by NiSlo View Post
So you've soldered the antenna connection jack onto the silabs, plugged that into your standard antenna in the car and have left the fuse in/removed the fuse? for the antenna and your getting a good signal?

Yup, i soldered a shielded cable to the silabs exactly like Bj did. I used a good mono audio cable instead of mini coax because i couldnt find any.

Then i ran that short cable (3-4 inches total probably) to this exact connector:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search
From there it connects right to the subaru stock antenna connector.

You also NEED to make sure that your antenna is getting powered. It needs 12v. Look here: http://www.geocities.com/svxdc/WRX-pinout.htm
Pin 14 is what you're looking for, the blue one.

I did NOT use the extra capacitor, because as rando pointed out, there's already one built into the usb unit.

Yes i left the fuses untouched.

After that, i dunno man. Maybe try checking your usb connections etc. I'm also a very good solderer, its pretty hard to get a perfect solder job on that little board.

Last edited by Lithoss; 07-17-2007 at 08:05 AM..
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Old 07-16-2007, 09:41 PM   #337
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The powered antenna may be my problem.

When I tied into the harness to connect my speakers from my carpc, I left the power antenna wire disconnected which would mean that the power antenna isn't getting the juice it needs...

I'll have to take a look this evening after work!
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Old 07-17-2007, 12:03 AM   #338
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Quote: Originally Posted by NiSlo View Post
The powered antenna may be my problem.

When I tied into the harness to connect my speakers from my carpc, I left the power antenna wire disconnected which would mean that the power antenna isn't getting the juice it needs...

I'll have to take a look this evening after work!

Without the power yeah I'd be surprised if you got any signal at all. I got a little bit, but it was night v day when i powered it.
Even so, silabs isn't the best solution. It's definately not perfect. I can't wait for the HD tuner....
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Old 07-18-2007, 04:49 AM   #339
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man am i glad that i have the same car as lithoss!
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Old 07-18-2007, 08:09 AM   #340
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Quote: Originally Posted by SmoL View Post
man am i glad that i have the same car as lithoss!

? did ya get it working?
pre '08 impreza's rock
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Old 07-18-2007, 02:54 PM   #341
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Does anyone know of a uk supplier for this ?

Thanks
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Old 07-18-2007, 02:56 PM   #342
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mouser.com will ship to UK, thats where i got mine from
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Old 07-19-2007, 03:41 AM   #343
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Lithoss,

How have you powered your antenna? Just connected it to the acc wire? I guess if the antenna did draw to much, the acc fuse would blow anyway and prevent any damage somewhere.
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Old 07-19-2007, 08:03 AM   #344
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Quote: Originally Posted by NiSlo View Post
Lithoss,

How have you powered your antenna? Just connected it to the acc wire? I guess if the antenna did draw to much, the acc fuse would blow anyway and prevent any damage somewhere.

I ran a 12v rail up to my lilliput from the psu in my computer, i tied it into that. acc would work, but yeah you might blow your fuse, i have no idea how much power the antenna pulls. i have my radar detector powered off acc, i've had no problems. eventually i think you'd want to give it something other than acc.
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Old 07-27-2007, 12:08 PM   #345
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I am a newbie, I installed roadrunner (and I think I have the version with silabs support but it didn't show silabs available in the drop down for config, I just edited the config file to set the value to 7), winamp, digitalfx skin, and have the silabs radio. I can get radio stations ok, but I don't get any RDS. I searched all of this thread and other places but I can't figure out if I am supposed to install something else or configure something to make RDS work.

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