Inside of radio

[cshepherd]

Here is a pic of the inside of the 6 cd in dash radio. It is the NON RF unit.

Experiences horrible FM reception that sounds like it is in a can. CD's however sound great!

While I have the dash apart, I will track the antenna wire to see if it is fully seated at the antenna.

[alw]

If someone could figure out a fix for this problem...even if it involves resoldering components, I bet they could make a killing on charging for repairs. I for one am tired of waiting.

[bestatchess]

Originally Posted by cshepherd

Here is a pic of the inside of the 6 cd in dash radio. It is the NON RF unit.

Experiences horrible FM reception that sounds like it is in a can. CD's however sound great!

While I have the dash apart, I will track the antenna wire to see if it is fully seated at the antenna.

Did you notice where the AUX input comes in? Is there anything that looks likely to adjust the AUX level?

[cshepherd]

Originally Posted by bestatchess

Did you notice where the AUX input comes in? Is there anything that looks likely to adjust the AUX level?

The Aux input disappears into a bundle of wires that are all taped together. At some point it has to make its way up to the receiver, but I could not trace it without removing tape and foam padding. Did not want to do that if I ever end up taking the thing into the dealer. I could hear it now... "have you been inside of here?, Sorry Charlie, but your warranty is now void!"

I did not see anything on the board that was obvious for the aux input, although there are several of those adjustment pots on the board, just have no idea what each one is supposed to do.

[BigJoe_Titan]

The Service manual contains the schematics, wiring diagrams and other info on the radio. You may want to check it and see if any information on adjustments. I haven't read the entire documentation so cannot say for sure if it will help you.

[pagerdaddy]

Originally Posted by cshepherd

I did not see anything on the board that was obvious for the aux input, although there are several of those adjustment pots on the board, just have no idea what each one is supposed to do.

I would strongly advise against making any adjustments on your board.
Without the right equipment to monitor the results, you are more likely to
make things worse or screw it up completely. Also, many of those pots
will break quite easily.

If you do try tweaking it, try not to leave any scratches or bugger any of
the screw heads. Dealer would most certainly deny your warranty claim if
they found such evidence.

I have repaired pagers and a few cellular phones for the last 12 years, but
there is no way in hell I would try to alter anything on my radio, unless I
saw a documented procedure (with photos) showing how someone found
a cold solder joint, trace needing repair, or some obvious defect that could
be fixed easily.

I don't know what kind of equipment the manufacturers use to set up the
radios. Pagers are radio receivers, and I bought $10,000 worth of test
equipment and built a RF isolation screen room just to be able to work on them in the proper manner. When cellular phones became the rage, I took a class from Nokia on doing simple repairs to their phones, but anything having to do with tuning or aligning them for reception was out of the question. A
cell site simulator at that time cost $60,000.

I hope everyone who is having radio problems has checked their antenna
conections from the fender all the way to where it plugs into the back of
the radio. I know my antenna was ready to fall off the fender a couple of
days after I bought the truck. I drove it today for about an hour going
toward Knoxville where the local radio stations are located, and the "ST"
indicator didn't blink one time that I noticed. However, the times I have
noticed problems were when I was about 40 to fifty miles away from the
station. It is also very hilly here in East Tennessee.

I know many of you tired of waiting for a radio fix. I hope the ones that
do go aftermarket will share their upgrades with the rest of us. You guys
that are like me and still have a little patience left, when the radio starts
acting up, just turn it off and listen to the sound of the exhaust, or pop
a Collective Soul "7EVEN YEAR ITCH" in there and crank it up to about 22!

Steve

[stevemis]

For future radio hackers...

There doesn't appear to be a conventional way to adjust input gain. It may be programmed in the DSP unit at the factory.

Receiver and DSP IC's are Philips:

SAA7706H / 210
TEA6858H VAU8UO DP04051

See http://www.semiconductors.philips.co.../saa7706h/n107