jmj951

I'm installing a new radio in my 951 and the antenna signal is terribly weak. With the old radio, the antenna signal was just fine. I think it has something to do with an extra wire that is not hooked up. I've installed a handful of car stereos and I've never seen an antenna connector that has an extra wire attached to it - this is on the car antenna wire itself, not the radio. What is that for, and what should I connect it to?

BTW, the radio is a Becker CDR-220. No frills, just a single CD in-dash, but it does have auxiliary input (iPod connection), 4-ch line out, and it provides a great factory appearance, nice and clean with matching amber lighting. I have the same unit in my 996 and really like it, so when the aftermarket CD player in the car started to go, I went this route. I'll post pics soon.

z851@yahoo.com

These cars actually have an amp for the ant. above the glove box. If you take the glove box out, you should find it. It was a long time ago when I did this but I am almost sure it is a black wire which is a hot (pos.) wire. It sounds crazy to have a pos. lead that is black. But, I am pretty sure this is the case.

C ANDERSON

LOOK AT CLARKS ABOUT RADIO . THERE IS A POWER WIRE TO THE ANT AMP THAT HOOKS TO A SIGNAL WIRE LIKE THE POWER ANT OR AMP TURN ON . THAT WILL POWER UP YOUR ANT AMPLIFIER AND ALL SHOULD BE WELL.
CLIFTON

C ANDERSON

All 944s which employ windshield antennas also use an antenna amplifier. The antenna amplifier is powered from a lead which goes from the head unit to a wire that ties in with the antenna lead. The problem is that there are actually two leads which come from the head unit (both red with white stripes) which feed into the wiring harness and come back out of the harness to a single black lead. The single black lead ties in with the antenna lead. Consequently, when you install the new head unit, you'll need to run a power lead off the head unit to the black amplifier lead or to the two red wires with white stripes going to the black amplifier lead.

FROM CLARKS GARAGE

jmj951

Thanks guys, that did the trick. I ran the accessory/amplifier out 12V+ from the head unit to that little black wire, and now I have FM reception. Thanks!

Also, I have a pic of the installed head unit. The pic didn't turn out well because I had to take it at night and the lighting is terrible, but you get the general idea. For some reason the backlighting looks greenish in the picture, but it's really a nice amber color. The CDR-220 looks really nice, and the fact that it even says Porsche on it is a nice little bonus. Now that the radio looks so nice, I see how ridiculous that little gauge panel looks. I'm going to find an original storage box to put in, and move the AFR gauge to the pillar.

For anyone that might consider putting in a CDR-220 - fyi you can get the installation accessories you need (and the head unit itself) from swstereo.com. They have all of the plugs/connectors for the power, amplified output, line output, and auxiliary input (as well as phone input if you want to get that creative, but there would be a lot more involved as you'd need a separate product that plugged into your phone or received the signal via bluetooth and had RCA connections for the audio out). The physical install is not bad at all - I just had to remove a little plastic from the console for three tabs that stick down from the radio underneath, so that it would sit flush, and I had to adjust the side-locking mechanisms on the CDR-220 to go further back on the unit to clear the extremely thick radio mounting plate of the 944 console.