Nissan Diversity Antenna Adapter
I got one (I think it's the right one... says it applies to '00-01 Maxima w/ BOSE) at Walmart for $8 (Scosche brand). Haven't got the rest of my equipment in so I haven't tried it yet.
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 19
http://www.sounddomain.com
$8.90 including shipping
$8.90 including shipping
I just got my system working last night, got to listen to the radio this morning. This is using the Scosche adapter from Walmart (Sounddomain.com sells Scosche products, so that might be the Scosche adapter on sounddomain.com)
Two words: It sucks.
Reception's notably worse than it was with the stock Bose unit in place. I'm going to scope out other sources (crutchfield, autotoys, etc.) and maybe do some more in-depth research on the Nissan Diversity system.
Luckily, coming from Walmart, I can return it easily
Two words: It sucks.
Reception's notably worse than it was with the stock Bose unit in place. I'm going to scope out other sources (crutchfield, autotoys, etc.) and maybe do some more in-depth research on the Nissan Diversity system.
Luckily, coming from Walmart, I can return it easily
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 19
I have temporarily connected the diversity antenna double prong plug to a Pioneer head unit using an adapter I made while I wait on something more elegant. It works fine on local stations. I haven't tried it on the highway.
Find an old antenna lead with a plug that will fit the antenna jack on the head unit. (Or go buy a $4.00 antenna with a plug on it.)
Cut the plug end off about four inches from the plug.
Peel off about one inch of insulation to expose the braided ground conductor.
Twist the exposed braid into a single conductor where it emerges from the insulation.
The center wire of the antenna lead should be in a hollow tube.
Insert the prong of the diversity plug that is connected to the thick antenna lead into the tube so the prong contacts the center wire inside the tube.
Insert the twisted ground wire under the clip on the diversity plug so it contacts the metal ground strip under the clip. Resize the center tube until it is short enough if necessary.
Tape the clip to the ground wire by wrapping, then tape wrap the whole connection so it won't fall apart.
Plug antenna into radio and test. If it works, gently install radio so the temporary connection doesn't pull loose.
By using the thick conductor you should connect the rear antenna which has to be grounded at the radio end. The windshield antenna is grounded at the windshield and I haven't tried connecting it yet.
ALTERNATIVELY:
Disconnect rear antenna lead inside rear fender. Get a 25 ft antenna extension and run it from the rear antenna to the radio. This works.
Find an old antenna lead with a plug that will fit the antenna jack on the head unit. (Or go buy a $4.00 antenna with a plug on it.)
Cut the plug end off about four inches from the plug.
Peel off about one inch of insulation to expose the braided ground conductor.
Twist the exposed braid into a single conductor where it emerges from the insulation.
The center wire of the antenna lead should be in a hollow tube.
Insert the prong of the diversity plug that is connected to the thick antenna lead into the tube so the prong contacts the center wire inside the tube.
Insert the twisted ground wire under the clip on the diversity plug so it contacts the metal ground strip under the clip. Resize the center tube until it is short enough if necessary.
Tape the clip to the ground wire by wrapping, then tape wrap the whole connection so it won't fall apart.
Plug antenna into radio and test. If it works, gently install radio so the temporary connection doesn't pull loose.
By using the thick conductor you should connect the rear antenna which has to be grounded at the radio end. The windshield antenna is grounded at the windshield and I haven't tried connecting it yet.
ALTERNATIVELY:
Disconnect rear antenna lead inside rear fender. Get a 25 ft antenna extension and run it from the rear antenna to the radio. This works.
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 19
I have temporarily connected the diversity antenna double prong plug to a Pioneer head unit using an adapter I made while I wait on something more elegant. It works fine on local stations. I haven't tried it on the highway.
Find an old antenna lead with a plug that will fit the antenna jack on the head unit. (Or go buy a $4.00 antenna with a plug on it.)
Cut the plug end off about four inches from the plug.
Peel off about one inch of insulation to expose the braided ground conductor.
Twist the exposed braid into a single conductor where it emerges from the insulation.
The center wire of the antenna lead should be in a hollow tube.
Insert the prong of the diversity plug that is connected to the thick antenna lead into the tube so the prong contacts the center wire inside the tube.
Insert the twisted ground wire under the clip on the diversity plug so it contacts the metal ground strip under the clip. Resize the center tube until it is short enough if necessary.
Tape the clip to the ground wire by wrapping, then tape wrap the whole connection so it won't fall apart.
Plug antenna into radio and test. If it works, gently install radio so the temporary connection doesn't pull loose.
By using the thick conductor you should connect the rear antenna which has to be grounded at the radio end. The windshield antenna is grounded at the windshield and I haven't tried connecting it yet.
ALTERNATIVELY:
Disconnect rear antenna lead inside rear fender. Get a 25 ft antenna extension and run it from the rear antenna to the radio. This works.
Find an old antenna lead with a plug that will fit the antenna jack on the head unit. (Or go buy a $4.00 antenna with a plug on it.)
Cut the plug end off about four inches from the plug.
Peel off about one inch of insulation to expose the braided ground conductor.
Twist the exposed braid into a single conductor where it emerges from the insulation.
The center wire of the antenna lead should be in a hollow tube.
Insert the prong of the diversity plug that is connected to the thick antenna lead into the tube so the prong contacts the center wire inside the tube.
Insert the twisted ground wire under the clip on the diversity plug so it contacts the metal ground strip under the clip. Resize the center tube until it is short enough if necessary.
Tape the clip to the ground wire by wrapping, then tape wrap the whole connection so it won't fall apart.
Plug antenna into radio and test. If it works, gently install radio so the temporary connection doesn't pull loose.
By using the thick conductor you should connect the rear antenna which has to be grounded at the radio end. The windshield antenna is grounded at the windshield and I haven't tried connecting it yet.
ALTERNATIVELY:
Disconnect rear antenna lead inside rear fender. Get a 25 ft antenna extension and run it from the rear antenna to the radio. This works.
Member
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 75
Re: Nissan Diversity Antenna Adapter
Are you going from a diversity antenna to a non-diversity radio, or visa-versa ? I bought a non-diversity radio for my 2000 GXE and then bought an adapter at car audio store for $11, but like spirilis my reception sucks. So I just bought a newer radio that is diversity and am going to swap them.
BTW, if anyone is interested I will have a 1998-1999 non-Bose FM/Tape/CD (with changer control) radio for sale in excellent condition, along with a new 2000 FM/Tape (no CD) radio in mint condition. If you are looking let me know as I would rather sell it here than thru E-Bay.
BTW, if anyone is interested I will have a 1998-1999 non-Bose FM/Tape/CD (with changer control) radio for sale in excellent condition, along with a new 2000 FM/Tape (no CD) radio in mint condition. If you are looking let me know as I would rather sell it here than thru E-Bay.
Supporting Maxima.org Member
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 397
I had a similar problem with my Alpine HU and an antenna adaptor. The adaptors are pretty much all the same you have to make sure that you connect the power antenna wire from the HU to the power antenna wire from the harness. I just found that out and tried it...it makes a total difference.
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 19
I previously responded to this message by saying I made my own diversity antenna adapter. Since them I bought a fancy one (SCOSCHE NDAB) and it doesn't work as well -- about half the range and twoce the multipath distortion of the home made adapter.
I was a little suspicious of the purchased adapter since it had the double prong inputs and two outputs. A check with a continity checker suggested that the two connections don't run straight through but are coupled in some way, leading to the possibility of reduced signal strength if the coupling isn't right (i.e. with only one output connected to the radio).
In addition to Schosche, Directed Electronics, American International and Precision Interface reportedly make the adapters. The descriptions are abbreviated, but at least Metra describes two different adapters, one that has two outputs like the Schosche and "preserves the diversity function" (Model 40-NI10) and one that has only one output and "disables the diversity function" (Model 40-NI11). Therefore, everything pointed to using a diversity antenna with a "diversity radiio", and using a single antenna with a radio having a single antenna input.
Rather than spend more money on trial and error experiments, I looked it up and found this "from a message posted to the NycWireless Mailing List"". I reinstalled my home made adapter and am happy again.
"A diversity antenna system can be compared to a switch that selects one antenna or another, never both at the same time. The radio in receive mode will continually switch between antennas listening for a valid radio packet. [When ...] a valid packet is heard, the radio will evaluate the sync signal of the packet, on one antenna, then switch to the other antenna and evaluate. Then the radio will select the best antenna, and use only that antenna for the remaining portion of that packet....."
I was a little suspicious of the purchased adapter since it had the double prong inputs and two outputs. A check with a continity checker suggested that the two connections don't run straight through but are coupled in some way, leading to the possibility of reduced signal strength if the coupling isn't right (i.e. with only one output connected to the radio).
In addition to Schosche, Directed Electronics, American International and Precision Interface reportedly make the adapters. The descriptions are abbreviated, but at least Metra describes two different adapters, one that has two outputs like the Schosche and "preserves the diversity function" (Model 40-NI10) and one that has only one output and "disables the diversity function" (Model 40-NI11). Therefore, everything pointed to using a diversity antenna with a "diversity radiio", and using a single antenna with a radio having a single antenna input.
Rather than spend more money on trial and error experiments, I looked it up and found this "from a message posted to the NycWireless Mailing List"". I reinstalled my home made adapter and am happy again.
"A diversity antenna system can be compared to a switch that selects one antenna or another, never both at the same time. The radio in receive mode will continually switch between antennas listening for a valid radio packet. [When ...] a valid packet is heard, the radio will evaluate the sync signal of the packet, on one antenna, then switch to the other antenna and evaluate. Then the radio will select the best antenna, and use only that antenna for the remaining portion of that packet....."
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 19
UPDATE:
I apologize for reporting incomplete results, but my last post was incomplete. After listening for a couple of days I wasn't satisfied with the reconnected home made adapter, so I put the Schosche NDAB back in, except this time I did it backwards (tab opposite from slot). For the past 24 hours the reception has been markedly better than either of the two previous alternatives.
The closest FM stations of interest to me are at least 15 miles away, but the towers are humongously tall and on a 1000 foot ridge top. I get a lot of multipath distortion with weak signals because of terrain, and there are all kinds of low power stations today with unknown locations, but I get decent signals with multipath distortion from a high power station about 70 miles away and no hiss signals from the high powered stations within 20 miles.
I apologize for reporting incomplete results, but my last post was incomplete. After listening for a couple of days I wasn't satisfied with the reconnected home made adapter, so I put the Schosche NDAB back in, except this time I did it backwards (tab opposite from slot). For the past 24 hours the reception has been markedly better than either of the two previous alternatives.
The closest FM stations of interest to me are at least 15 miles away, but the towers are humongously tall and on a 1000 foot ridge top. I get a lot of multipath distortion with weak signals because of terrain, and there are all kinds of low power stations today with unknown locations, but I get decent signals with multipath distortion from a high power station about 70 miles away and no hiss signals from the high powered stations within 20 miles.
Supporting Maxima.org Member
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 397
Im a little confused as to why simply plugging the adaptor in backwards would produce a better signal. Like you said, when an antenna is set to diversity it polls both sides and determines the stronger of the two to use for signal. Even when you reverse left and right sides it will still perform the same function. The adaptor is simply taking both radio signals and coupling them to send on one channel. I dont think the radio is polling the antennas unless it is a diversity radio, in which case it would probably have the 2 prong connector. Unless one antenna is getting a much better signal than the other and the adaptor only uses one side then theoretically one half of your antenna is working better. Again this is coming from my experience installing wireless LANS and dealing with multipath distortion. Im not too sure however, of the actual design and function of the adaptor.
Originally posted by a5d
UPDATE:
I apologize for reporting incomplete results, but my last post was incomplete. After listening for a couple of days I wasn't satisfied with the reconnected home made adapter, so I put the Schosche NDAB back in, except this time I did it backwards (tab opposite from slot). For the past 24 hours the reception has been markedly better than either of the two previous alternatives.
The closest FM stations of interest to me are at least 15 miles away, but the towers are humongously tall and on a 1000 foot ridge top. I get a lot of multipath distortion with weak signals because of terrain, and there are all kinds of low power stations today with unknown locations, but I get decent signals with multipath distortion from a high power station about 70 miles away and no hiss signals from the high powered stations within 20 miles.
UPDATE:
I apologize for reporting incomplete results, but my last post was incomplete. After listening for a couple of days I wasn't satisfied with the reconnected home made adapter, so I put the Schosche NDAB back in, except this time I did it backwards (tab opposite from slot). For the past 24 hours the reception has been markedly better than either of the two previous alternatives.
The closest FM stations of interest to me are at least 15 miles away, but the towers are humongously tall and on a 1000 foot ridge top. I get a lot of multipath distortion with weak signals because of terrain, and there are all kinds of low power stations today with unknown locations, but I get decent signals with multipath distortion from a high power station about 70 miles away and no hiss signals from the high powered stations within 20 miles.
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 19
Regarding whether they work --
My two antennas are a 52 inch vertical rod and some kind of printed circuit on the rear window that looks like an unbalanced log periodic design. I think the way it is now hooked up it is using the printed circuit, because when I turn on the rear window heater there is audible hiss on the radio.
My two antennas are a 52 inch vertical rod and some kind of printed circuit on the rear window that looks like an unbalanced log periodic design. I think the way it is now hooked up it is using the printed circuit, because when I turn on the rear window heater there is audible hiss on the radio.
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