My antenna motor gets a lot of wear from going up and down all the time with the car. I actually listen to the radio very infrequently, but the antenna goes up whenever the CD player is on. I'd like to add a switch to keep the antenna down when I don't need it. I've already done this successfully, but I'd like to use an illuminated switch. What is the best way to hook up a lighted switch? I could easily the switch's power to a constant +12V source, but that would leave the light on all the time even if the car was off (thus discharging the battery). Any was I could wire it so that the switch is only lit when the antenna is up? And what is the voltage running to the antenna motor?


Thanks for your help...

Doug

 

wait.. you mean your antenna stays UP when the CD PLAYER is ON? That shouldnt be.. it should come down once you select the CD Player...

 

yeah, that's just how my HU works. Blaupunkt Alaska, a few years old... it's a pain in the butt and it causes a lot of wear on the motor.

 

You can probably find a switch that lights up when it's turned on. This will be a matter of how the switch is hooked internally to its light. You have to provide a ground for it. The thing you need to be careful about is not sucking too much current (milliamps) from the antenna signal output from the head unit, which is what I assume you are switching. You don't want to smoke your head unit.

 

I have a couple of switches that light up when they're on. I can hook the "load" lead up to the antenna and ground the switch, but that still leaves me with the problem of where I should get the power for the light. I can't hook it up to the battery direcrly, because then the light will always be on. I need some way to wire it so that the switch light is only on when the HU is on. I could always use switches that don't light up, but I would prefer to.

 

I purchased an aftermarket antenna, But i cannot seem to figure out what 12volt currnt wire to use....Where can i tap into so that it goes up when i turn the radio on and come down when off.. btw i have the stock wiring harness in the back where the jack is, they have green purple blue colors on them.. but i cannot tell which is the power and whats the radio on off for the antenna. Does anyone have time to help me put one on? I'll gladly pay you $$ and pizza..or something

 

Should be 5 wires that go back to the antenna:

Y/G: (yellow/green) ACC/ignition power
BR/W: (brown/white) battery power
W: (white) ignition/start power
G/Y: (green/yellow) antenna turn-on signal
B: (black) ground

Ignore the purple and grey wires: they're only to connect the antenna control relay with the motor. You probably just need to tap into the battery power, ground, and antenna turn-on wires.

 

You probably have a 3-terminal switch, which intends to receive +12V power on one terminal, ground on another, and the third terminal is switched to receive the +12V power when on. If the switch lights up when turned on, then the light is internally wired in the switch between the switched terminal and ground. If the switch light stays on all the time, then it is wired between the 12V terminal and ground.

Now that I think about it, you can just reverse which terminal you call 12V and which you call the switched one to change how the switch behaves.

The problem here is that you want to switch the antenna turn-on signal from the radio to the antenna, and this signal was only meant to supply enough power for the antenna relay. If you add a light bulb in parallel, there's a chance that you might try to draw too much power from this signal and mess up something in the radio. The signal may only provide a couple hundred milliamps, and a 6W bulb requires 500 milliamps.

 

The switch lights up only when it is in the "on" position. No problem... I will just use a non-lighted switch. Now, I have a very similar issue with the switch I'd like to use to give/kill power to my CD changer (it's a long story). It's the same type of switch, the changer receives +12V. All I need (just like with the antenna) is a power source for the light that ONLY supplies power when the head unit is on (or, I can settle for when the headlights are on). Is this possible?

Thanks in advance!

 

Like I just said above, you need to wire one side of the bulb to the switched output, the other side to ground.

 

I don't understand.. how will that light up the bulb? I have it that way right now and the switch works, but doesn't light up. I'm thinking maybe I can find a switch that is illuminated regardless of if it is switched on or off, then I can just wire the light's power to the ignition.

 

Let's start with some basics.

A bulb should light up if you apply +12V to one side and ground to the other. Break either of these connections, and the bulb will not light up.

If you apply +12V to one side of a switch, then the other side of the switch will be (nothing, floating) when the switch is turned off, or it will be +12V when the switch is turned on.

Now, let's call that "other side of the switch" the "switched output". Do not confuse this with the side of the switch that is always connected to +12V.

Let's connect the "switched output" to one side of the bulb, and ground to the other side.

You should be able to see that if the switch is on, the bulb should light up, and if the switch is off, the bulb will not light up.

Now, on the other hand, if you get the switch connections backward, then you will find that the bulb will always be on, even though the device connected to the switch works as you'd expect.

If you cannot understand this, then you are fully qualified for a job in government, and should apply for such a job immediately.

 

I understand electricity.. I'm asking why the light would always be on when the switch is off, which opens the circuits between the +12V and the ground and "load". If there is no electricity running through the switch, why would it be on all the time? Also, this isn't really helping with my problem. I DO NOT want the bulb to be on all the time, or even when the switch is "on". If this were the case, I would have to flip the switch every time I shut off the car.

 

If you will re-read my last post, you will note that I explained why the light might be on all the time. Note that the switch is probably only a single pole switch, meaning it only makes or breaks one connection. It does not turn off both the power and the ground at the same time. It just turns off the power.

With regard to turning the light off when the car is turned off, this can be resolved by appropriately choosing your 12V power source. You should choose a source that only has 12V when the car is turned on. The standard radio power is such a source. You can look in the wiring diagrams in Chiltons (or the factory manual) for other sources.

 

Are there such things as lighted switches where the power for the switch's light is separate from that of the load, or am I stuck using the same power source for the switch light and the accessory?

 

I'm sure you could find such a thing if you looked around enough. Also you might consider a light that is completely independent of the switch.

 

I would do that, the only problem is that I don't really have any place to put a light. I will figure it out though.. thanks for your help, I am all set now.

 

I tap into the Harness that has lots of wires from the stock antenna?
1- br/w for the 12v consistant power
2-g/y for the antenna turn on signal( meaning when radio is on the antenna will entend?)
3- run black wire (ground to a metal surface on the back of the Maxima where the jack goes.?
Is that all I have to do... ? Simple.. i'll try it tomorrow, Thank You..

P.s. What are the other 2 wires on the stock harness ...

you explained the other wires but the last one... It seems to all connect to the antenna via a samll plastic piece that when you open it up contains a ciruit board or something or that sort....atleasr on the 89-93 max 3 rd gen


BTW Is the motor worth anything... The mast is broken... but i think it not repairable... but the more would be still good

 

o ok.. the antenna comes up wont retract... with no switch....
i had to used a switch for the antenna to come up and down is a wire where the stock wire connects to the antenna. But the switch is for when you want to cut the 12v o what ever..
------when the radio or cd is on .. it should be up but i dont want to use a switch.. i want it the way stock was... power radio on power anttena on.. power off radio off antenna

right now i have a switch at the back of the trunk... so everytime i want the antenna up or down i have to open the trunk and switch it manually ... but what i am looking for is radio on power on... radio off power off.....

like the current fro the radio is off the antenna is off.... like that.. i am so confused but so far it works... just a hassle to get to the switch..

 

Do you have the stock head unit? If it's not, is the antenna turn-on lead from the head hooked up to the wiring harness?

 

Sorry for the confusion... The way i had it wired be fore was wrong.. I had the brown wire connected to the radio signal of the antenna. and the yellow part to the 12v wire of the antenna...


Now i have it wired this was...

1- brown wire to the 12v power antenna wire
2- yellow wire to the radio signal of the antenna..


Ok now it goes up and down with out a switch.
It goes up when the key is in the acc or on, but when the radio is turned off while the key is still in the acc or on mode, the anttena wont go down...
The antenna will only go down when the key is taken out or in the off postion... This is ok for now but what will happen when i go to the car wash... i have to lower the antenna some how, and the only way is to put the car in neutral and turn the car off while in the car wash....lol...

But can any one figure out which wire would work so that the antenna will go up with radio on and go down with radio off.?

Schmoo= ??? its an after market radio.. here the scoop... the after market radio when on the orignal antenna would come up.. and vice versa when the radio was off the antenna would retract.. so there must be a connection or wire in the stock harness so if that s you question then thats my answer. Basically i want to acheive the same result from the aftermarket antenna i just purchased... there must be some wire out there..

much appericated

 

Sounds like you still got the wiring wrong.

It sounds like you've wired the antenna's turn on lead to the ACC power instead of to the head unit's turn-on signal.

 

Yellow / green= acc/ignition power
but then you say
Green/ Yellow Antenna signal...


There must be another wire..... the wire i am looking for make the antenna go up when the head unit is on and the antenna extends.... vice versa when the head unit is off the antenna should retract!!!


HELP>>>
so far like i said it only goes up when the acc is on and go down when the acc is in the off postion

 

Um, yeah. That's the green/yellow wire. You used the yellow/green wire, which is the ACCessory power. Doesn't it all make sense now?

 

SO WAIT you mean to tell me there is different wires....OK i am starting to get it.... Is it a solid yellow with a green stripe... or the solid green with the yellow stripe....


NoW it make sense..... it seem to mean the same wire b4... Next time you have to explain for those who are starting to learn electrical wiring...lol


OK last time brown wire = 12v power
then get the ????? 1 ---Solid green wire with yellow stripe ....
2---- solid yellow wire with green stirpe...

just answer #one or #two...


THANKS

 

#one. Whenever two colors are listed in the wiring diagram, the first color is the main wire color, and the second color is the color of the stripe.

 

Now i got it... got it Understand now... okok first color = solid second wire = stripe...


G/Y========hense solid green/ yellow srtipe

i'll try to connect the appropriate wire later on...