Chorus and Diversity aerial

[Robin_Cox]

My other half's 52-plate A2 1.4SE came with a blingy aftermarket radio that doesn't speak to the car (there is a radio error in the VCDS fault list and you need to manually power it down when the keys are removed etc.) and has erratic connection to the left side speakers. I decided to replace it with a Chorus II / Concert II to get the OEM look and hopefully better co-operation with the onboard systems, and picked up a good condition Chorus II here last week. Have the code ready to use - and then noticed yesterday that the Chorus only has a single aerial socket on the back - I thought the only difference was cassette vs CD. Her car has all of the much-discussed Diversity stuff in the battery compartment and tailgate, so I'm anticipating that there will be both aerial cables in the front when I get round to fitting.

The plugs are different so it is clear which one will be connected - but will Chorus work with the main aerial cable only plugged in, or does the aerial system rely on both cables being connected to work as an aerial irrespective of the head unit fitted? The aftermarket radio does pick up her favourite FM station, so if it doesn't work with the new head unit I'll be getting my head nipped...

Any suggestions / thoughts will be much appreciated - I suspect I'm getting a bit paranoid here.

 

[Birchall]

I am no ICE expert but as far as I know on the standard radio there should only be one aerial connection, check to see if the previous owner fitted an adapter to split the one cable into two at the back of the radio area.

Steve B

 

[Robin_Cox]

I've just managed to answer my own question - having forgotten earlier that I have my own SE (Concert II with both diversity aerial cables on the back of the head unit) car on the drive to experiment with.

In short, once swapped over, the Chorus II just uses the standard main coax aerial cable and the other three loom plugs slot in as expected. The secondary diversity aerial cable with the wee yellow plug pushes out of the way behind with the radio clicked home. Switched the radio on and entered the code obtained from Sarge's suggested Ebay link using the RDS / Scan buttons before and after. Worked first time, tuned into all of the usual radio stations on FM and AM without issue. It goes on and off with the ignition. Switched off, put my Concert II back with both aerials and it picked the memorised stations up straight away.

On balance then, this should go into my other half's car fine this afternoon when she gets home if I can get the aftermarket radio out. If only all issues proved so simple!