Do you think maybe the brown connection is actually the "curry" connection on your standards list? as it would be an IF signal which would be used to mix frequencies with the white connector signal.
I guess losing this the worst that would happen would be when you are locked on a station and move out of that area it wont automatically find the same station on a different frequency?

I am by no means an electronic guru here just ONC level 40 odd years ago just after valve era

For interest, Do you notice better reception than when you just bypassed the amp? 2018 SE SDV8 4.4 Byron Blue

I thought about the curry connection, but because the keyed locating tab shapes and positions on the connectors are unique to the colour it was definitely the TV brown type.

Definitely better reception than the bypass bodge... markedly so. To give an example ( I live part in an area there are hills about which block signals, so we only get core TV / radio, and even on shortish journeys I'll cross between mast areas.

Before: DAB would be patchy throughout the town, break on journeys all the time and totally lose signal about 500m from the house. Basically became unlistenable to.

Bodge: It would be patchy in the driveway coming and going, but out and about I would get a solid signal with the very occasional break.

New amp: Solid. Even on the driveway, its doesn't break up and maintains everywhere I've gone so far.

A few months ago, I had a new defender as a courtesy car, and was amazed a how good the DAB was on it because it was able to get signal on the driveway, and I wished mine was able to do that. Now it can, so happy, and well worth £16 off ebay ! For reference, the part number was: CX23-18C847-CA there are loads on ebay.

There were a couple of mounting clips on the back of the unit which I cut and filed off, and then I used a sticky pad to just stick the unit to the aluminium plate where the original amp was. No need to provide a ground connectiononto the plate ... there is no means to do it on the Jag part. ( Its actually mould FoMoCo, so I bet there are a tone of Ford parts out there too.


For more reference to add to the thread. I've noticed that a lot of the part numbers are in the format

####-18C847-##

So if you search for the 18C847 you'll find loads and loads of different antenna amps. V8 or else ...

Well done and great feedback

 2018 SE SDV8 4.4 Byron Blue

Hi , great info been following you post as I have the exact same problem , B1D55 -11 stored , have checked my unit under the spoiler , no corrosion at all and all connection look ok , so will be going for a new module like you did
Can you confirm did you cure the TV reception problem with this also ? I cant see any mention to it ?
Thanks

Hi Bisto,

I had no way of testing the modules beyond seeing the corrosion having travelled from the grounding leg into the casing and the casing having split as a result. So I knew they wouldn’t be working. If yours look in good condition, then it might be worth just sanding / filing the contact points as a quick test. I used a multi-meter to measure the resistance between the ground point of module, the stud it bolts to and the grounding wires that the metal plate attaches to near the tailgate hinges. Sanding down the places of contact did greatly improve getting the resistance down towards zero … as before any work, even though it looks bolted together, I couldn’t seem to get a closed circuit through the setup, the ground plane seemed open circuit to the chassis grounding points.


I’ve also read that the DAB module which the aerial amps send their signals to can fail from time to time, and that their replacement has fixed issued or massively improved performance.

As for TV … Its just not a feature I use at all, so cant speak at all to the reception quality before / after. Again, where I live has the absolute minimum of terrestrial TV channels. I would say though, that when I have messed around with it, it has seemed to have found channels and plays them fine.

For my L405, the aerials in the spoiler space are definitely AM/FM on the left, and FM/DAB3 on the right … so none of the work should have affected TV either way. Whilst I’ve not exposed the to work on the trim, my understanding is that the TV antenna and antenna amps are located in the rear quarter window areas. V8 or else ...

Fisha , thanks for your reply , I held back coming back to you as I wanted to try a couple of options first , but still doesn't work .
So no dab signal whatsoever , not a poor signal or a bad signal , but no signal , when you try and autotune its whizzes down to 100% and says no reception ,stored "old" stations no reception , still with the B1D55-11 stored , sometimes it goes to B1D55-13 ?
I have changed the aerial/amplifier under the spoiler on the right like yours , no change (tbh it looked ok) , and then I changed the DAB control unit again no change whatsoever ! Feed and earth to the DAB control unit and optical working ? Taken out radio unit and all connections connected and checked the other TV control units in tailgate area etc just in case
I am now thinking it has broken aerial wire somewhere ??
Very frustrating , even thought about running a separate aerial to the DAB control unit ?
Any suggestions welcomed !!

Do you have any additional equipment in the car like dashcams ? They are known to cause notable interference of DAB / radio signals in a car. When I first set out trying to fix the issue, I bought a load of ferrite cores and used them around the power cables to the dashcams. ( Whether it made a difference or not, no idea, as at that time I hadn't discovered the corrosion of the aerial amps in the spoiler. V8 or else ...

No , I haven't.
TBH the car is new to me I have only had it for about 2 months and the DAB has never worked since I had it (i.e was like it when I bought it , but I didn't check it until I got home !)
I did find an old tracker behind the right hand side rear panel and I thought AH HA ! , but I have totally removed that and according from the sale sheet it was fitted from brand new anyhow , so wasnt a problem in the past apparently ?
I will do some more investigation next weekend, I don't particularly need it , but I just like everything to work as it should !
On a positive note , my rear right TV didn't work ( which the seller gave me money off for) and I found an unplugged wire under the drivers seat which was an easy fix

Bisto36 wrote:

checked the other TV control units in tailgate area etc just in case
I am now thinking it has broken aerial wire somewhere ??
Very frustrating , even thought about running a separate aerial to the DAB control unit ?
Any suggestions welcomed !!

Kot , Hi , thanks for the info , sorry for delay coming back

Just an update , tried all the TV connections etc as suggested and TBH the TV reception is a lot better now ,actually watchable especially on the motorway it holds good reception for our last trip of 120 miles !

Still have no reception on DAB radio , so today I tried a surrogate aftermarket DAB aerial plugged direct into the DAB control unit and boom all my DAB radio stations back !
So looks as I have a break in the aerial wire between aerial and DAB unit , so I am thinking I may just put a separate DAB aerial into the car (possibly boot side window) which would be a lot easier than ripping it all apart to trace the break in the OE aerial harness

 2018 SE SDV8 4.4 Byron Blue