An attractive feature in my 1966 Jag is the original Smiths
Radiomobile radio fitted by Henlys when new, and the
appearance and sound quality is very good despite being a LW
/ MW only unit. Unfortunately, there are nowadays nearly no
radio stations worth listening to still broadcasting on
MW/LW. I did not want to go down the route of converting to
negative earth and fitting a modern stereo, and wanted to
retain the original unit and sound quality. The solution is
what is known as a �wired modulator� and there are a few
variants available in the marketplace, but the one I have
settled on is the Redirad, designed and manufactured in the
US. What this does is connect iphone, mp3 player,
smartphone, CD player, whatever makes sound and has a 3.5mm
output socket, directly to the original radio via the
antenna lead. The unit is small (a little larger than a pack
of playing cards) light, and easy to connect. The case seems
sturdy, and the wires, particularly the antenna male &
female leads are of a very good quality. Instructions are
clear, and adapters to allow connection to existing fused
power supply are included. The power and earth wires around
5 feet long, the 3.5mm jack lead is around 6 feet long,
although the antenna connectors are short, it is designed to
be located near where the antenna leads enters the radio
itself. I did find also a short series of videos on youtube
showing one of these being fitted to a 1980�s BMW (FM
version). The only difficulty if there is one, and this
will vary from car to car, is the routing of wires etc. The
unit is designed for the very widely used �Motorola� type
aerial lead connectors, but adaptors are widely available
online for around �5 if your car or radio is fitted with a
different set up.
Unplug radio antenna from radio.
Plug RediRad into Radio antenna socket.
Plug Antenna lead into RediRad.
Electrical connection is one to an ignition controlled power
supply, and to earth.
That�s it, and you are left with a lead (with a 3.5mm jack)
to plug into whatever you would like to play. I have placed
the unit in my car behind the facia just on top of the radio
itself, secured with cable ties (again included in the
pack). Connect up the player, and tune in on the radio to
1000KHz (the �10� position on some radios, or 300 metres.) I
have tried an mp3 player, Nokia smartphone and an iphone,
and all work fine.
Available for positive & negative earth cars, 6 or 12v, and
there is an FM version for cars fitted with FM radio. The
sound quality is as good as the radio amp & speaker, and I
like the tone of modern music on my cars single 6� speaker.
Not just for music; plug in your smartphone and you have
effectively got a hands free installation, (and in my car
the unused ashtray is the perfect cradle for a phone) with
the inbound call being heard through the radio speaker(s),
as you would with a modern hands free system, and if you
want to use the satnav on a phone, again, it will play
through the radio.–
John & Tigger (3.4 Mk 2 Auto 1966)
Neston, Cheshire., United Kingdom
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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