96 850 Wagon antenna question.

[Bob Mazzi]

Well, that's not the answer I wanted, but is the answer I needed.

I was surprised by the powered unit on the left side. I may experiment to see, and to try using the right side only as a way to confirm that the amp on the left is actually helping. I have found some articles ( not Volvo specific ) about combining antennas and they seem to say that adding a second antenna to a weak system can help. But obviously that can't refer to a system that's got amps scattered in the mix already.

[BEJinFbk]

Thinking a little more about it,
if you already have the right glass,
adding the adapter box and coax
up to the front wouldn't be too bad.
Then just drop an SC-816 in there
and see what you get. At that point,
it would be Plug-N-Play.

And just for grins, check the snap
on the existing window connection.
Every once in a while, oxidization
can occur there and cause problems.
Just Be Careful snapping it back on..

[Bob Mazzi]

Hmm. Would the SC-816 use the same plugs? And what about the amp?

As far as the glass, that's in and watertight. The right antenna cable stops under the 3rd row seat back. I did not get anything further forward than that, but it should be available at the local U-Pull It for next to nothing but time.

I'll look at the specs of the 816 and see what additional features I'd get.

[scot850]

The earlier cars up to 97 used an amp mounted behind the radio unit under the dash. Later this was replaced in the S/V/C70 with the amp moving under the front seat and a harness that connected to the original connectors to the back of the radio (the 2 large rectangular ones), and extended the wires to the amp and then ran connectors removing the speakers as they were fed directly, to the rear of the radio along with an additional round plug connector that plugs into the rear of the radio in the 'AMP' connector. This later amp also works with the earlier radio as well. Down side is you have to find the long NLA cable which is either an EBay or MVS for sale item or your local junkyard.

The SC-816 will fit your cables and use the current antenna plug as well. It will also drive your CD changer as well.

You can still find the head units cheap unless you go on Ebay and want to pay $400 for a Bluetooth enabled unit.....!

If you really want a cable, amp or head unit and cannot find them anywhere else I have a few cleaned and tested units. As you are in the US shipping is the killer.

Neil.