Audio Gateway Fakra Question.....

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milnei

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I'm going to be fitting a MediaDAB over Christmas, and I've been doing some 'pre-install' research.

I've got a CLS with NTG1 Comand and on the Audio Gateway in the trunk there are two Fakra antenna connections. Why are there two and what do they do?

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1354993565.815207.jpg

The MediaDAB needs to connect to the antenna input to function correctly. Which do I choose or do I need the 'dual Fakra' harness that is available?

Also I've got the Plug'n'play harness connection that is supposed to fit BMW & Mercedes, and it has a male Quadlock at one end with a female at the other with a intermediate connector that plugs into the MediaDAB to provide power to the unit and CANbus connection for the steering wheel controllers. However I couldn't see any Quadlock connections on the Audio Gateway, and there isn't one on the back of the NTG1 head unit either.

Am I missing something, or have I got the wrong adapter?

Thanks all :)
 
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npuk

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AGW had dual radio tuners that why it has two connections.

Only Audio 20 CD in pre MY09 W211 has quadlock connection on the back. Did you actually check with the manufacturer this device is compatible with Comand NTG1?
 
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milnei

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Ah ha, that explains why I can't find any Quadlocks then. The Plug'n'Play adapter is going back then!

Which means I have to wire it in myself. Not too tricky to find the power supplies, but just need to be pointed in the right direction for the correct CAN H and CAN L wires which allow the MediaDAB to be controlled using the steering wheel buttons.

Am I right in thinking that I can actually put the MediaDAB anywhere in the CAN 'chain' so long as the 'polarity' in terms of H and L, and the IN and OUT directions are correct....?

If I am correct, looking at the wiring diagram for the CAN between the SAM and Audio Gateway, it looks like a brown/red wire is the CAN H, and the brown is the CAN L.

So looking at the wires going towards the Audio Gateway, are they to be the OUT H and L leaving the IN H and L going to the SAM, or the other way round with the IN H and L going to the Audio Gateway and the OUT to the SAM....:confused:

Sometimes I wish it was all simple like in the old days, I can remember the entire wiring diagram for my first car (1972 VW Beetle) fitting onto 1 page in the Haynes Manual....:roll:
 

Comand

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I'm going to be fitting a MediaDAB over Christmas, and I've been doing some 'pre-install' research.

I've got a CLS with NTG1 Comand and on the Audio Gateway in the trunk there are two Fakra antenna connections. Why are there two and what do they do?

View attachment 21079

The MediaDAB needs to connect to the antenna input to function correctly. Which do I choose or do I need the 'dual Fakra' harness that is available?

Also I've got the Plug'n'play harness connection that is supposed to fit BMW & Mercedes, and it has a male Quadlock at one end with a female at the other with a intermediate connector that plugs into the MediaDAB to provide power to the unit and CANbus connection for the steering wheel controllers. However I couldn't see any Quadlock connections on the Audio Gateway, and there isn't one on the back of the NTG1 head unit either.

Am I missing something, or have I got the wrong adapter?

Thanks all :)

Shameless plug I know but you need one of these;
http://www.comandonline.co.uk/in2digi-DAB-radio-D1.html

Works really well with NTG1
 
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milnei

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I know in2digi would be the best way to go but I just can't justify £500. I'm not saying it isn't worth that much but I've struggled to justify to myself the upgrade from my Pure Highway to the MediaDAB, and that's £250 for the benefit of DAB station readout on the headunit and CANBus control from the steering wheel buttons (plus hopefully slightly improved reception performance :neutral:).

The extra £250 for in2digi would only add full digital processing and a slightly improved interface over the MediaDAB.

And all this is in the context of getting the best signal to whatever device I'm using and that's down to the antenna. I've recently upgraded from a Kinetic external magnetic one to a roof mounted amplified Kinetic DRA-6003, which is still not great. I guess I'm unlucky to live and drive around an area with patchy reception, so with that in mind, spending £500 for anything that's still relying on patchy reception wouldn't be advisable.....:Oops:
 

Comand

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I know in2digi would be the best way to go but I just can't justify £500. I'm not saying it isn't worth that much but I've struggled to justify to myself the upgrade from my Pure Highway to the MediaDAB, and that's £250 for the benefit of DAB station readout on the headunit and CANBus control from the steering wheel buttons (plus hopefully slightly improved reception performance :neutral:).

The extra £250 for in2digi would only add full digital processing and a slightly improved interface over the MediaDAB.

And all this is in the context of getting the best signal to whatever device I'm using and that's down to the antenna. I've recently upgraded from a Kinetic external magnetic one to a roof mounted amplified Kinetic DRA-6003, which is still not great. I guess I'm unlucky to live and drive around an area with patchy reception, so with that in mind, spending £500 for anything that's still relying on patchy reception wouldn't be advisable.....:Oops:

Fair comment. Here is what the MediaDab product info says;

"High quality audio reproduction via FM stereo modulation with 8 selectable frequencies."

So you are limited with frequencies to what the FM signal can support.

Antenna selection and positioning is very important with DAB.
 

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Trying not to high jack the thread,,, My Star says DAB can be retrofitted, but nothing in WIS for mine or the 221
 
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milnei

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I was under the impression that factory DAB could only be retrofitted to post 09 CLS, unless you retrofit NTG2.5 to earlier cars.

Also, to get a full factory retrofit I assume a new rear screen would be necessary as I doubt my 07 CLS would have the DAB antenna embedded in it....

Still looking for CANBus guidance though. The basic installation instructions for the MediaDAB say I have to tap into the CANBus high and low, between the steering wheel buttons and the Radio head unit and shows a picture of the back of what I assume to be an Audio 20 head unit.

attachment.php


In my case with NTG1, I'd therefore assume that the steering wheel CANBus signals actually go to the Audio Gateway in the boot. So I think I'd need to tap into the CANBus high and low going into the Audio Gateway N93/1 on connector 5a and pins 2 and 4 from the rear SAM unit N10/2.

attachment.php


Any advice greatly received.....:)
 

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television

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Is not the steering wheel CAN a different one to whats used in the car (CAN B), I have not looked at the diagram for later cars, but the steering wheel buttons on my 230 used the Robert Bosch CAN.
 
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milnei

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Is not the steering wheel CAN a different one to whats used in the car (CAN B), I have not looked at the diagram for later cars, but the steering wheel buttons on my 230 used the Robert Bosch CAN.

Eeeek, getting worried.....:confused:
 

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Eeeek, getting worried.....:confused:

Do not be, as I said I have not looked at the later CAN systems,,,, back in 2003 ish the instrument cluster talked to the steering wheel controls via this Robert Bosch CAN, this may have changed with the start of the Audio gateway, I have not looked at it all yet.
 

Comand

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Trying not to high jack the thread,,, My Star says DAB can be retrofitted, but nothing in WIS for mine or the 221

DAB can be retrofitted to W221, W204, w207, W212 and model year 2009 others onwards. Head unit must have fibre capability though.

The Canbus distributor on the CLS (W219) and E class (W211) is located up behind the glove box which you can get to by simply dropping the kick plate down.
 
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milnei

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The Canbus distributor on the CLS (W219) and E class (W211) is located up behind the glove box which you can get to by simply dropping the kick plate down.

Is that the area I need to tap into for the CANBus line from the steering wheel buttons to the Audio?? If so, what's that unit called so I can search for it on WIS

OR

Is the placement in the CANBus 'ring' not important, and so long as the Hi - Lo and in - out are correctly wired then it's OK??

OR

Should I still be targeting the connections into the Audio Gateway??

Your great knowledge is appreciated.....;)

Locating the MediaDAB near the AGW would be best as I've now got the dual Fakra adapter which will plug into the AGW. Although running the MediaDAB CANBus wires to the glovebox isn't a big problem, it would just be neater if everything was located near the AGW.
 

Comand

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Is that the area I need to tap into for the CANBus line from the steering wheel buttons to the Audio?? If so, what's that unit called so I can search for it on WIS

OR

Is the placement in the CANBus 'ring' not important, and so long as the Hi - Lo and in - out are correctly wired then it's OK??

OR

Should I still be targeting the connections into the Audio Gateway??

Your great knowledge is appreciated.....;)

Locating the MediaDAB near the AGW would be best as I've now got the dual Fakra adapter which will plug into the AGW. Although running the MediaDAB CANBus wires to the glovebox isn't a big problem, it would just be neater if everything was located near the AGW.

There are Can wires on the AGW fibre connector. You can tap into those.
you need to remove the left side boot carpet, swing the nav drive housing out after undoing the bolt. Then you can reach up and disconnect the cables from the AGW to work on them. The mounting bracket for the nav drive will have plenty of space in it for the MediaDab to be tie-wrapped into it. Itll make a neat installation.
 
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milnei

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Cheers. I'm familiar with getting access to the AGW, but glad to know that the CAN wires on the MOST connection are the ones I need to tap into :)
 
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milnei

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Update on the MediaDAB installation.....

After a few small issues with getting the system to scan for available channels it's up and running fine. DAB reception is flawless with only very occasional signal loss and nothing nearly as bad as I had with the Pure Highway.

Some slight sibilance occasionally that I can live with (I guess caused by the FM modulation) but there are a few Mercedes specific problems that hopefully will be resolved through feedback to the manufacturer. These are:

The up and down arrows on the steering wheel are reversed so when in the configuration menus, up arrow goes down the list of options, not a biggie but takes some getting used to, and can make channel hopping a little confusing.

The up and down arrows should be contextual, so when in telephone mode you can search through your phone book, however they change dab station instead. Strangely though the arrows still work as they should in other contexts (such as the temp-service-speed mode). To use the phone I now need to either turn the MediaDAB off (by pressing +-+- volume buttons), or use the COMAND tel button and menues.

My unit's firmware and voice data were out of date so I tried to perform an upgrade using downloaded latest software from the manufacturer (Paser.it). However when it comes to actually kicking off the update, the unit asks you to press the 'pause' button, which we don't have. I'm having a fully updated unit exchanged for me by the retailer but I hope this is another issue that will be fixed in the future.

All in all, it's an improvement over my old Pure Highway, although I'm now thinking that that was on the blink as the reception 'should' have been better with the high end antennas I have used.
 


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