1975 w115 300d Power Antenna Wiring Advice Needed

[warmblood58]

Quite a few months ago I picked up a '75 300d mercedes and noticed that it did not have a power antenna but did pull one from an identical car. How to power ? Car has a Becker Europa radio and there are no power leads in the trunk as it appears that this car came with a manual antenna. Any wiring advice? Thanks!

[warmblood58]

?????

[philiprambo]

Thanks for sharing.Keep it up.

[Yak]

Originally Posted by warmblood58

Quite a few months ago I picked up a '75 300d mercedes and noticed that it did not have a power antenna but did pull one from an identical car. How to power ? Car has a Becker Europa radio and there are no power leads in the trunk as it appears that this car came with a manual antenna. Any wiring advice? Thanks!

Since there's been no other response -

You're basically starting from scratch. If the Becker Europa you have has a power antenna adapter, you're partway there. The Becker Autosound site is very useful. I'll assume you've got a Europa II, so you should have an antenna "trigger" pin (#5 in the pic)

europa_stereo_II_1973_80_wiring_diagram

Pin 5 will provide +12 V when the radio is turned on. You'll need to run this to the trunk. It is NOT the power for the antenna, it's just an On/Off signal. I recommend using a blue wire since that's common for antenna trigger wire colors. It wouldn't hurt to put a fuse on this right after the radio since this wire won't be bundled and is at marginally greater risk for pinching or chafing and could short the radio.

The next problem is the antenna from the other "identical" car. It can't be identical, since your car doesn't have a power antenna. Hirschmann antennas (assuming it's a Hirschmann) have both 3 and 5 wire (or even 6) connectors in M-B applications. If the antenna was supposed to have an adjustable height switch, then it's probably a 5 wire; if not, then a 3 wire.

The wires are:

battery hot +12 v
Ground
trigger wire (switched +12 via the radio)
partway up
partway down
(maybe another ground)

If it's a three wire, it's pretty easy. Find the harness for your trunk lamp and verify it's a fused +12 v to the battery. It should be, but I can't guarantee it. This will be the supply wire. I'd recommend red.

Find the ground point and use a brown wire for ground. Identify the correct pins on the antenna and hook it up.

A five wire antenna is also usable, but ID'ing the pins is harder.

Post a pic of the antenna connections, preferably with a model number from the antenna. Hirschmann also has reasonable support on their site, so you should be able to find something to verify connections.