Poor reception on radio
 

I have just put the stock Becker grand prix 612 in my 85 300 sd my other sony went bad also my motorized antenna went bad also so I am trying to go with a regular non motorized version. 1st thing I realized I had to buy a metra 40-vw16 adapter to go from motorola coaxial end on the antenna cable to the antenna cable end which plugs in and the other end screws onto my old antenna cable. If I did'nt have this adapter I would have to run a whole new antenna cable from radio to back fender which seems like it would be a big pita.. When I hooked it up I get no reception I even tried one of those square box mount it on the windshield antennas and got nothing. Any idieas as to why I cannot get hardly any reception? I have a posting in the audio section and got no replies hoping to get some thoughts on the matter hear as if anyone has replaced their motorized antenna with a fixed one. I would be happy if I could get 5 or 10 stations with clear reception.

Check your ground / earth connections

Ditto, the majority of antenna reception problems are due to poor grounding. Using the factory chassis ground creates a larger ground plane.

My stock motor Hirschmann died a while back. After taking it out and taking it apart, it looks like the motor caught fire?? I bought a Hirschmann Auta 2050 antenna. I spliced the power in the trunk's antenna harness and disabled the antenna button on my dash. Now when the radio's power is on, the antenna goes up. When I turn off the radio or turn off the car, the antenna retracts. The Hirschmann Auta 2050 has a universal mount that fit near perfectly on my fender.

The old button on dash has been repurposed and rewired to open my garage.

PM me if you have additional questions/guidance on the install or the trunk's harness.