Antique Automobile Radio 343201B User manual

Release Date
October 2014
1957 FORD
Custom, Fairlane, Ranchero
AM/FM STEREO
RADIO I STALLATIO
A D
OPERATI G I STRUCTIO S
AM/FM9.2
Model 343201B
Add our Bluetooth® adapter kit option!
Answer incoming calls and place outgoing calls
with compatible phones — all without having to
fumble around for your cell phone You can also
stream music from any compatible phone or
tablet — use the dedicated keys to skip or replay
tunes Built in USB 2 1 Amp charger NFC simple
pairing function
A TIQUE AUTOMOBILE RADIO, I C.
700 TAMPA RD. Palm Harbor, FL 34683 USA [phone]
For HELP, Questions or Comments email:
[email protected]

CONGRATULATIONS! You have one of the most unique and sophisticated radios ever built! It is designed for a long trouble free life
and quality sound. Our objective is to preserve the original fit, functions and appearance of your radio while providing superior sound
using the best of the latest digital technology. The more modern features that were not available when your vehicle was new are cleverly
disguised so that they are functional and easily accessible, but are not visible. The face, nobs and pushbuttons are designed and
manufactured to loo and feel just li e the original. The AM dial scale loo s li e the original. The FM dial scale is at the bottom. Please
ta e a few minutes to read this manual and familiarize yourself with all of the features of this radio. Note: The dial pointer and
pushbuttons are electrically operated and will not unction without power. Although this radio is considerably smaller than the
original, it will fit in the dash without any alterations. The radio is designed to wor well with the original antenna. Do not use the
original speakers. They will not handle the power or the frequency range of this radio.
Be ore you begin installation: Be Safe! Disconnect one battery terminal and leave it disconnected until installation is complete. Ma e
sure you are familiar with the options and features programmed into this radio. Locate the antenna jac , the auxiliary input, line outputs
and other options you may need before you mount the radio. If you want to “bench test” the radio use a fully charged battery. DO NOT
operate this radio directly from a battery charger. Serious damage may result!
Be sure your radio voltage and polarity matches your vehicle. This radio is built for 12 volt negative ground systems only! The radio has
several protection circuits to help prevent serious damage from wiring errors and power faults in the vehicle electrical system. Never use a
fuse rated for more than 10 Amps!
A major consideration will be spea ers. The 1955-57 T-Birds were originally designed for only 1 6x9” spea er. There are many
possibilities for additional spea er placements. You will have to decide what will wor best for your application. Will it matter if the
spea ers show? You might consider ic panel, door spea ers, or mounting spea ers under the dash where they’re out of sight. You can
add an external amp or sub woofer (see next page).
Use one 4 ohm spea er for each channel you want to connect. Ma e sure it can handle the wattage! Unless you cran it all the way up
regularly, 30 or 40 watt RMS ratings should be sufficient. The higher the SPL rating of the spea er, the better it sounds. Loo for an SPL
of 88 or better. A good full range spea er should have a frequency range from less than 40 Hz to better than 20 Hz.
Pay attention to polarity! Spea er terminals will be mar ed with a + and - , or a red dot on the + terminal. If all spea ers are connected to
the proper polarity, they will operate in harmony. If they are not properly phased, you will not hear the full fidelity of the radio. Note: (-)
does not mean ground! This is a high power radio. Both spea er lines are driven with high currents! Never ground any speaker lead.
Operating Your Radio
Band selection: The leftmost pushbutton was the On/Off button on original radios. It is now mar ed FM instead of OFF. Each time you
push the FM button the radio will toggle between AM and FM. The radio will always start with the last band and station you were
listening to when power was turned off. The logo in the dial bac ground will be RED while in the AM band, and GREEN in the FM band.
The indicator will turn Orange when a stereo signal is received.
Tuning: Turning the tuning nob will move the dial pointer up or down the dial scale. The dial pointer is positioned with a stepper motor.
The radio can also be tuned using presets (see Setting pushbuttons) or the TOWN and COUNTRY bars. Town bar has reduced
sensitivity li e original. Note: the dial pointer will only move when the radio is turned on.
Tone: The tone control (behind the volume control) provides flat bass and treble near the center position. Turning the control cloc wise
boosts bass, and counter-cloc wise boosts treble.
Balance: Your radio has a balance control behind the tuning control. Turning the balance nob will shift the audio between the left
spea er(s) and the right spea er(s). In a stereo system, the audio information sent to the right channel is often different than the left
channel. When you set the balance to the extreme left or right, the radio will automatically switch out of the stereo mode and all of the
information for both channels will be present in the spea er that is selected (Mono mode).
Fader: In order to allow adjusting the front/rear spea ers without adding visible controls, your radio has a software control that is shared
with the balance control. To access the fader, tune to an FM station and set the balance control for the best sound. After you’ve listened for
a few seconds, tune rapidly to the top of the dial. After a few seconds, the last station you were listening to will start playing again. Use
the balance control to adjust the front/rear fader. When you tune away from the top of the dial, the radio will resume normal operation,
and the balance control will no longer affect the fader function. The fader settings are permanently stored (until you change them). Every
time you turn on the radio, the fader values you last set will be re-loaded. Note: The ader is only operational in the 4 speaker setting.
Setting pushbuttons: Your radio has 5 presets for FM, and 5 presets for AM. A major difference between the original radio and this one is
the way the pushbuttons are set. Never attempt to turn or pull out on the buttons! When you push a button, the radio will start playing
the selected station, and the dial pointer will move to the selected location. To set a button to a different station: (1) Tune in the desired
station. (2) Press and hold the button you want to set. The tuner will move to the previous setting. (3) After about 2 seconds, the radio will
begin playing the newly selected station. The dial pointer may cycle a few times to locate the correct position. This is a normal procedure.
The dial pointer will stop at the new station. (4) Release the button. Be aware it ta es a couple of seconds to write the new pushbutton data
to permanent memory. You can continue to set other buttons or tune other stations, but if the radio is turned off before the write cycle is
completed, the new stations may not be saved. Note: The pushbuttons will only operate when the radio is turned on.
Speci ications
11-16 Volts DC Negative ground only
Output: 180 W. RMS (45 W x 4 spea ers @ 4Ω 14.4 V, 1 Hz)
10 Presets (5 AM, 5 FM) Digitally tuned w/analog display
Dimensions: 8.75” W x 2.55” H x 2.75” D (behind dash)
3.5mm stereo input jac , Standard (Motorola) antenna jac
Left, right and sub woofer outputs use standard RCA jac s
Memory retention (presets and user settings) more than 40 years
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Your radio has a 12 pin connector for the speakers, power, and options. See inset below for more details. There is one red (fused) wire.
This is the main power input. It should be connected to the 12 volt ccessory circuit. There is a green wire that is used for the dial
light. It should be wired to the dash light circuit ahead of the dimmer rheostat so that the radio lights come on when the other gauge
lights are turned on. The wiring for the front speakers includes a blue(+) and violet(-) pair for the left front speaker, and a gray(+) and
white(-) pair for the right front speaker. Each front pair will have a yellow band around it. The rear speaker wiring also has a blue(+)
and violet(-) pair for the left rear speaker and a gray(+) and white(-) pair for the right rear speaker. Each rear pair will have a green
band around it. Your system may not use all of the speaker connections. Be careful to tape up any unused wires where they can not
touch anything. The orange wire is a switched 12 volt output used to provide power for options like remote turn-on for power
amplifiers, power antennas, etc. Do not use it to power loads greater than 4 amps. The black wire is the system ground. This wire
should be connected to a solid chassis ground.
The ANTENNA jack is located beneath the wiring harness exit. It will accept your original antenna plug.
The AUX. NPUT jack in the upper right is a standard 3.5 mm stereo jack. It is provided to allow accessories like MP3 players to be
added to your system. Our Bluetooth® adapter kit option includes a panel mount extension cable that allows you to move this jack
to a more accessible position. To switch to the auxiliary input mode, tune the radio to the extreme low end of the dial in either band.
(Hint:Set a pushbutton at this point to allow rapid switching). The radio will resume playing when you tune towards the middle of the
dial. The volume, tone, and balance controls will be functional in the UX mode, but the alternate fader control will not be accessible.
If the accessory is powered by the orange wire, when the radio is turned off, the accessory will automatically turn off. You should
adjust the accessory audio level to match the level of the radio. Check the instruction manual for your specific option for how to set the
audio level.
Below the ux. input there is an 8 position switch that allows you to select certain options. You can customize your radio for 1, 2, 3, or
4 speakers, and choose reception for merican or European broadcast frequencies. The M broadcast band in the mericas is 530 to
1710 kHz in 10 kHz steps, and for all of Europe, the UK and Japan it is 531 to 1629 kHz in 9 kHz steps. The FM broadcast band in the
mericas is 87.5 to 107.9 MHz in 200 kHz steps, and for western Europe and the UK it is 87.5 to 108.0 MHz in 100 kHz steps. Japan
and eastern Europe FM frequencies are not compatible with this receiver. Your radio is shipped with 4 speakers and North merica
selected. The switch has an arrow and a screwdriver slot molded into it. It is intended to be set (if necessary) before installation. It is
only read when the radio is powered on. ny further changes will be ignored until the next time the radio is powered on. In the 4
speaker position all 4 speakers are active and the balance and fader controls work as described. In the 3 speaker position, the left front
speaker is turned off, the right front speaker is always on. The balance control shifts between the left rear and right rear speakers and
there is no fader. In the 2 speaker position both rear speakers are turned off, the balance control is active but there is no fader. In the 1
speaker position, only the right front speaker is functional and neither the balance or fader controls have any effect. In this setting the
receiver and the aux inputs operate in mono mode so that the information from both the right and left channels will be heard in the
single speaker. The stereo indicator will not function.
Below the speaker switch are 3 color-coded RC jacks. These are line outputs for an external power amplifier. The Left (white) and
Right (red) jacks are stereo line outs, and the black one is for a sub-woofer amp input. While a discussion of external amplifiers and
their myriad of options is beyond the scope of this manual, we have had excellent results testing this radio with a JBL model GTO-
3EZ power amplifier. It is ready to plug in and play right out of the box, the instructions are clear and easy to follow, and it sounds
great! While we do not sell or endorse any particular amplifier or brand, we found this one to be readily available on line and well
suited to our requirements in the testing department.
There is a ¼ 20 stud on the back of your radio with a 7/16” nut. In the box that your radio came in is a 9” backstrap that can be easily
shaped to support your radio. It will provide a better ground and help support the radio while taking some of the stress off of the
control shafts. It should be bolted to the steel dash brace below the radio (see next page).
The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by ntique
utomobile Radio, Inc. is under license. Other trademarks and trade names are those of their respective owners.
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INSTALLATION
If you intend to use our Bluetooth® adapter kit install the extension cable provided with the kit. Refer to the Bluetooth®
instructions
To remove the original radio: If car is e uipped with overdrive, loosen the 3/4” nut holding the overdrive control to the
mounting bracket using an open end wrench. Lower the overdrive control to the floor. Unplug the speaker plug from the socket
on the rear of the radio. Unplug the antenna lead. Disconnect the power and dial light wires. Remove the 7/16” mounting nut
from the rear, and the 7/16” bolt from the left side. Pull off the (2) knobs and (2) backrings. Remove the (2) 11/16” shaft nuts
from the control shafts using a box wrench. Remove radio from dash. Remove and replace the old speaker which should be held
in place with wing nuts.
Mount the new radio in the dash using the two 1/2” shaft nuts. Take care not to cross-thread or over-tighten them. Finger tight
plus ½ turn is enough. The radio should also be supported with the 9” backstrap supplied. It should bolt to the ¼ 20 stud on the
back of the radio and can be bent to fit the mounting bolt under the dash for the original radio.
DIAGNOSTICS
No Sound: Check for a good fuse with proper rating. When the radio is turned on, the orange wire should have 12 volts present.
Radio will mute when no station is received. Make sure antenna is plugged into the proper jack. If an option is plugged in, make
sure it’s not on. Before installation make sure the switch on the back of the radio is set for the correct speaker option and
country.
Weak or No Reception: Check continuity between the center pin of the antenna plug and the antenna mast. It should read 0
ohms (like a short) Next, check continuity between the center pin of the antenna plug and the car body. It should not read (like
an open circuit). If you’re in a metal building, reception may be limited. Try it outside.
Ignition Noi e: Usually caused by an ungrounded antenna shield. The base of the antenna must make good contact with the car
body. This problem often shows up after a good paint job! Make sure the engine grounding straps are in place, clean and tightly
bonded to the frame.
Di tortion: Check to see if your speakers can handle at least 45 watts RMS. Small speakers that can only reproduce high
fre uency will distort on bass notes. Make sure speakers are properly installed. Make sure that no speaker is grounded. Every
speaker lead should measure about 6 volts to ground with the radio on and volume low. Resistance in the DC power input
wiring can cause the amplifiers to “starve”. If distortion seems to increase with volume, measure the voltage on the orange wire.
If the voltage drops when the volume is raised, it is an indication of resistance between the battery and the radio – usually at the
fuse block, but sometimes in the ignition switch. If the backstrap is not bolted to a clean metal ground, try running a heavy
ground wire from the ground lug on the radio directly to the firewall.
Radio hut off after a few minute : The radio has thermal protection built in to prevent damage from excessive heat. Possible
causes are shorted or grounded speaker wires. See if any unused wires can touch anything. Make sure the heater or defroster
duct isn’t blowing directly on the radio.
Dial pointer i ue : If power is interrupted while the dial pointer is moving or saving its position, the dial pointer may get
“lost” or become misaligned. If this happens, turn the tuning knob to either end. The dial pointer will reset itself.
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