Alpine head unit - resetting AM to 9KHz steps

[Scouse]

A couple on here have mentioned that the AM band on their radios jumps in 10KHz steps instead of 9KHz that is needed in Australia. The radio can be reset to Australian tuning requirements.

This only appears to be a problem with the Alpine units fitted from 1999MY HSEs so if you have a different model then this won't fix it.

The following is the prodecure for switching the radio to Australian (OCE) spec:

Turn key to accessories
Switch radio on
Press & hold I button then press CD button. SET UP will now be displayed.
Press button 6. MARKET USA will be displayed.
Press button 6. MARKET OCE will be displayed.
Switch off radio
Switch on radio

Hope that helps those poor folk who've been struggling to listen to their favourite talk back host for years :).

[Hoges]

Scouse: a thousand "Thanks" ! :TakeABow:

About 18 months ago I emailed the folk @ "Roverville USA" on this. They replied the head units were market specific and that if I wanted a 9KHz step then I'd need to swap the unit over... didn't seem "right" but they're supposedly the experts so I accepted it (sort of)...

Coasting's thread prompted me to check once again... this is most satisfying...the AM reception is now crystal clear and ABC News Radio/Radio National are as they should be ...

at last, another feature which now works as it should!! :D

I also discovered playing with the other buttons that the Alpine head unit has the capacity to receive "Emergency Broadcast" this is the " PTY31" toggle which apparently means "Program Type 31" ... ? Do we have those here?

Last week I noticed that on some FM stations the song title and other info was being streamed like a SkyNews headline across the dial... I had not seen this before... too busy watching the road :angel::D;)

[PaulP38a]

Onya Scouse - I don't have a stock radio but appreciate you going to the trouble...

Hoges - I think that scrolling display thing you're seeing is RDS (Radio Data System), commonly used in Europe. I didn't know we had any stations using the sub-channel here yet, but I'll have to keep an eye on the stereo now...

More info here Radio Data System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia including a list of Program Types (PTY).

Cheers, Paul.

[Hoges]

Great info Paul, many thanks :BigThumb: Seems the OEM head unit is/was quite capable!
cheers
A.

PS: just Googled RDS in Australia...fascinating...RDS offers a whole new world of potential distraction on the FM dial to take one's mind off the boring task of driving...can watch adverts streaming on the RR radio dial... and they complain about mobile phones!!

[lorkers]

Thank you thank you thank you!

I've just arrived from the UK, and bought a P38 here of the same vintage as in the UK (1999)... and the American style tuning was driving me mad: the dealers couldn't understand me when I explained that I needed to change the radio to UK/Australian tuning rather than the American!

For reference, the change in the market settings also effects the PTY code for the RDS (this is displayed when you press the i button when a station is transmitting full RDS data).

When the PTY code (for Programme Type) is set for the American market (where RDS is called RBDS) the Radio PTY code 11 comes up as "Oldies" however in Australia the UK coding is used, so PTY code 11 should be "Rock".

Another one with code 10 is "Pop" in UK & Oz, whereas it is "Country" in the USA - but the RDS radio displays the USA station type in my 1999 HSE!

No longer however - all is as it should be.

Incidentally, in the UK pretty much every station - even small Community & the hundreds of Pirate Stations - have RDS data. However in Australia it does seem to very unusual: in Metropolitan Sydney only WSFM, Star, 2dayFM, Mix 106.5, The Edge, Nova, Vega, Wave, and Triple M transmit RDS data: and I was fed up with Triple M coming up as "Oldies": with the change to the radio, it now comes up as it should do as "Rock".

Horrah!

[Scouse]

Good to hear that this is helping a few people out. It seems to be a more common problem than I thought.




the dealers couldn't understand me when I explained that I needed to change the radio to UK/Australian tuning rather than the American!

Dealers have this info so someone should have been able to help.

[Hoges]

Quote: " Dealers have this info so someone should have been able to help."

Alas ! one would hope so... however,the general tech knowledge of the usual "here today, gone down the road next week for an extra $2" type warming seats in the average dealership ...all makes included... leaves a lot to be desired. If you find a "good one" , ...celebrate:twobeers::D

[p38arover]

The screen on mine is unreadable so it doesn't matter what the RDS displays.

[Remy]

The screen on mine is unreadable so it doesn't matter what the RDS displays.

Mine too:mad: i thought you had a fix for this on RangeRovers.net Ron but alas i havent been able to find it so maybe not.

[lorkers]

I also discovered playing with the other buttons that the Alpine head unit has the capacity to receive "Emergency Broadcast" this is the " PTY31" toggle which apparently means "Program Type 31" ... ? Do we have those here?

I can't get that on mine, although I've tried all the options after entering setup... which button did you press?

...incidentally, returning to my "dealer couldn't understand me..." comment... at one stage when I was trying to get them to understand that I wanted to change it from 10 to 9 steps, they did try and sell me a completely new head unit because the guy behind the counter assured me that if it was tuning in 10kHz steps, then probably it was "broken". :(

Sigh.

Although I can see his point, as I did initally go in to ask if there was any cure to suggest for the CD multiplayer playing the first 30 seconds of each disc, and then stopping. I've yet to fix that one: a CD lens cleaner hasn't worked...

[p38arover]

Mine too:mad: i thought you had a fix for this on RangeRovers.net Ron but alas i havent been able to find it so maybe not.

Yep, a new LCD display - I ordered one from Clarion but it was never sent.

I'll try again on Monday.

[Scouse]

any cure to suggest for the CD multiplayer playing the first 30 seconds of each disc, and then stopping. I had a CD player ages ago that had a feature like that. Track preview or similar it was called.
I don't know if the RR unit has that feature though - is it a Clarion you have?

[Scouse]

The screen on mine is unreadable so it doesn't matter what the RDS displays.It's not just the globes, is it Ron?
Or am I thinking of another radio?

[lorkers]

I had a CD player ages ago that had a feature like that. Track preview or similar it was called.
I don't know if the RR unit has that feature though - is it a Clarion you have?

The original Alpine multi-CD stacker in the boot... I spent the weekend taking it to bits, and found it was a combination of 4 problems... the main one was a sticky worm drive for the CD laser, so as soon as the head tried to move along the CD, it stuck, and couldn't read the CD. Along with lots of red dust and grease (how?!) on the laser, the rubber shocks & spring mount had all popped out of the unit... and the right audio cable had come unsoldered out of the plug... :(