2003 Honda Civic Coupe power antena wire?

I've heard rumours of a power antenna of sorts for the newer Civics. Supposedly it uses the antenna remote from and aftermarket stereo to turn it on.

What colour would it be, and is it simply a quickm splice job??

Thanks

Goo

I've never heard of such a thing actually--I'm pretty sure all new hondas come with the built-in antennas.  The only thing I could think of might be a wire to turn on factory amps, but I didn't know they even made a civic with factory amps in it. 

Or maybe a actory antenna booster that needs to get a 12 volt signal to turn on and function properly.  But usually with vehicles that have those boosters, if it's not hooked up you will know right away because your reception will be horrible.

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Ethan
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"Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success"
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I think it's basically an AM booster. I've read that it is external, but I don't want to splice in to just ANY of the remaining wires in the radio loom.

Goo

All 98-up hondas do not have power antennas and thus when you take a look at a typical 98-up honda wiring harness from metra (70-1721) or scosche, there is no blue wire.  What you might wanna do is take a look at this picture and kinda match it up with your factory plug, and see what wires may be remaining (whose function is still unaccounted for).  If you're left with just one or two wires it may very well be the hookup for an am booster. 

Easiest way to verify that is to try and hook up an aftermarket head unit (using an adapter like the one in that picture) and use the stock antenna plug.  If the aftermarket head unit gets barely any AM radio then one of those unaccounted for wires is probably the turn on for the AM booster.

If there's more like 3 wires that are unaccounted for and you have steering wheel audio controls, then that's probably what the wires are for.  But I don't think Civics have that as an option.  Also obviously if you have a factory-installed CD changer that is gonna complicate things as well.  Even though those usually just use a single DIN plug connection, sometimes setups with those factory changers will have additional wires in the harness.

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Ethan
-----
"Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success"
Donate to the12volt.com

I'll pull the radio out on Monday and take a look for extra wires.

The CD changer option is on a seperate harness that hooks between the factory head unit and changer.

Otherwise I'll look into purchasing a booster

OK, I looked and found that the only extra wire is a yellow base wire with a brown strip. Every other wire is accounted for.

Goo

Try testing it for voltage and resistance

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Ethan
-----
"Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success"
Donate to the12volt.com

Ok, I found proof of the "booster" I'd heard about. I went to a Honda dealer in my area and found that they put an "antenna Module" under the rear deck.

It needs an amp trigger for it to work. The Sonyunit has a .3 volt trigger and it works perfectly.

OH and the colour of the wire is Yellow base, with a GREEN stripe.

Goo

Thanks for the info googoo

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Ethan
-----
"Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success"
Donate to the12volt.com