Radio re channel of imported vehicles

**blitz122805** · April 25th, 2007 05:52 PM

Hi! one of my colleagues bought an imported mazda van , i believe it is mazda bongo. Overall its a good buy but he's asking if it is possible to re channel his radio because he can only tune to 3 radio stations. is it possible? will it solve the problem? or do you guys think it would be much better to just replace the radio..Thanks in advance

**alwayz_yummy** · April 25th, 2007 05:58 PM

di practical po, madaming cases na ko naencounter, napapalitan ng, pero some electronic functions nawawala(eject, audio,etc.)

mas practical nalang bili siya ng slightly used local used head-unit/stereo.. dahil ako ganun din kinahantungan ko, noon akala ko masmakakamura ako sa JDM car stereos...pero hindi!

pero kung hindi naman siya nagraradyo, ok lang...

**///MPower** · April 25th, 2007 06:29 PM

Second that. It would be a lot easier to just buy a new head unit. There are some relatively inexpensive options out there.

**boy astig** · April 25th, 2007 06:54 PM

Agree with Señors M power and alwayz_yummy

**yebo** · April 25th, 2007 09:24 PM

that's because japanese FM radio braodcast is only between 76-90 Mhz. on the other hand eastern europe broadcast from 65.8 - 74 Mhz. the rest of the world broadcast from 87.5 to 108 Mhz, the Philippines included. so in effect that radio in the bongo (and any jap surplus for that matter) can only tune to philippine stations betwee 87.5 (the lowest frequency station in the philippines) to 90 Mhz (the highest frequency station in japan). 3 stations lang nga talaga.

change the hu na lang wala pa problema.

**StraightSix** · April 26th, 2007 04:34 AM

If you can find one, there are radio band expanders that you can use on Japanese FM radios for it to cover the full FM broadcast band. It plugs into the radio's antenna jack and the antenna cable is plugged into it, so it shouldn't affect anything not related to radio frequency.

Advantages:
- You get to keep the OEM radio.
- A very simple mod, you only need to supply 12vDC to it.
- Relatively cheap. It's about the cost of a pack of cigarettes in the UK. Then again, a pack here costs about P450

.

Disadvantages:
- You're stuck with the OEM radio.
- The displayed frequency isn't the actual frequency, of course.

The OEM 2DIN stereo on my Japanese van had one. It's just slightly thicker than a stick of cigarette, and about as long. The main reasons why I changed to an aftermarket HU is the sound quality (crap) and the absence of FM radio features in the UK like TA (getting live traffic bulletins even while playing CD's) and auto-frequency switching when the signal gets weak (for network stations).

**blitz122805** · April 27th, 2007 12:21 AM

ic..ganon pala un..thanks for the info guys. i just printed your replies para mabasa nya tomorrow. thanks ulet alwayz_yummy,///MPower,
boy astig,yebo and StraightSix. I really appreciate it!