TheSamba.com :: View topic - whats the plug for on the back of my stock radio?

Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:30 pm

hello everyone,

i did a quick search and couldn't find anything about the plug (looks DIN style) on the back of my stock vw radio (its AM if that helps, chrome face, black vw knobs, etc)

it has a white cover over the plug, and a DIN looking female end.

i assume it hooks up something, just wondering what?

its just like this radio http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VW-BEETLE-BUS-BUG-V...ccessories

thanks a million for your help, lyle

Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:36 pm

do you have any accessory switches on the radio like an AUX?

Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:36 pm

wow! they don't give old radios away, anymore. dang. we used to always trash the stock units for aftermarket ones. used to have a pile of old saphires in the shop, nobody wanted. couldn't give them away.

now they are fetching almost 2 bills on ebay. imagine that.

but then again, how many aftermarket radios are still working 30 -40 years later?

as to your din plug question, i have no idea. haven't seen a stock radio in a while.

Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:57 pm

SGKent wrote: do you have any accessory switches on the radio like an AUX?

no i sure dont

Fri Mar 19, 2010 4:12 pm

Are you sure? sometimes pushing or pulling one of the knobs activates an accessory like that.

Tried Googling Grundig Braunschweig instructions or something like that?

Fri Mar 19, 2010 4:16 pm

I'm assuming you mean the plastic cap with two prongs which plugs into the DIN. The DIN is an auxillary input.

Don't lose that cap, it bridges out the input, without the bridge your radio won't work.

Good news here: http://www.koenigs-klassik-radios.de/index.php?ple...ng=en& you can plug an MP3 or ipod player in there.

Fri Mar 19, 2010 4:51 pm

ok, so its for accessories, thats great, i might try to make my own cable to run my ipod off of,

on to another question about the radio. i took it out awhile back to install a cd player, and now i want to return to og radio status. anyways, the 12v+ and the speaker symbol are pretty obvious, but what about the "T" symbol, i assuming its for ground? if so, why is there another ground spade beside the antenna input?

thanks a lot for your help

ps: is there a source that shows what accessories would have hooked up to that 6 pin DIN back in the day?

Sat Mar 20, 2010 2:42 am

70Westy wrote: ok, so its for accessories, thats great, i might try to make my own cable to run my ipod off of, ...

ps: is there a source that shows what accessories would have hooked up to that 6 pin DIN back in the day?

Separate 8-track player? 12V record player?

Sat Mar 20, 2010 3:52 am

So if the radio had a DIN receptacle in the back you could run the adapter cord out underneath or out front to plug into a MP3 plaver or something similar. But if there isn't an AUX switch how could you switch back and forth between your aux. device and the radio? Obviously you couldn't be plugging and unplugging and inserting the cap into the back of the radio.
I can't remember how I had my old 4-track and the 45 rpm record player hooked to the old Dodge radio but no AUX switch was involved but rather just the switch on those devices.

Sat Mar 20, 2010 5:01 am

Just tried some Google searching and came up with a lot of confusing results. But did run into some Samba info. Here is a search for radio MP3
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/search.php?search_keywords=radio+MP3&search_forum=26 Probably more info in other related topics. Ouch- another project.

Sat Mar 20, 2010 6:13 am

Maybe it is for adding an amp. I pulled an original radio out of a 66 bug and was surprised to see it had a amp out of the radio before the speakers. I didn't pay attention to the plug style it used. I'll dig it out and get a picture of the set up of it.

Sat Mar 20, 2010 7:29 am

ok, i got everything to work! (the back light is not lighting up, but i'm going to take the cover off the radio and see what's up with the bulb) btw, its AMAZING how well it receives reception and how powerful the internal amp is!!! :shock:

Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:47 am

Desertbusman wrote: So if the radio had a DIN receptacle in the back you could run the adapter cord out underneath or out front to plug into a MP3 plaver or something similar. But if there isn't an AUX switch how could you switch back and forth between your aux. device and the radio? Obviously you couldn't be plugging and unplugging and inserting the cap into the back of the radio.
I can't remember how I had my old 4-track and the 45 rpm record player hooked to the old Dodge radio but no AUX switch was involved but rather just the switch on those devices.

The switching was done in the accessory device.

On my Becker when you insert a tape in the cassette player it pulls a set of contacts that disconnects the radio and brings in the cassette player. If the accessory device is not installed there is a bridge plug that jumps the terminals.

Mon Mar 22, 2010 1:26 pm

WestyPop wrote: 70Westy wrote: ok, so its for accessories, thats great, i might try to make my own cable to run my ipod off of, ...

ps: is there a source that shows what accessories would have hooked up to that 6 pin DIN back in the day?

Separate 8-track player? 12V record player?

Even "cooler" than that.....a popular accessory used to be early cassette tape.....that you could record from the radio with......kind a prehistoric "napster" set-up for downloading content. Ray