Hi Cambo, I am about to embark on retrofitting DAB to my 2008 Freelander 2 HSE. I have located all components (except the MOST and COAX cables). I have read your excellent post on how to fit but unfortunately the photos have been deleted. Are you able to send them to me please? I just need to understand the connections, and the location in the car of the aerial amplifier and DAB modules.

If you still have any made up cables for sale, I would be interested please? Also, it has been a while since your original post, do you still have a friend in Essex who can help with the Config?

Thanks in advance

McFreelander

Hello,

Having now received most of the parts needed to retrofit my Freelander 2 with DAB, I am requesting help from anybody who has done this?

I believe I can see how it fits together but a couple of questions arise

1. on the DAB module there are two coax connectors, I assume one is for the roof aerial and one for the window aerial, but which is which?
2. On the DAB module there is a power connector, which terminal is +Pve and which is -Nve
3. I have read that the MOST ptical circuit needs to be opend to include DAB, Is this a ring circuit?

Thank you to anybody who can help me.

1) I think the Band III is the right connector looking from the top: couldn't test because I haven't been successful at updating the CCF
2) Left is ground, right is 12V (blue-red)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/BUmp6w7mzXBmWVbV8
3) Yes, it is a ring circuit. On my L494 I had to route quite some length of fiber optic cable under the carpet.
Open the ring on the LHD side of the center console
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FotJ8BH4DfuvDTNj7
Route >3m of fiber beneath the carpet
https://photos.app.goo.gl/h12bHEity1t4C61w5
Your car may be quite different.

I am now miserably failing at updating the respective field in the CCF.

Hopefully, someone can advise?

Hi NewYankee

I have actually completed the installation of my DAB now and am amazed at the new clarity of sound.

A quick update on the optical connections. Instead of going to the centre console I routed my cables in the boot from left to right and broke into the ring at the point where the most connector enters the audio amp. That seems to work fine and means you don’t need to lift the carpets.

Regarding the CCF update, I found a local landrover dealer ( not main dealer) who Hooked up a third party diagnostic kit and who enabled the DAB. Neither of us are quite sure exactly what he did but it seemed to work.

However I have a lot of help from Old Jaguar in Australia who suggested to me the the DAB is now enabled in the Landrover dealers diagnostic kit so any main dealer should be able to do this quite quickly now.

Hope this helps ?

Happy to hear that this retrofit has worked out well for you.

I will have to see if the local dealership is capable of enabling DAB in the CCF. However, for me it is mostly about the challenge of tinkering with stuff myself. So I am still eager to get the CCF downloaded from the car and re-uploaded to the car. Changing fields in the file itself looks easy enough.

But for some reason the download from the car fails (it's called upload in the respective brand specific software).

Maybe someone can chime in who is more familiar with that system.

Hi NewYankee,

If it helps, it was Cambo form Old Jaguar who was a terrific help in getting me up and running. He is still active on this forum, so give him a shout. He gave me some advice on the CCF file, although I dont have the diags to change the file myself.

Cheers

McFreelander wrote:

Hi Cambo, I am about to embark on retrofitting DAB to my 2008 Freelander 2 HSE. I have located all components (except the MOST and COAX cables). I have read your excellent post on how to fit but unfortunately the photos have been deleted. Are you able to send them to me please? I just need to understand the connections, and the location in the car of the aerial amplifier and DAB modules.

If you still have any made up cables for sale, I would be interested please? Also, it has been a while since your original post, do you still have a friend in Essex who can help with the Config?

Thanks in advance

McFreelander

Hi
Having just bought a FR2 HSE 08 and disappointed that it doesn't have DAB (a follower of radio 4 extra, digital only ), I'm keen on doing this upgrade, but can't see the pics either. Is there any way of seeing them?

Cambo wrote:

OK, I wasn't planning on doing this, but seems that now I am...

First of all, if your car did not have DAB fitted from the factory, then NONE of the wiring is present for the DAB system, so you have to add it all yourself. You also need a means of editing the CCF to activate the DAB function.

The system in the 2006-2012 "Alpine" audio cars is a bit different to the 2013-2015 "Meridian" cars like what Stuart is doing. This upgrade is only possible on the "Alpine" branded Midline or Highline audio systems. The base audio systems do not have the MOST fiber optic network, which is needed here.

The DAB has only really 3 basic components;

DAB module, mounted in the left side of the boot, on a mounting bracket
DAB antenna amplifier for the Band-III reception, in the roof cavity, connected to the left rear window antenna
DAB antenna in the roof mounted sharkfin for L-Band reception
Then all the wiring, cabling and fiber optic that is missing.

The DAB/DAB+ module receives digital radio signals via the antennas, decodes them and then transmits to the car radio head unit over the MOST fiber-optic network. The module also receives instructions from the head unit over the MOST network; tuning, channel selection, etc.

So let's look at them in more detail.

DAB module

Here i'm only looking at the EU/AUS digital radio which is DAB, which is being supplanted by DAB+, there are different digital radio systems for the US, known as SDARS or HD-Radio. The concept is the same but components are different. The changeover from DAB to DAB+ in JLR vehicles was in 2013MY so

The earliest FL2 had the DAB module p/n 6H52-19C032-AC, followed on by -AE, -AF, -AG and -AH, these are the DAB modules, not the DAB+ ones! The DAB+ modules started with p/n CPLA-14F720-BD followed on by -BF, -BG, -BH, -BJ, -BK, -BL, -BM and the latest version right now is -BN.

Click image to enlarge

That's a pic of a DAB+ module. The wiring connections are the same as the earlier DAB module. These modules are used in various Land Rover and Jaguar models. And the XF in particular is interesting as there was a crossover between the new and old DAB/DAB+ modules, and the new & old sound systems (the older Alpine/Bowers&Wilkins, to the new Meridian), there was also a crossover in the Discovery/RRS as well with the Harmon Kardon branded system.

Long story short, I am 99% confident that the new DAB+ modules work in the older cars that originally only had DAB...

DAB Radio Amplifier

This little amp sits up in the roof lining, and connects to the antenna in the left rear side window. It's basically a signal booster / isolator. The p/n is seen in the picture, but they seem to be forgotten when anyone breaks up a car, and they are reasonably cheap to buy new as p/n LR032814

Click image to enlarge

The connection from this little amp is to the window (press stud), to the DAB module (Coaxial with Fakra connectors) and it gets power on a single wire from the radio head unit (chassis ground is negative)

Roof Antenna Sharkfin Dome thingy

Cars without Navigation or DAB from the factory don't have one of these roof domes. And the cars that did had different ones depending on the vehicle specification.

Digital Radio, Navigation with Dynamic Guidance, TrafficPro,
Digital Radio, Standard Navigation, TrafficPro
Satellite Radio, Standard Navigation, TrafficPro
Digital Radio, No Navigation
Satellite Radio, No Navigation
etc. etc..

For the DAB the roof dome antenna is only for the L-Band reception, same for DAB+, for us here in Australia the DAB+ broadcasting is only on the Band-III so technically I don't need the antenna in the roof dome. Which is good because my car doesn't have one.

Wiring and cabling

As i mentioned before there is no wiring present at all in the cars that did not have DAB fitted in the factory. The body harness' are different. Not a dealbreaker just a bit of work.

So wiring/cabling needed:

MOST fiber optic extension to run from the right side of the boot where the audio amp & phone are, to the left side where the DAB module is mounted. This needs to be a shade under 2m. G̶e̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶e̶b̶a̶y̶.̶ , you can get them from Land Rover! Also need to open up the MOST ring to put this additional piece in.

Power to the DAB module. 12V, 2-wires, w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶a̶p̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶n̶e̶a̶r̶b̶y̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶w̶i̶t̶c̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶c̶i̶r̶c̶u̶i̶t̶.̶ , there is a power adaptor cable from Land Rover.

Click image to enlarge

̶P̶o̶w̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶D̶A̶B̶ ̶a̶m̶p̶l̶i̶f̶i̶e̶r̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶i̶n̶d̶o̶w̶ ̶a̶n̶t̶e̶n̶n̶a̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶m̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶"̶p̶h̶a̶n̶t̶o̶m̶ ̶p̶o̶w̶e̶r̶"̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶c̶h̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶e̶s̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶
t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶a̶d̶ ̶u̶n̶i̶t̶.̶ ̶P̶o̶w̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶w̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶a̶d̶i̶o̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶u̶r̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶o̶n̶.̶ ̶I̶'̶l̶l̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶t̶a̶p̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶o̶w̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶g̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶
A̶M̶/̶F̶M̶ ̶a̶m̶p̶l̶i̶f̶i̶e̶r̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶i̶d̶e̶,̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶p̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶a̶i̶l̶g̶a̶t̶e̶.̶ Well there is no separate power to
the roof amplifier, it must really just run through the coax as a phantom power. No problem!

Click image to enlarge

Coax cable from the DAB module to the DAB amplifier for the window antenna. Fakra connectors. W̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶c̶u̶s̶t̶o̶m̶ ̶m̶a̶d̶e̶.̶ purchased from Land Rover

Coax cable from the DAB module to the sharkfin. Again Fakra connectors & custom made, but i'm actually just going to get a blank made to short it out. This will stop any DTC's being thrown about the antenna being open circuit. Because i'm not going to use the antenna in the roof. In the UK or EU you probably will need this.

So yeah! Seems that you can buy the complete Coaxial cable assembly from Land Rover as a spare part for the 2006-2012 models....

Click image to enlarge

Programming

There is a field in the CCF which I can see which need to be changed to activate the DAB. Not a big deal.

So that's the plan...

Have ordered the DAB+ module, and will get an order off for the other bits & pieces this week...

Not sure that I actually want or need DAB+ radio, but a project is a project... it's all Stuarts fault!

EDIT

So it's really not that complicated... here's all the parts needed;

Click image to enlarge

1x DAB+ module from Jag / Land Rover (check p/n's above)
1x LR001689 Radio Antenna Amplifier for the roof
1x LR032814 Power adaptor cable to DAB module
1x LR005457 Coax20 cable repair assembly
2x LR005448 Most12 cable repair
1x MOST black connector (I had a spare one, but it's YPC911470 from LR)
1x LR007984 Mounting Bracket
Some nuts & bolts to mount the bracket
1x Roof Antenna Assembly (if you want/need Band-L)

Hopefully have this done in a few hours, if I can get access to the car...

Hi same here no show with the pictures any thoughts?
Thanks

Hi

Is there a chance I could have the pictures as I am also upgrading my FL2 2009 to DAB as its standard frequency radio.

Thanks.

Cambo wrote:

Sorry it's taken a while to get this sorted, but I finally made up a batch of antenna cables, as replacements for the LR005457 cable which is no longer available.

Click image to enlarge

Some people contacted me about these cables before, well they are ready now.

This is a good project while I have time. Fit the speakers for 7.1 and DAB. Just need to edit the CCF so that the Freelander 2 XC 2009 can function both. This will be challenging. Any ideas who can edit locally in Burnley UK.

Hi All

I have been doing some research to the obsolete part LR005457 Coax20 cable repair assembly with the following LR005455. Can LR005455 replace the LR005457 with no issues. They both look the same to me, but speaking to part suppliers, JLR won't release that information.

Thanks

Pete

Think its the same. I just ordered one for this project. How you getting on. Did you finish the project?

Yep confirmed, it’s the same and all up and running. Easy to do.