TomP

I want to shave the antenna from my fender; my MECP buddy said that someone makes patch antennas for AM/FM. He worked on a car that had one installed- but he never got the part #, and can't find the guy to ask him again. He did find out the store, though, so I went there and asked them for a windhsield-mount am/fm antenna. They sold me something bigger then a square patch! It's about 12 inches long, with double-sided tape, that attaches to the windshield. It was made by AntennaWorks, cost me $20.

I'm just worried that some idiot will think it's a damned TV antenna and break into my car, thinking I have a TV and playstation and xbox and all that other junk. It's not too noticeable above the rear view mirror- i didn't install it, just held it up there- but I'd imagine a stupid theif would get confused. It's got a built-in amplifier with a red power light; I'll probably just put a blob of black paint over the LED.

Anybody seen/used/heard of this patch antenna? Supposedly it's just a little square. Or, anybody used the antenna I just bought? Good/bad/indifferent?

Thanks guys!

TomP

Wow, nobody knows anything about these, huh? So I'm on the cutting edge of car audio technology? Bitchin! To celebrate, here's a picture and part number of what I bought.

Metra AntennaWorks, # 44-UA200, "On Glass Amplified AM/FM Antenna".

But I'd still like to know something about the smaller one my friend was talking about... so, anyone??

TomP

Could this be it? Doesn't seem like what my friend was describing... http://www.lightaudio.com/product_in...roducts_id/398

I can't believe nobody's interested in this...

speedingpenguin

iTrader: (1)

got that in my moms minivan.....its got one of those conversion things so theres a cd changer up front, and one in back...the one out back has that antena and i dunno if its just a crappy radio but i get horrible reception with it...so i'd be careful with it...

lykan

You know Tom, If I were you I'd look up home made antennas on google. I made a few antennas for a few diferent bands and projects. Their simple, and materials are CHeeeeEEeeep.

I would also look for an antenna that sticks to the window liek a defroster in the rear, those work well in my experience.

d_johnsen

instead of painting over the led, if u know how to use a soldering iron, u could desolder the led from the antenna

Kandied91z

iTrader: (7)

while i love the look of my antenna shaved the reception hasn't been the greatest.....best advice keep your stock setup and stick it under the dash. i've tried them all and it works the best.

good luck.

TomP

Lykan, A homemade car antenna? Interesting, I'll do a search.

D_johnsen, I definately know how to solder but there's no screws holding this antenna together. It's either snapped or glued together. I really don't want to pry the thing apart and have some plastic tabs snap in half trying to get the LED out; I'll just go for the black paint. But your idea is definately the "correct" way for eliminating the led...

Kandied, you put the whole whip under the dash?? Where? At the bottom, above the "feet" area? Or under the dashpad? How did you ground the antenna, just a piece of wire wrapped around the original fender nut area? Did you ever see the patch antenna my friend was talking about?

Thanks guys!

Kandied91z

iTrader: (7)

yes i've tried them all....i like to listen to the radio now and then so reception is important to me. i've had my antenna shaved for 4 years now and after i finally gave up on all the antenna options i decided to use the stock one.

what i did was cut the bracket off the antenna to make it as short as possible and then i put it up under the dash...you could go in through the top and actually bolt the antenna down for even better reception. i still have some problems here and there but no where near what all the other ones had.

not to mention it's cheap.

lykan

Does anyone remeber when the little short Cell like antennas were poular? They were about 12" long, and the antenna was actually twisted in alittle coil at the bottom (not chrome coils the acutuall mast) those we're great for receptnion altho9ugh they had cheese written all over them.

TomP something you might want to consider.

Wavelength, everything from the size/length of the antenna, o the size/length of the antenna wire affects reception.

I'll give you an expample. I had a CB with about a 3' cable to the antenna. It went right through the firwall to the cb (a 4x4! not a thirdgen!).
Anyhow I coiled up 18' ft of cable , and my broadcast/recieve at least doubled. I didn't change antenna, just length of the cable.

After doing some research on the wavelength of the CB frequency, I went down and bought some antenna cable. I found that 18' of cable was the perfect length to match the wavelength of the CB band.

**edit **


Im going to go out and do some antenna research now, I dont use fm, I do laptop/mp3's but I am interested now heres a decent link