hidden antenna?

I'm tackling some rust on me impreza, specifically the A pillars for now. Well the radio antenna hole was rusted enough that one of the threaded bosses decided to come out with the antenna plate! Great!

So at this juncture I feel as if I need to delete that antenna and put in another.

I actually use my radio, unlike what seems to be most people, so I was looking for suggestions.

Anyone had luck with the window mounted antennas?

There area few kits in the street rod market that hide the antenna along the base of the windshield.

As somebody with A-pillar rust on a Tercel (no doubt from the antenna, which has mostly stopped working as far as I can tell), I am watching this thread with interest.

Many times I have seen antennas just laid under the dash and held in place with zip ties. As long as they aren't right next to a +12V wire (blower motor, etc) they work just fine in urban areas.

racinginc215 wrote: you can also frame mount it. I'd use a plastic one. my Chrysler has a glass mounted antenna that works great. I have on in the frame rail of my Ranger. and when I get to the Rambler it will go in the trunk.

What's this all about? Are you talking about mounting a full size antenna to the frame, horizontal to the ground? Or are you talking about running the antenna wire to a tab on the frame?

Also, I will be in bumfart egypt for school so the signal strengths will be less than accommodating.

Here's to wishing for an ad supported satellite radio.

Well I'll be! I may have to give that a shot. I suppose I could just run the antenna wire out the firewall in the engine bay and then snake it down to the underbody.

Seems weird though, wouldn't car manufacturers have figured this one out already? They seem to really like making expensive windshields with antennas built in. Conspiracy theories?

Maybe they are protecting us from 'the rays'

I had this one the the miata and it worked well

http://www.installer.com/item/display_item.php?it=44-ua20

MCarp22 wrote: I had this one the the miata and it worked well http://www.installer.com/item/display_item.php?it=44-ua20

Did it work well for AM radio as well? Where did you end up mounting it?

Taiden wrote: Did it work well for AM radio as well? Where did you end up mounting it?

No idea. I can't see why it wouldn't. I stashed it under the center console.

I wonder about a 1/4 wave FM antenna laid in at the top of the windshield under the trim inside the car. That would keep it in an area more susceptible to RF energy vs. low to the ground with chassis parts around that might arrest some radio waves you're trying to catch. My concern is lack of a grounding plane; it may need to be mounted to a metallic tab of some sort to attach electrically to vehicle structure for this to really work its best.

I hope an RF engineer gets in on this discussion, I should know more about this and don't, and I would also love to someday get rid of the fixed mast antenna on my Mustang.

pres589 wrote: I wonder about a 1/4 wave FM antenna laid in at the top of the windshield under the trim inside the car. That would keep it in an area more susceptible to RF energy vs. low to the ground with chassis parts around that might arrest some radio waves you're trying to catch. My concern is lack of a grounding plane; it may need to be mounted to a metallic tab of some sort to attach electrically to vehicle structure for this to really work its best. I hope an RF engineer gets in on this discussion, I should know more about this and don't, and I would also love to someday get rid of the fixed mast antenna on my Mustang.

Not an RF Engineer, but have had an Amateur Radio License since 1975.

Best hidden antenna I ever did was a "sunroof" antenna. Fellow had a non-working sunroof he wanted to get rid of. We made a replacement panel to fit the hole.

Put it in with an "H" shaped gasket around the edge and wooden braces underneath to isolate it from the rest of the car. Soldered the center conductor of the antenna wire to the panel and the shield to the roof.

Have also turned gutter and downspouts into transmitting antennas for guys who lived where the HOA said "no antennas"

Hal: I've used all kinds of weird things for antennas, a decent one was the power supply for a PC with a couple leads cut off of a 12v connector and run into a home stereo receiver. That's not to say I actually want to put effort in and find out I've got a complete dud of an antenna... to put it another way, a 1/4th wave FM antenna is a pretty well known quantity and the only way to muck it up is, I think, making a mistake like not giving it a ground plane where one is required or similar issues. I'd be afraid of putting in the time to turn a dead sunroof into a panel antenna like you did. Encouraging that it did work for you though!

2nded for the hidden conventional antenna.

I've used Dakota Digitals "untenna" which is an amplified, hidden antenna that is designed to go up inside the headliner and not bee seen.

The '34 Ford that's being finished right now has a conventional antenna mounted sideways under the running board and I'd say it works as well as the fancy "untenna"

Shawn