The search for a good am/fm antenna thread, all welcome.

[xelz]

The issue with the embedded antenna, apparently, is that they require an amplifier that is usually built into the head unit. Obviously, remove the head unit and the antenna becomes ineffectual.

sorry for going back to the antenna in the rear window, but my car has one, a 2000 maxima. I looked at the harness diagram, there's one that is "powered antenna". i just connected that to ignition and got perfect reception from my HD radio. that might work for some people.

james

[rcubed3r]

It's too bad someone doesn't make a standardized amplifier that could be hooked to the bare wire of a stock window antennae.

[greatwhite]

I know it's been a while, but I got the antenna in.

Lets get right to the meat:

How's it work?

Pretty good!

I don't have HD stations in my area, so I can't say how it works for HD.

I also live in a rural area where radio recepiton is poor due to the distance involved from the tranmitters except for a few local stations.

BUt for analog, it works very well. It's not as quite as good as my factory in glass antenna, but I also haven't tuned the visteon to the new antenna either.

Reception is good, pretty much as good as the factory radio. Static is no worse than the factory radio in analog either. On the local stations that come in well with the factory radio, I would say reception is similiar if not on par. It will pull in some very distant stations, but performance is static-y as you would expect. Again, performed on par with the stock radio. No drop out evident.

One thing to note is that is does not like being shielded by the body panels. I had it sitting on the rear package tray and reception improved notably when I pushed it out to the furthest edge.

It is effected a fair bit by line of site obstructions also, metal (of course) being the worst. In the garage, it had fair reception with no drop out, but static was eveident. Not completely unbearable, but about what my old radioshark would do all the time.

I also had the trunk open for part of the testing. The panel impacted teh reception much like the garage structure did. No drop out but static-y. Out of curiosity, I drove the car in a circle with the trunk panel open and it made no difference in reception regardless of which way the car was pointed.

I'll get a chance to drive into some area's where RDS is available, I'll post results then.

Overall I recommend this as a viable solution for those with in glass factory antennas. Again, I don't have HD stations in my area, so your results may vary..........

[crooper]

Why is FM so difficult to get with computers? Are there any decent FM adapters that don't introduce delay, so I could use it at the drive in theater?

[inh]

Subscribing, I may get one of these antennas.

[RipplingHurst]

Thanks, greatwhite, sounds good. I haven't received my Hirschmann yet, apparently, only in June. I'll keep you guys posted.

[HiJackZX1]

would a product like this help amplify the signal between those small window antenna's and the aftermarket radios/hdradios

http://www.amazon.com/Metra-44-UA60-...8751153&sr=1-6

I tried one of those and it did nothing..........

On a side not, I had a standard antenna, but it looked so dated so I swapped it out for euro style antenna. HD Radio works awsome with some issues, but sub channels are useless and just so happen to be the ones i listen to. So now I am considering buying an antenna like audi and BMW have..... Any one tried one of these? Are they amplified?

[FockMasterDan]

BJ I've got the 300M antenna module in my Intrepid and have been running the in glass antenna for a few years. I get basically equal reception to the mast antenna on my aftermarket HU that I currently have on there. There is no power going to it coming from the OEM HU. I even am running HD radio through the in glass antenna with zero issues.

With that, I wonder why reception would be so different with a computer vs a head unit. That just doesn't seem to make sense and makes me think that regardless of the antenna solution, the problem is in the radio receiver itself.

PS. This is CaptainMorgan from LHF, that name was taken here so this is my old AIM user name.

[RipplingHurst]

Finally my Hirschmann arrived yesterday. Can't wait to test it out. I'll post some more info as soon I hook everything up.

[Ricksastar]

any update rippling?