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

[greatwhite]

I've got a visteon HD radio hooked up to the carputer. It works about as well as my radioshark did before. My problem is it's in a Chrysler 300m which has an in glass antenna. As we all know, these don't work well with aftermarket equipment and the visteon is no different.

I originally hooked the visteon to the glass antenna. Not bad, little static here and ther, but not as good as some poeple are reporting with the 31" mas tantenna. So the quest begins:

************(Moved from another thread)***********************

Quote: Originally Posted by mitchjs

oooh, antenna stuff is waaaay over my head, that RF stuff is a ton of science and bit of black magic...

yes... the factory antenna is designed to work with the factory radio... now sometimes the antennas electronics are outside the radio... sometimes they not...
when they are, maybe you can get the amp powered on...

id say hit up a car audio forum, but i bet NO ONE replaces the stock 300 radio!

good luck

mitch

nah, the 300 radio is just like any other factory radio, marginal at best. Mine was the factory RB1 sat nav radio and it hit the shelf about 4 weeks after I bought the car. The chrysler 380w amp was right behind it..............

Pretty much crap. Fit the dash and interior look nicely though..............

So the quest for a non-mast antenna began.

who do I turn to?

Why Google of course!

Seems moptorcycles and hot rods have already figured this one out.

A quick "peruse" of a couple hot rod forums later turned up something they use for radio instead of the mast antenna (and something I knew about a long time ago but forgot):

Dakota Digital amplified antenna

Supposed to be as good as a 31" mast antenna and it receives FM AND AM unlike the non-amplified "stick on" antenna's which, according to what I've read lately, only do FM (not a piece of info that's easy to find either)

But......yipes! They sell for 80 bucks plus shipping!

That won't do.

Then a quick sidestep over to ebay grabs me a dakota digital ant 1000 for 35 bucks and 3 bucks shipping. Shipped for less than half the asking price on the Hot Rod and Harley shops. Cool.

The Harley forums and the Hot Rod forums I visited said it works as good as if not better than thier stock antenna. Probably a little optomistic, but it is 12v powered antenna with amplifier built in. If it works anywhere near thier claims, it may be a viable alternative to the mast. In my case, the only alternative (not drilling a hole in that nice 300M body)

I'll post a quick review after it gets here for those not wanting to install a mast antenna on their in-glass antenna equipped cars (or those that just want to shave the bloody thing off).

I'm so close now:

Mputer radio integration (thanks to mitch for the cable and Hugenious for the Void skin)
Hd/ananlog am/fm (thank visteon)
no noise! (thank to me finding my screw up ie;mic in vice line in)
Dakota digital (hopefully for a decent amplified antenna


Here's hoping the visteon, mitch's cable and the ant 1000 are a match to my radio hopes......


Hey waita minute! Anyone ever stop to realize how much they've spent to get sound like the factory radio already has?

************************************************** ***

I currently have the new antenna but haven't set it up yet, more to follow.

All Are welcome to contribute if they feel they have found a good antenna solution or the visteon or any other unit (silabs, radioshark, etc).

Hopefully this thread can offer everyone some solutions.................

Cheers

[trititan]

i got one that was similar from frys electronics and it worked like crap. it might have been due to the placement of the end, but i got better reception out of my stock antenna.

but the one that you got might be better quality and work. the only option that i did not try was to put this hidden antenna where the stock antenna is in my roof at the back of the car.

for me to get better reception i might try taking off my stubbie antenna and putting back on my bid rc car antenna. but that thing was put on there with locktight, so i have not had much luck.

[Nanner]

I would like to see the results of your antenna install. I have the same problem as well. I'm using the Directed HD tuner and reception was pretty good when I had it in my 1996 Maxima. Now that I have a 2008 Altima with the embedded antenna in the rear window I can barely listen to some stations because they keep switching back and forth from HD to analog.

[greatwhite]

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.

Thge dakota antenna listed above is a self amplified unit, so this may help. It does require 12v power though....

I'm hopeful it will work satisfactorilly as I have it plugged in without power and it is at least as good as the glass mounted antenna.

There's no substitute for the standard 31" mast antenna, but I'm looking......

[Nola111]

Add this one to the list of "Don't Bother:"

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...a&i=12044UA200

Bought it at PepBoys today to give it a whirl. It too hooks up to power so I was hopeful, but it's no better than the factory antenna, so scratch it off the list if anyone is looking at it.

[mpfjr]

I am just waiting to hear back on how well this works before making a purchase. Would love to have HD AM/FM again.

[JimmyFitz]

This might help:
http://www.ecshylites.citymax.com/page/page/761353.htm

[theheel]

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

[Nola111]

Quote: Originally Posted by theheel

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

Based on the ratings, I wouldn't even bother.

[Nola111]

Quote: Originally Posted by JimmyFitz

This might help:
http://www.ecshylites.citymax.com/page/page/761353.htm

This one looks like a possibility.

[mitchjs]

figure out where to buy one of these.... this would be a good try

http://products.hirschmann.de//index...view=1,pid=777

[Nola111]

Quote: Originally Posted by mitchjs

figure out where to buy one of these.... this would be a good try

http://products.hirschmann.de//index...view=1,pid=777

That looks very similar to the one I mentioned above that I bought and tested. No good unfortunately.

[mitchjs]

but this is hirschmann, the one u got prb < $50... this is by the company that basicly runs the OEM antenna biz in GERMANY

not some cheap nock off

mitch

[Sal R.]

So, greatwhite, any news about the dakotadigital antenna?

I used the cheapy $15 metra amp'ed antenna and it works fine on my way to work after a few miles, but subpar when I'm up and about. Definitely still not as good as OEM.

I was about to pick one up, but that budget got eaten up when I picked up an artigo on impulse just to mess around with that.

[RipplingHurst]

Any news, Greatwhite?

Add this one to the list of "Don't bother":

http://shop4.outpost.com/product/532...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Bought at Fry's for 15.00 bucks, I'll be returning it tomorrow. Horrible static.