Short antenna question.
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Short antenna question.
I searched around and I kept coming up with other things, I had a different question.
I got myself one of the Short antennas; it’s the "ALTA Performance" antenna
http://www.altaminiperformance.com/p...a/ANTENNA.html
I like the look of the antenna, but it sucks some times with the signal and I was wondering if I was to tap into the ground wire that comes from the antenna to reground it to the car, would that give me a better signal? I don’t know much about car radios and that kind of stuff but I think there should be a ground there, and I was just wondering if anyone has already done this if it worked, or this wont work. Any info would be helpful.
I got myself one of the Short antennas; it’s the "ALTA Performance" antenna
http://www.altaminiperformance.com/p...a/ANTENNA.html
I like the look of the antenna, but it sucks some times with the signal and I was wondering if I was to tap into the ground wire that comes from the antenna to reground it to the car, would that give me a better signal? I don’t know much about car radios and that kind of stuff but I think there should be a ground there, and I was just wondering if anyone has already done this if it worked, or this wont work. Any info would be helpful.
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From: Atlanta, GA
Are you sure it's a ground wire? I had a mini antenna on my PGT a few years ago (looked very similar to yours) and it had a wire coming off of it that was actually meant to be hooked up to your power antenna wire to boost the signal.. Just a though..
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i have been thinking about getting a one of those s2000 ones, im getting sick of really only being able to listen to 1 station most of the time.
When i was getting my springs installed i thought (i might be wrong) but i thought i saw two cames come out of more or less where the antenna was, and i thought maybe 1 is some kind of power and other is ground? thats when i started to think about it and someone else said i should be able to find a ground there and tap into it and ground to the car like a second time make that part of the car act as an antenna, i just didnt know if that was true or not.
When i was getting my springs installed i thought (i might be wrong) but i thought i saw two cames come out of more or less where the antenna was, and i thought maybe 1 is some kind of power and other is ground? thats when i started to think about it and someone else said i should be able to find a ground there and tap into it and ground to the car like a second time make that part of the car act as an antenna, i just didnt know if that was true or not.
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Scikotics
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From: Minneapolis, MN
Antennas such as these are a single conductor setup (the part that matters anyway). They launch waves (or recieve them) that match up correctly with thier wavelength. So the ground (if any) is the sheilded portion of the coax. That is as far as I will explain so as not to get into a bunch of antenna theory... which gets really nasty really quick 
So grounding any part of the antenna will probably not do anything for you. I bet you get better reception at higher frequencies than you do lower dont you? An antenna has a "resonant" frequency determined by length, so the idea is to make one that works best right in the middle of the fm band. That way it will cover the band in question as well as possible. If one is made shorter, and is not matched up perfectly you will shift its center frequency to the right on the dial.
I have the s2k antenna, which works very well. But I have not heard anything about the one you mention.
So grounding any part of the antenna will probably not do anything for you. I bet you get better reception at higher frequencies than you do lower dont you? An antenna has a "resonant" frequency determined by length, so the idea is to make one that works best right in the middle of the fm band. That way it will cover the band in question as well as possible. If one is made shorter, and is not matched up perfectly you will shift its center frequency to the right on the dial. I have the s2k antenna, which works very well. But I have not heard anything about the one you mention.
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From: Royal Post Palace
Originally Posted by engifineer
Antennas such as these are a single conductor setup (the part that matters anyway). They launch waves (or recieve them) that match up correctly with thier wavelength. So the ground (if any) is the sheilded portion of the coax. That is as far as I will explain so as not to get into a bunch of antenna theory... which gets really nasty really quick So grounding any part of the antenna will probably not do anything for you. I bet you get better reception at higher frequencies than you do lower dont you? An antenna has a "resonant" frequency determined by length, so the idea is to make one that works best right in the middle of the fm band. That way it will cover the band in question as well as possible. If one is made shorter, and is not matched up perfectly you will shift its center frequency to the right on the dial.
I have the s2k antenna, which works very well. But I have not heard anything about the one you mention.
So grounding any part of the antenna will probably not do anything for you. I bet you get better reception at higher frequencies than you do lower dont you? An antenna has a "resonant" frequency determined by length, so the idea is to make one that works best right in the middle of the fm band. That way it will cover the band in question as well as possible. If one is made shorter, and is not matched up perfectly you will shift its center frequency to the right on the dial. I have the s2k antenna, which works very well. But I have not heard anything about the one you mention.
ah engineers they r great!
so the s2k basically grabs all the stations as the stock antenna but it's shorter?
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Scikotics
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From: Minneapolis, MN
I havent really noticed a difference in reception, although mine is driven mostly around the city lately. We take the other car on road trips most of the time. Seems to work well and look good.
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From: Royal Post Palace
Originally Posted by engifineer
I havent really noticed a difference in reception, although mine is driven mostly around the city lately. We take the other car on road trips most of the time. Seems to work well and look good.
the antenna has nothing to do with those 2 correct?
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Originally Posted by tC4italy
Originally Posted by engifineer
I havent really noticed a difference in reception, although mine is driven mostly around the city lately. We take the other car on road trips most of the time. Seems to work well and look good.
the antenna has nothing to do with those 2 correct?
I've had a stubby antenna on for well over a year - bought it on ebay from 'Mango-walk'. It looks good, but the reception is nowhere near as good as the stock one. I live about 50 miles outside Boston, but work close to Boston. I can barely pick up the Boston stations with the stubby within 10 miles of my house, but they come in fine with the stock antenna. I did find by accident one day, how to improve the reception with the stubby - I had the radio on when parked in my driveway, and nothing would come in. I was going to change back to the stock antenna - when I unscrewed the stubby slightly to remove it, all of a sudden I had reception; if I tightened it, I'd lose it again. I kept playing around with it, and ended up putting a thin rubber washer between the antenna and the mount. Now, it picks up a lot better, even when tightened, but it's still not as good as stock. It never really bothered me that much, since I usually listened to CDs anyway and not the radio. However, now that O & A are back on 'Free FM', the radio is on every morning. I just bought an S2K to replace the stubby, so I don't have to suffer with the static for the first 10 miles or so of my commute. Had I known, I would have gotten the S2K to begin with.
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Scikotics
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From: San Jose, CA
Originally Posted by Lil_Deuce_tCoupe
I've had a stubby antenna on for well over a year - bought it on ebay from 'Mango-walk'. It looks good, but the reception is nowhere near as good as the stock one. I live about 50 miles outside Boston, but work close to Boston. I can barely pick up the Boston stations with the stubby within 10 miles of my house, but they come in fine with the stock antenna. I did find by accident one day, how to improve the reception with the stubby - I had the radio on when parked in my driveway, and nothing would come in. I was going to change back to the stock antenna - when I unscrewed the stubby slightly to remove it, all of a sudden I had reception; if I tightened it, I'd lose it again. I kept playing around with it, and ended up putting a thin rubber washer between the antenna and the mount. Now, it picks up a lot better, even when tightened, but it's still not as good as stock. It never really bothered me that much, since I usually listened to CDs anyway and not the radio. However, now that O & A are back on 'Free FM', the radio is on every morning. I just bought an S2K to replace the stubby, so I don't have to suffer with the static for the first 10 miles or so of my commute. Had I known, I would have gotten the S2K to begin with.
