Removing antenna mast performance

[alpha754293]

Has anybody tried removing the antenna mast completely and checking to see what the performance of the the GPS/cell/SiriusXM is like?

 

I LIKE the cleaner look that the mast-less antenna has, but if that means that the GPS/cell/SiriusXM is going to take a HUGE performance hit, then I'll just leave it as it is.

 

Thanks.

[terryb]

AFAIK, sat and GPS are in the base. AM/FM are in the whip. Space based in base, terrestrial in the whip.

[murphy]

Has anybody tried removing the antenna mast completely and checking to see what the performance of the the GPS/cell/SiriusXM is like?

 

I LIKE the cleaner look that the mast-less antenna has, but if that means that the GPS/cell/SiriusXM is going to take a HUGE performance hit, then I'll just leave it as it is.

 

Thanks.

You can easily unscrew the whip and test it for yourself.

[shaggy314]

I was either going with a shark fin or the 'short' antenna. Shark fins says they get 90- 95% of FM signal. I would imagine with none at all, it'd be hard to keep the HD signal.

[alpha754293]

AFAIK, sat and GPS are in the base. AM/FM are in the whip. Space based in base, terrestrial in the whip.

 

Thanks!

 

You can easily unscrew the whip and test it for yourself.

 

Yeah, but it's always good to do a little bit of research (where available) before trying stuff out so that you can have some idea of what to expect/what's the expected outcome is going to be before executing it. (Or at least a bit of initial data collection/prediction based on as-validated-of-models as you can get, which I realise, sometimes isn't always possible.)

 

I was either going with a shark fin or the 'short' antenna. Shark fins says they get 90- 95% of FM signal. I would imagine with none at all, it'd be hard to keep the HD signal.

 

I don't really use the radio. At all. Except on my trips into Toronto where I would tune to AM 680. Then that might be a little bit of an issue (it's nice to know what I am driving into long before I get there).

 

I might find like an earplug or something so that I can plug the hole up so that it doesn't get filled with crud in case I want to screw the antenna back in.

 

Thanks everybody.

[Skydogz]

I like the space whip look, futuristic!

 

[Ted Swing]

If you've done this, is there any chance you could post a picture or two?

[alpha754293]

If you've done this, is there any chance you could post a picture or two?

 

I haven't done it yet. I'm still trying to find a suitable way to plug the hole after I remove the whip (where I would be able to easily and readily remove said plug if I need to put the whip back in) so that it doesn't get filled with crap.

[Ted Swing]

I wonder, would a store like Home Depot or something have a plastic or rubber cap that might fit in the hole? I'm thinking about doing something like this myself.

[murphy]

I wonder, would a store like Home Depot or something have a plastic or rubber cap that might fit in the hole? I'm thinking about doing something like this myself.

Figure out what the thread size is and get a plastic bolt to put in there. It is probably a metric thread.

[alpha754293]

Figure out what the thread size is and get a plastic bolt to put in there. It is probably a metric thread.

 

Actually, I was thinking something along the lines of like silly putty or "gum" or "gum-like" stuff. Then it would just be the base of the mast, and then it would probably look more like a BMW, minus the fin of the "fin".

 

Pity that I don't know how to get into the radio system so that I would be able to read out diagnostic information about the receiver (like SNR for example) both before and after removing the whip.

[Kaleido]

Figure out what the thread size is and get a plastic bolt to put in there. It is probably a metric thread.

It's 5mm size, I threaded a 50 caliber bullet and put it in there.

[Bob Teddy]

50 mm bullets are expensive, and I'm gonna have to say its going to look very bad only asking for one bullet at the store : )

[alpha754293]

So I've swapped out the whip with a 10-24 x 3/8" screw for the time being. The pictures are up in my album now. I'll probably have to go to the TechShop in Detroit sometime to see if there's a better solution and I think that it's actually a finer pitch than that. I dunno. I'll have to try and see if I can pull up the data to look at it/figure it out. But in the meantime, the screw should hold. I tried painting it yesterday too with spray paint. It kinda/sorta worked. Which also means that if keep it metal, I'll have to e-coat it. But I really want to switch to like a black ABS plastic (or rubber or rubber-like) instead.

 

 

It's 5mm size, I threaded a 50 caliber bullet and put it in there.

 

 

50 mm bullets are expensive, and I'm gonna have to say its going to look very bad only asking for one bullet at the store : )

 

Vous, les Américains sont drôles. (You Americans are funny.) lol...

I don't think that a 50 mm bullet. If it's 50 cal, that's a DIA12.7 mm nominal...(I think? But as I understood how calibers work, that should be correct. Unless I was told/taught incorrectly.) Just bring the whip in the store when you ask for the single bullet. You MIGHT get fewer weird looks... ;o) ProTip: DON'T wear a black suit with a black tie when you do though. ;)

[acdii]

It's the 20 mm shells you need to be wary of..... have a few of them laying around, but I think they would be too big.

[Sleddog]

Nothing to worry about. The 20mm are mostly all electrically fired. Just keep it away from the HVB.

[alpha754293]

Nothing to worry about. The 20mm are mostly all electrically fired. Just keep it away from the HVB.

 

huh? I'm confused. 0.o?

[Johnny Mo]

I went with the Visual Garage sharkfin antenna. Screws right into base, comes color matched to our cars. Works like a champ!

[TonyHzNV]

I went with the Visual Garage sharkfin antenna. Screws right into base, comes color matched to our cars. Works like a champ!

Me too. Works great, looks great, love it!