Does a shorty Antenna hurt my reception?

Maza4ever14

New Member

Apr 27, 2005

187

0

0

Bay Area, CA

Jun 9, 2007

#1

• Jun 9, 2007

• #1

I'm looking at either an 8 inche or a 14 inche shorty antenna from american muscle.com . Would either of those hurt my reception? anyone have any experiences with them?

 

the98stang

Active Member

Aug 12, 2005

2,408

0

47

Clovis, CA

Jun 9, 2007

#2

• Jun 9, 2007

• #2

prolly wont hurt the reception

 

CobraRed_96_GT

Active Member

May 20, 2006

1,421

4

39

UCSD/La Jolla

Jun 9, 2007

#3

• Jun 9, 2007

• #3

i live around you and listen to many of the same stations - and after switching to the 14" i get the same reception. Still loose it in the areas i did b4, but nothing more than that

 

S

Satin Silver GT

Member

Jul 12, 2003

127

0

16

Sagamore Ma.

Jun 9, 2007

#4

• Jun 9, 2007

• #4

I have a shorty antenna from UPR Product, works fine here on Cape Cod.

 

trinity_gt

10 Year Member

Jan 31, 2003

3,125

81

99

Canada

Jun 9, 2007

#5

• Jun 9, 2007

• #5

The antenna on the car as it comes from the manufacturer is designed with a specific length in mind. The FM radio band runs from about 88MHz to 108MHz, with a centre frequency of about 98MHz. The wavelength of these signals is about 120.5-inches and the optimal length of a whip antenna for that frequency is a quarter wavelength or about 30 inches.

If you move the length of the antenna away from this ideal it's effectiveness will decrease. For strong signals like local, in-town radio stations you might not notice too much of a difference but you ability to pull in stations while on the highway will definitely drop, especially with an 8-inch part.

 

B

bakos24

I find there is nothing better than a tasty wiener

Nov 29, 1999

4,461

87

134

NE, OH

Jun 9, 2007

#6

• Jun 9, 2007

• #6

I still get the same reception when I put my shorty on.

 

steveb24

New Member

Nov 28, 2005

555

0

0

wilmington, DE

Jun 9, 2007

#7

• Jun 9, 2007

• #7

i definately dont.. i have the 14", reception is not as good

 

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

Mod Dude

Feb 18, 2001

43,249

17,932

224

Massachusetts

Jun 9, 2007

#8

• Jun 9, 2007

• #8

trinity_gt said:

The antenna on the car as it comes from the manufacturer is designed with a specific length in mind. The FM radio band runs from about 88MHz to 108MHz, with a centre frequency of about 98MHz. The wavelength of these signals is about 120.5-inches and the optimal length of a whip antenna for that frequency is a quarter wavelength or about 30 inches.

If you move the length of the antenna away from this ideal it's effectiveness will decrease. For strong signals like local, in-town radio stations you might not notice too much of a difference but you ability to pull in stations while on the highway will definitely drop, especially with an 8-inch part.

Click to expand...

What he said.



I have an 8" antenna, but carry my stocker in my trunk. I have Satellite radio and NEVER listen to AM/FM anymore so the stubby is more for appearance.

 

lvmustanggt

New Member

Apr 9, 2006

721

0

0

Las Vegas

Jun 9, 2007

#9

• Jun 9, 2007

• #9

I have 8" with bad reception, thinking to get 14"

 

ErikTheBeast

Member

Apr 12, 2006

124

0

16

Kansas City MO

Jun 9, 2007

#10

• Jun 9, 2007

• #10

I got a shorty from American Muscle and havnt had a single problem with it yet.

 

0

'03GTinFLA

Member

May 29, 2004

486

0

17

St. Petersburg, FL

Jun 9, 2007

#11

• Jun 9, 2007

• #11

The antenna delete was my first mod because radio sucks azz.

 

Twista

Active Member

May 7, 2004

510

2

29

@ the z00 in chicago

Jun 9, 2007

#12

• Jun 9, 2007

• #12

check out the free way of doing this:

http://www.sn95forums.com/forum/index.php?topic=11529.0

 

BlackGT4.6

New Member

Jun 15, 2005

103

0

0

In.

Jun 9, 2007

#13

• Jun 9, 2007

• #13

you may lose some reception. I did but its worth it. The stock one looks dumb after you see your car with a shorter one

 

SXYXC

New Member

Apr 22, 2007

77

1

0

Jun 9, 2007

#14

• Jun 9, 2007

• #14

i cut mine to about 13 inches and i have yet to have any problems. and thats even driving way out of town.

 

Superhereaux

chicks make me feel inadequate

Founding Member

Jul 30, 2002

538

3

59

South Texas

Jun 9, 2007

#15

• Jun 9, 2007

• #15

Twista said:

check out the free way of doing this:

http://www.sn95forums.com/forum/index.php?topic=11529.0

Click to expand...

this is what i did, very easy to do


don't know how long the antenna is now, alls i know is i chopped it down 10 inches and the reception didn't change any, even the weak 107.9 here in vegas works fine

BlackGT4.6 said:

The stock one looks dumb after you see your car with a shorter one

Click to expand...

yup

 

Wolvrin704

Member

Apr 17, 2007

120

0

17

Milford, OH

Jun 9, 2007

#16

• Jun 9, 2007

• #16

I also got the shorty from American Muscle. My reception for weaker and far away stations may suffer ever so slightly but for the most part there is no diffeence other than it looks better.

 

Tally_4.6

Member

Feb 26, 2006

195

0

17

Orlando

Jun 9, 2007

#17

• Jun 9, 2007

• #17

I just put the 14" from American muscle on the other day, reception same as before but it looks way better. Plus i only stick to 4-5 stations when i am listening to the radio anywayz.

 

0

007

Founding Member

Jan 29, 2002

3,287

24

69

Broke

Jun 10, 2007

#18

• Jun 10, 2007

• #18

I have ****e reception with mine.

 

langod

New Member

Apr 1, 2005

34

1

0

Londonderry, NH

Jun 11, 2007

#19

• Jun 11, 2007

• #19

Wolvrin704 said:

I also got the shorty from American Muscle. My reception for weaker and far away stations may suffer ever so slightly but for the most part there is no diffeence other than it looks better.

Click to expand...

+1 -- same here with my 8" antenna.