UnSol Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Hello. Has anyone replaced their standard radio antenna with one of the "stubby" type...? Believe it or not, I need to do this to avoid a clash with the existing antenna and the garage door...! Firstly, does the original antenna unscrew from the housing..? Mine seems a bit reluctant to turn / unscrew. Secondly, is reception affected at all? I only ever listen to FM (usually Radio 4), and lastly, any recommendations for the "stubby" antenna? Many thanks.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezwez Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 they should unscrew but they break off easy they can be changed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnSol Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Hello Dezwez, Thanks for your reply. You have confirmed my main worry, that the antenna will break off if I apply too much force trying to undo it. I certainly don't want to be replacing the whole aerial assembly....!! I have been looking on-line and the consensus seems to be that (with other cars) FM reception is not affected by having a shorter antenna. I would be interested to know if anyone else has formed this opinion..?Thanks again.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JW1982 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 The original antenna can be shortened easily. The rubber end cap of the antenna can be removed by heating the top of the antenna in hot water. The hot water softens the rubber of the end capwhich makes it a lot easier to remove. After the end cap has been removed you can saw the antenna at the desired length (apply some tape to the antenna to avoid splintering). Afterwards you can heat the end cap and install it back onto the shortened antenna. I shortened several original Ford antenna's (to about halve of its original size) this way without any problems. The shortened antenna slightly affect the radio reception. In my area the transmitted radio signal is pretty strong which makes the difference in radio reception hardly noticeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodkat Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I bought a stubby one for mine, as the original was split. However, the reception was pants so I picked up another OE one from the scrapyard, now back to getting all the stations. If you can, shorten the original but not by too much I reckon Sent from my Gen 1 WAP phone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnSol Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 Hello JW1982 and Goodkat, Thank you both for your comments and suggestions. The idea of shortening the antenna is probably better than a (stubby) replacement, especially as I don't need to shorten the length by much. Thanks again...!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salsheikh Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 if you struggle to remove the antenna then cut it to the desired length and then do the hot water method as mentioned above to remove the end cap and refit it to the shortened antenna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnSol Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Hello Salsheikh, Thank you for for comments, which have been very helpful, and confirm the comments from others. A great response all round...!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjt Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I may be wrong but I think the antenna length is set to a specific fraction of a wavelength so it is effectively tuned to a small range of frequencies. If you just crop off an arbitrary amount you destroy this tuning. If you live in a strong signal area you probably won't notice it but it's effective range could be compromised. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troy45 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 From my attempts using stubby antennas they seem to work ok for stations with strong signals but if the signal isn't so strong then with a stubby antenna it'll be much worse possibly to the point where it's not worth bothering. Have tried the Richbrook stubby version, and also the Ripspeed one on the longest of it's 3 options you can assemble. The Ripspeed also looked a bit naff with fat stem then 3mm diameter rod followed by 6mm diameter end cap. Still using this one but with some rubber pipe over the rod so it looks a bit better. Real XS sounds pretty awful now but mainstream stations such as Radio 2 still seem to be ok. May sell the Richbrook (Ford branded) jobbie if anyone fancies it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney871 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I may be wrong but I think the antenna length is set to a specific fraction of a wavelength so it is effectively tuned to a small range of frequencies. If you just crop off an arbitrary amount you destroy this tuning. If you live in a strong signal area you probably won't notice it but it's effective range could be compromised. Exactly right. It's called matched frequencies. The higher the frequency the shorter the antenna. That's why a CB aerial (HF at 27Mhz) is long but a mobile phone aerial (UHF at 800Mhz and above) is almost non-existent). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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