Jump to content

Converting to power antenna


Supreme Cutlass

Recommended Posts

check your trunk. behind the passenger side carpet there will be a bundle of wire for the tail lights. if there are spare connectors there, you should be able to upt a power antenna in

Link to comment
Share on other sites

w-body power antennas are very poor....I would stick with the standard mast or shave it off completely...I would steer clear of the w-body power antennas

Poor as in audio quality or build quality?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They break a lot; but that is the same as any power antennae. Mine is original and still going good at 101K, FWIW.

 

Wouldn't trade it for the world. Standard masts are kinda goofy looking, and people around here really like to break em off.

 

If it isn't pre wired in the trunk, it wouldn't be that big a deal to run the needed wires from the head unit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They may break easily, but it only cost me $12 to fix ours back up again. Hell the one on my brothers old Cutlass lasted 9 years before it broke, and that was because he turned the radio on when there was ice covering the antenna.

Personally, I just like to have the antenna there when it's needed, and hidden away when it's not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mine has broken twice in 12yrs. I don't know if that's "a lot", but there are a lot of things that break way more often.

Yeah, just about every time mine broke was when I forgot to disconnect it in the winter.

 

IMO, there's a reason many cars still use conventional antennas, they work the best. Companies often try things like windshield or backglass antennas, only to go back to the conventional antenna on the next body style.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i.e Olds achieva........

 

My power antenna is still working, and I have it connected right now.. I have a Cadillac power antenna that works very well.. But I think they are allt he same for the most part..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wanna put a power antenna back into my GS come spring. It is cold weather that usually makes them break. they can freeze, than strip when they try to go up. I will either install a toggle switch to manually raise or lower it, or, disconnect it in the up position come winter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dad's Volvo and mom's CL both have antennas in the rear window...they work just as well, or better, compared to the standard mast on our other cars...

 

That being said I like the power antenna myself, but I feel where I live that it's 3-4months nice weather and shitty the rest of the year, so there's not point for me......if you don't have it prewired, it is easy to get the wiring from your H/U as staed above :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The window antenna in my STS gets way better reception then my Cutlass power antenna. Maybe older cars had bad luck with window antennas, but it seems like they are really good now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haha, the window antenna in my dad's 1987 Suburban was the shittiest thing ever lol...it was in the front windshield and was just two wires going straight up and across.....not only did that windshield cost a lot of money to replace if needed, but the reception but horrible.

 

Add the fact that we used to put an aluminum canoe on the roof to hung over the front a touch, and there no NO reception to speak of outside of the city lol.

 

I've looked at the design of new window antennas, and they are much different then just two wires....they have special designs, and cover a larger surface area which may help

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 00's Seville STS used antennas in both windshield and backglass. It has an antenna module with diversity tuning which would choose the antenna with best reception based on signal strength feedback from the radio. If both had decent reception, it would combine the signal from both antennas. It also amplified the antenna signal by 10dB.

 

The protruding antenna works better, all things being equal, but there are ways to make internal antennas work well, but it takes additional hardware.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...